Family beach trip

Our next AirBnB guest was set to stay through memorial day weekend...what better chance to get away.   So far we've been really pleased with how the AirBnB experiment is working out for us. We open our place up an entire month on the site, and once someone books a few days or a week we login again and close out the rest of that month.

One week for them, three weeks for us.

It gives us a month or two notice for when we need to be gone and actually gives us a reason/deadline for completing the next project or three.  Especially during summer, our goal has never been to get forced out of our new home, it's merely to make a bit of extra money on the side, and possibly find some decent guests who might want to come stay for a longer period of time in the winter while we're away.

Regardless it seems that what it's becoming in addition, is a little extra nudge to get out of the city every few weeks.  We discussed early on that we could simply use these times for a backpacking trip or a chance to take a quick weekend trip.  In the case of this long weekend, we were invited to join friends at a beach house on the oregon coast- we couldn't have planned it any better if we'd tried!

We were more than happy to sleep on the couch/inflatable bed to save money on a smaller rental and everyone was a winner....and thats without talking about the hot tub overlooking the ocean.  Funny enough, our nights on that inflate-a-bed reminded us how we now have an actual mattress at home for the first time in a while.  Until our recent mattress purchase, we'd been sleeping on an inflate-a-bed of our own for almost 6 years.

Apparently we've truly landed in the lap of luxury. A few days of relaxing, staring at the ocean and game playing was blissful.   We even managed to get a few surf sessions to boot.  Simply amazing.

Sadly, all of our surf gear is still south of the border with the bus, so we had to rent a few boards and wetsuits, but it was well worth the money.

It's been well over a year since we've paddled out and maybe 5 years since we've spent time on the oregon coast, much less had the chance to paddle out with friends.  On our first paddle out we were even lucky enough to have seals popup right next to us just to welcome us back.  Always a magical moment- and it helps give you that extra incentive to pull on that cold wet suit and run into the frigid water next time you're staring at the waves and trying to decide if the conditions are worth it.

Radhika was a great influence on us.  She's religious about her surfing and is at the coast at least once a week. While the rest of us wake up, grab our coffee and stare at the waves trying to decide if its worth the hassle of wriggling into a suit she's already gearing up- even if its just for the paddle and the exercise.  Probably also the reason she's in far better shape and can surf three times longer than the rest of us!

Jen and i are still fair-weather surfers and i would far rather be paddling out in trunks rather than a 5-4 wetsuit with hoodie and boots- but ill take whatever time in the waves i can get.  Something tells me our next surf session wont be too far in the future ;)

Outside of surf, the rest of the weekend was simply spent relaxing, napping, campfire sunsets, playing with the kids/dogs and enjoying each other (and maybe a bit of work on the new business name/cards/website as time allowed).

Before we left, we didn't even know we needed to get away... but once we were there it seemed like we had waited far too long.  We stayed an extra day longer than expected just for one more chance to paddle out again, and then headed home.  It seems this always happens... we go far too long before returning to the coast.  It's never by plan, simply because we get focused on other things and it seems so far away.  Then we make the quick trip over, and kick ourselves for not coming more often.  Lets hope we break the cycle, and that the next trip is soon!

On the way home we drive right through wine country, and with Jen behind the wheel i shouldn't be surprised that we found ourselves turning off the highway toward some of our favorite willamette valley vineyards for a tasting (or two).

A tough weekend to beat without a long drive or a flight out of state/country...

Sadly, our first day back was met with news that wasn't as pleasant.  Jen's grandmother passed away, so rather than settling back in i dropped her off at the airport this morning en route to montana to be with her mom.

We aren't apart often, and usually when we travel its together, but sometimes it just has to be.  Travel safely love.