first time at the beach!
The Oregon Coast holds a special place in my heart. While we only went there a few times as a kid, I have been back several times as an adult and always around special occasions. There was the birthday I spent there, with my parents, just a few weeks before I left for India. And then there was my honeymoon, where Boof and I relaxed for a week (after driving all over Washington to spend Christmas with everybody). So, when my parents discovered the joys of yurting (like camping, but not in a tent OR a cabin), I jumped at the opportunity to book a small getaway with Potamus. Yurting has all the lovely camping feels that I love, without the hassle of camping that I dislike.
Manzanita, Oregon
Boof couldn’t take the time off, so I decided to do the road-trip myself…which was a little nerve wracking. Good thing I’m adventurous, and slightly deranged because the drive there took almost 6 hours (though part of that was a pit-stop in Portland to visit my bestie Ruth). While we just hung out last week, it was so much fun to have a back-to-back visit! We chatted, ate some yummy crepes, and Potamus had a chance to burn off his energy in the park. He mostly slept the whole way there, so that was nice for me!
enjoying some dinner
Potamus has never seen the ocean before, so it was a real treat to watch him go from nervous to super excited. While we had spent some time in the sand, it was in a warehouse and not warm and awesome for sand-castles! There is just something so magnificent about the way the ocean comes rolling in while you sit there in warm sand. And we don’t have to go all the way to California to experience it 🙂
swingin’
our digs! pet friendly yurts. like camping…but with beds, electricity and HEAT!
doin’ dishes with grammy. clearly he is enjoying himself.
let’s build a sand castle!
COME ON GUYS LETS GO!
Nervous at first, but a few minutes later he wouldn’t stop heading into the water! We seriously had to pry this kid away from the waves because his toes were turning purple and he was shivering.
wave jumping with grammy and grampy
After a long day of travel, lots of adventures in swinging, playing in the park, wave jumping in the ocean and building sand castles, Potamus and I crashed. We had pulled the futon mattress onto the floor so that it’d be the closest to home and fell asleep. Fortunately he slept pretty well in the new place.
boof & monk-monk 
I love the Oregon Coast!! Ive been to Florence and we rode on the sand dunes! So much fun!
oh yeah! the sand dunes are AMAZING! We used to camp at Honeyman state park as a kid, and I was obsessed with the dunes. But that’s like a 9 hour drive from here…without any potty breaks. Not sure I’m going to tackle that one solo!
Looks nice! I wanna go!
You totally should! It’s very relaxing by the water. Though, it’s more relaxing in a 5 start hotel…without kids… 😉
PS, you and your boy look so beautiful! I live near the water too, but on the opposite side of our country! The New England coast is pretty sumptuous too, although, yes, moreso with a glass of wine minus chasing after the kids who seem intent on drowning themselves in said ocean! xo!
i just love the look on your son’s face, which sort of captures the amazement at experiencing something new and joy at the experience!! 🙂
THANKS! Yeah, it is so much fun to be behind the camera and capture these moments…and even when I’m not, I try to burn them in my memory. I get too jaded by normal (and extraordinary) things like the ocean…so to see a little one have such JOY…it’s really fun! 🙂
What beautiful photos of you and your little one! I fell in love with OR when I traveled there last month to visit a friend. She lives in Lake Oswego. It was absolutely beautiful there. It didn’t rain when I was there, but everyone tells me how depressing it is to actually live there for a long period of time. In any case, I do love Oregon!
Thanks! OR is beautiful! I think it’s a little like Seattle, we don’t actually have a lot of rain (there are so many other cities that get more), but we have so much gray cloud cover that makes people all depressed. But the sunny days CAN’T BE BEAT!