Gold Beach
Earlier this month, we spent 6 days vacationing with my family in Gold Beach, on the southern Oregon coast. This was our second annual family vacation and, while it didn't quite compare to Bend (honestly, what does??), we had a great time. The southern Oregon coast is stunning, by the way. We came to the Oregon coast every summer when I was growing up, but we always cut over to the 101 at Reedsport, so none of us had ever been that far south. It is beautiful, my friends; absolutely worth the drive up the 101 if you ever find yourself road-tripping through the state.
Speaking of road-trips, the car ride from our house to Gold Beach was not Lyla's finest. Baby girl woke up grumpy and the day didn't improve much from there. She promptly had a blowout about 3 miles from our house. Nice. After that, we pretty much stopped every hour or so. I sat in the backseat with her, thinking this would help. All that this accomplished was her staring at me accusatorily while she bawled her eyes out--clearly, it was my fault she was stuck in this chair (and not being held). At least we were practical and predicted that the 4.5 hour drive was probably going to take us more like 6. So, we weren't too disappointed when our predictions became reality. We had the shortest drive, were the first to leave our house in the morning, and the last ones to roll up to the beach house that afternoon. Such is life with a baby.
Our second full day in Gold Beach, we did Jerry's Jet Boats' 64-mile ride on the Rogue River. With Lyla.
[Here's why: when we were on our honeymoon in Belize, we did an all day trip (we're talking 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM) to the Maya ruins at Lamanai. This trip involves taking a boat from Ambergris Caye to the mainland, switching boats to head up river, boarding an old school bus to drive further into the jungle, and then hiking through said jungle to the ruins... and back again. Well, when we got picked up at our dock and boarded the boat, we noticed a couple with a little girl who looked to be all of about a year and a half old. Jake and I thought these people were crazy. You guys. This little girl was angelic. She had just ONE meltdown the entire day while we were at the ruins (and quite frankly, you couldn't fault the girl. I wanted to have a meltdown, too. Hottest. place. on. earth.) Anyway, we ended up talking to this couple (who also happened to be from San Diego) and commenting on how miraculously well-behaved their child was and how brave they were to bring her. Their response was pretty simple--they liked to travel and explore and so they just took their baby along from the start to get her used to it. And it worked. That experience totally stuck with Jake and I and we have always said we hoped to do the same thing with our kids.]
Which brings us back to the jet boat ride. Lyla was a rockstar. We bundled her up and she slept in the ergo the entire first half of the ride up river. On the way back (when the ride is significantly faster, wetter, and bumpier), I held her in my lap, while sitting between my dad and Jake. I had a blanket over her, and they each held one side of a poncho over that, plus another blanket provided by the tour company for the first (cold) half of the trip. We were all pretty well thrown around and soaked, but you wouldn't have known it looking at Lyla. She slept the majority of the time again, except for one meltdown that I was able to nurse her through (easily the most extreme nursing I've ever managed--it's hard work when you're on a jet boat going 40 mph trying to blindly nurse under layers of blankets. But we did it!). Aside from the stunning scenery, we also got to see several bald eagles (including one that swooped down and caught a fish just feet away from our boat!), a mink, river otters, deer, and a black bear. All in all a fun trip and I'm really glad we were brave enough to tote along our 11-week-old.
The rest of our time was spent visiting nearby towns, taking walks to the beach, hanging out around the house relaxing and reading, and of course, playing lots and lots of games (Cards Against Humanity is a new fave--wildly inappropriate, but really, really fun). Lyla was totally spoiled by her grandparents, uncles and aunt. She loved it and so did they... and so did mom and dad! We got to have our first date night while we were there. It was much-needed and very appreciated.
Thanks for a great 6 days, Gold Beach! Till the next Field Family Vacation...
Speaking of road-trips, the car ride from our house to Gold Beach was not Lyla's finest. Baby girl woke up grumpy and the day didn't improve much from there. She promptly had a blowout about 3 miles from our house. Nice. After that, we pretty much stopped every hour or so. I sat in the backseat with her, thinking this would help. All that this accomplished was her staring at me accusatorily while she bawled her eyes out--clearly, it was my fault she was stuck in this chair (and not being held). At least we were practical and predicted that the 4.5 hour drive was probably going to take us more like 6. So, we weren't too disappointed when our predictions became reality. We had the shortest drive, were the first to leave our house in the morning, and the last ones to roll up to the beach house that afternoon. Such is life with a baby.
Our second full day in Gold Beach, we did Jerry's Jet Boats' 64-mile ride on the Rogue River. With Lyla.
[Here's why: when we were on our honeymoon in Belize, we did an all day trip (we're talking 7:30 AM to 5:30 PM) to the Maya ruins at Lamanai. This trip involves taking a boat from Ambergris Caye to the mainland, switching boats to head up river, boarding an old school bus to drive further into the jungle, and then hiking through said jungle to the ruins... and back again. Well, when we got picked up at our dock and boarded the boat, we noticed a couple with a little girl who looked to be all of about a year and a half old. Jake and I thought these people were crazy. You guys. This little girl was angelic. She had just ONE meltdown the entire day while we were at the ruins (and quite frankly, you couldn't fault the girl. I wanted to have a meltdown, too. Hottest. place. on. earth.) Anyway, we ended up talking to this couple (who also happened to be from San Diego) and commenting on how miraculously well-behaved their child was and how brave they were to bring her. Their response was pretty simple--they liked to travel and explore and so they just took their baby along from the start to get her used to it. And it worked. That experience totally stuck with Jake and I and we have always said we hoped to do the same thing with our kids.]
Which brings us back to the jet boat ride. Lyla was a rockstar. We bundled her up and she slept in the ergo the entire first half of the ride up river. On the way back (when the ride is significantly faster, wetter, and bumpier), I held her in my lap, while sitting between my dad and Jake. I had a blanket over her, and they each held one side of a poncho over that, plus another blanket provided by the tour company for the first (cold) half of the trip. We were all pretty well thrown around and soaked, but you wouldn't have known it looking at Lyla. She slept the majority of the time again, except for one meltdown that I was able to nurse her through (easily the most extreme nursing I've ever managed--it's hard work when you're on a jet boat going 40 mph trying to blindly nurse under layers of blankets. But we did it!). Aside from the stunning scenery, we also got to see several bald eagles (including one that swooped down and caught a fish just feet away from our boat!), a mink, river otters, deer, and a black bear. All in all a fun trip and I'm really glad we were brave enough to tote along our 11-week-old.
The rest of our time was spent visiting nearby towns, taking walks to the beach, hanging out around the house relaxing and reading, and of course, playing lots and lots of games (Cards Against Humanity is a new fave--wildly inappropriate, but really, really fun). Lyla was totally spoiled by her grandparents, uncles and aunt. She loved it and so did they... and so did mom and dad! We got to have our first date night while we were there. It was much-needed and very appreciated.
Thanks for a great 6 days, Gold Beach! Till the next Field Family Vacation...
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