We took a quick two-day family trip to South Beach state park just after Labor Day.

We didn’t camp; Michael won’t camp at the beach. Too much sand. So we always stay in a yurt. We love them. Less packing and unpacking to do but you still have most of the fun “camping” stuff.

This used to be a yearly family outing. We would book a yurt at either Cape Lookout or South Beach State Park. When we moved to the farm we were much closer to the beach but now we had animals to take care of. We didn’t go anywhere together as a family for two years!

Someone suggested paying someone to do our morning and evening chores while we were gone. Shelly is our life saver. We just let her know ahead of time so she keeps her calendar clear and away we go.

South Beach State Park is closely located to Newport OR. The day we left it was drizzly and we were not allowed to check-in until 4:00 p.m. I don’t recall check-in time being so late.

We made the best of it by spending the day in Newport. We spent some time watching the sea lions that sleep on floating docks. They are so noisy because sea lions are always trying to squeeze in and then everyone starts barking. It reminded me a little of home and my boys.

The boys had never been to “Ripley’s Believe it or Not,” so we took them. It was fun. A lot of weird stuff.

One of the things the boys were really looking forward to was getting salt water taffy. We went to the candy store and bought them a bunch of candy. Too much. But hey, it was a vacation.

We had an early dinner in town and then headed to the yurt. We unpacked our sleeping pads and then played cards and “Spot It” for a few hours. If you’ve never played “Spot It”, you should. It is really fun.

The next day we headed to the beach. I think the Oregon Coast is the best-looking beach on the west coast. It is often mediocre weather, but it is pretty. On the north end of the beach is the entrance to Yaquina Bay, which is where all the fun tourist things are in Newport.  The entrance to Yaquina Bay is protected by jetties which were built over 100 years ago.

Even though it was almost noon it was still a little foggy. Thankfully, a north breeze was blowing and it pushed the fog down the beach, away from us. Bugging us all morning to go to the beach, Joshua was the first one in the water.  Shortly after, his brother joined him.

Of course, my guys can’t go to the beach without building sand castles. With only a couple tools, and a bucket they went to work.

I was sitting in a chair, at the back of  a log reading a book. I had decided it would be nice to walk up the beach to the jetty. I was wearing flip flops. I got up and started to walk away and I stubbed my small toe on the log. It hurt and I thought maybe I had jammed the toenail. I waited a while and then hollered to Michael to come look at my toe. Apparently, I had torn the nail off except for the nail bed part. We didn’t have any band-aids so Michael wrapped it in a baby wipe.

We headed home the next morning. We decided to stop in at Otter Rock which is just south of Lincoln City. They have an attraction called Devils Punch Bowl and it is a great spot to whale watch.

Gray Whales migrate from the seas around Alaska to Baja California, Mexico each year. However, we do have about 40 Gray Whales that hang out each year.

Even with my toe problem, it was a fun trip. We returned home on a Thursday. Michael and the boys packed up for another camping trip scheduled for Friday. They go to Madras and ride dirt bikes and shoot at targets 300 and 600 yards away.

They do this so I can have time to plan the new school year, which started Monday! Usually, I do it in the spring but this year was a bit hectic.

If you’ve never been to the Oregon Coast, come. You will love it.

Enjoy your day,
Karen

PS: I’m still waiting for my toenail to come off completely.