Trying to fight stress with relaxation - Long Beach, Washington

Trying to fight stress with relaxation - Long Beach, Washington

• 3.25.2015

It's been a rough few months over here, but we took a few days off this past weekend and got a mini-break in. Husband's spring break is this week, so I took a long weekend and we celebrated his A's and hard work. But it was hard to get away mentally from the stressful term and winter it's been for us, and it took us quite a while to feel good about our hiatus!

We love the Oregon coast, so we started with some time at Ecola State Park south of Cannon Beach and Seaside, Oregon. It's whale watching season, and a great place for it! But it was cold and windy, and we forgot our jackets at home so we were cold and wet and mostly wanted to get back in the car.

Then we went to Astoria, Oregon, which has recently become a new favorite getaway for us. It's less tourist trap-ey than Seaside, since there's not much of a sandy beach, but there are great restaurants (we had an awesome grain-free, real food dinner at Fort George Brewery) and bookstores and things to explore.

Then we went up to Long Beach, Washington and stayed that night at Adrift Hotel, where we've been a couple times before - in summer heat and in middle of winter when there was ice on the puddles in the sand.

This time it was some rain, some sun but plenty of wind! We wanted to get out on the bikes the hotel has for borrowing and riding around town. But we didn't this time.

We did enjoy the funky, modern vibe of the hotel, including the lobby and DVDs and games to borrow. And we played shuffleboard and ping pong in the common area on the floor where our room was.

Sipping locally roasted coffee, listening to a calm Pandora station, and reading interesting books has become one of our favorite vacation morning activities. We've done this three times now at Adrift.

We wanted to get out and ride the bikes, but the wind and occasional rain led us to a long walk along the Discovery Trail and boardwalk instead.

And watching the waves from our room.

We did get some sun on Monday and got a good hike in at Cape Disappointment State Park. Super interesting place! At the very edge of the join of the Columbia River and the ocean, and home to active Coast Guard station and training facility. And historic Army barracks and the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. Lots of hiking trails connecting everything, too.

Here's the interpretive center from the lighthouse!

And the lighthouse, tiny and built in 1850-something.

We felt better after our hike than we had all weekend. I wish I could say we had a great time despite the rain and forgetting our jackets, but honestly the sun was important in improving our moods! It really is beautiful in this part of the world, and I'm grateful all these cool natural and historical sights are just a couple hours away.