In this season of feeling iffy about hotels and airplanes, I’m exceedingly grateful for family that’s willing to host us when we’re desperate to skip town. We spent a few days last month at Mitch and Kathryn’s house on the Oregon Coast, which has proven to be an ideal home-away-from-home. Plenty of places to explore, but also plenty perfect to just sit back and chill on the deck. Plus, the house comes with this:
We started each morning with a bike/walk down to the market for coffee and donuts.
And I mean, the beach is right there, so you may as well drop by…
After lunch we suited up and returned with full beach gear in tow…
We lucked out and were in Neskowin during the warmest weekend on recent record. Almost hot enough to go swimming!
ALMOST.
Her face tells you how stinking cold this stretch of the Pacific is…
Mitch and Shane were the only two brave enough for full immersion – something about the icy cold water being good for blood flow and heart health? I can’t quite remember, as I was passed out on a blanket in the sun.
Happy hour on the deck…
And a sunset stroll with my favorite kid and pup.
We ventured 15 minutes up the road on Sunday morning to do some very serene paddling on the Nestucca River.
Juliette spent a solid half-hour manning our SUP with paddle in hand, but then…this:
Afternoon shenanigans at the house…
And then one more mini-adventure out to Sitka Sedge to do some exploring.
I love a hike that will take you from dense, mossy woods to wide open beaches in a matter of minutes.
I believe this is the point where little legs started to tire and Shane had to launch into another retelling of The Lord of the Rings to keep Juliette moving. Works every time.
Mitch headed back to Portland on Sunday evening and the older cousins seemed in need of a little space, so Shane, Juliette and I set out on our own Monday morning to grab breakfast in Lincoln City and check out Drift Creek Falls.
I was aware here of relatively how little time we spent in the woods this summer compared to years past. Felt good to hear the wind whispering in the pines again.
It was an easy trek to the suspension bridge, where the three of us jumped up and down to see how much we could make it bounce. I didn’t love that game (step back from that railing, Juliette!), but being the ultra-chill mom that I am, I rolled with it.
Seems that now even short stumps give this kid enough height boost to get her eye-to-eye with her dad.
Lazy afternoons…
And then an evening outing to Cape Kiwanda at Pacific City, which is my hands-down favorite spot in the area.
We climbed this sand dune when we were here back in June and decided the view pay-offs at the top warranted another slog.
Climbing uphill in sand is so intense! I pretended I was stopping every few steps to take pictures, but really I just needed to catch my damn breath.
Here’s Shane pretending like he’s casually enjoying the view, but really he’s about to keel over.
The final push! How she was still running at this point is beyond me.
Made it!
And worth it.
This view, with these two in the foreground, has got to be as dreamy as the coast gets.
The race downhill takes about 15 seconds compared to the 15 minutes it takes to go up.
We did a little anemone-hunting in the tide pools while we were waiting for our table at Pelican.
My best beach buddy:
The fog rolled in on Tuesday morning, which was our cue to hit the road back to Seattle. I walked with the girls down to the market and the beach one last time so that we could bid a proper farewell to the ocean.
Adios, Coast. You were a breath of fresh air.
