Adventures: A Few Days at the Beach in Yachats, Oregon

We went to the beach. I hadn’t been in a while, and gosh, was it beautiful. We really lucked out cuz the weather was perfect in a way very unlike the Oregon coast in the summertime. Foggy in the morning, but balmy with a light breeze all afternoon. Ahhh…

Real vacationing is such a rare thing for us, but my grandma (who lives in California) invited us as well as my parents and my brother and his family out for a few days in a rented beach house in Yachats, Oregon so that she could spend some time our kids and my baby niece. We all had a great time and came home super relaxed and refreshed.

I don’t have a telephoto lens, so this isn’t a great photo, but those are brown pelicans sunning themselves on the rocks. Brown pelicans were on the Endangered Species List from 1970 until 2009, but now their populations are doing pretty well, and we got to watch them cruising around the shore every morning.

The hydrangeas in people’s yards in town were outrageous. I don’t know if the deep hues have something to do with the salty air or what, but WOWZA!

We took a couple short hikes around Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. It was a total lush hobbit world.

oxalis (Oxalis oregana) in the rain forest

I found a four-leaf oxalis!

my brother Ben and sister in law Shannon with my baby niece Beatrix sleeping in the Ergo

There were a couple of really REALLY big trees along the path. 

Levi ran pretty much the whole way. He was one tired kid that night.

Levi only rested when he found cool places to hide along the trail. 

red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa)

headed to the tidepools at Cape Perpetua Scenic Area

sea anemones 

baby sea anemones

fabulously good takeout fish and chips from Luna Sea Fish House

Henry got the cod, halibut, and shrimp. It was all deliciously crispy, but we like the cod best. Oh, fried foods, I love you so much.

My grandma is 84 and the healthiest person you ever met. She hiked and cooked and made plenty of sand cakes. That woman is a force.

Growing up, I only got to see her a couple times a year, but I always felt very close to her, and I still do. I’m so glad that my kids will also get to have a special relationship with their great grandma (GiGi), too.

My niece Beatrix is getting so big! At six months old, she really interacts with everyone, and she even let me carry her in the Ergo on a walk. Watching my brother and sister in law fuss with diapers and try to coax an unhappy baby into taking much needed naps certainly did not give me baby fever, but it was great to spend some quality aunty time with her.

Now we’re back to the day to day of being at home. It’s hard to go away in the summer because there’s so much going on here (goat milking, chicken tending, gardening, etc.) that it seems like too much to ask of a housesitter. Also summer is such a pleasant time in Western Oregon, my house in particular, so it’s hard to find the motivation to leave. Luckily, Henry’s brother, Trevor, knows our place pretty well and is great about keeping an eye on things here, and I always enjoy new scenery and new experiences, even if we’re only gone for a day or two. I’m lucky to have such a great family to get me out and about every once in a while.