Low tide at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon.
I spent the last week travelling through the absolutely stunning State of Oregon with my mom and my almost two year old son, and ya’ll were right! There is not a part of Oregon that wasn’t breathtaking.
We decided to fly right into Portland so we could avoid the few days of all day driving with a toddler (and my son is a biiiig fan of airplane rides, so that’s a win win). We stayed the first night in Portland, then headed off to Astoria to start our journey down the coast.
The Wreck of Peter Iredale, Oregon Coast (2023).
Astoria is wonderful; a stunning little fishing town with a cute downtown of small shops and markets. We did the tourist thing and checked out the Wreck of Peter Iredale, which was so neat! From there we spent a day travelling the coast down to Newport and stayed there for a couple nights. We checked out a whole heap of cool things on our way down to Newport like Pacific City, Cape Meares, Haystack Rock and the Tillamook McDonalds Play Centre.
Haystack Rock was stunning and we caught it in low tide, so we were able to see some cool tide pools and a gigantic starfish. On our second day in Newport, we mainly stayed on the quaint coastline side of the town, checked out an adorable coffee shop for breakfast, then further south down the coast. We checked out Thor’s Well and the Sea Lion Caves, which are definitely a bit touristy, but also super cool to see and my son has an absolute BLAST climbing up and down the stairs.
Lighthouse Lookout from inside of the Sea Lion Caves, Oregon Coast.
The Octopus Tree from the Cape Meares Lighthouse, Oregon Coast.
From Newport we headed through the Mt. Hood region and did a really cute hike to Zigzag Falls, which I would for sure recommend for kiddos. We spent the last night in Hood River in a gorgeous historic hotel complete with a vintage elevator, then headed back to Portland to fly home.
The view from the Coffeehouse Restaurant in Newport, Oregon.
Now, I don’t really subscribe to the idea that it’s a burden to travel with your kids, because I honestly think it’s great and I love being able to show my son new things. That being said, I want to share some of the less glamorous (but equally hilarious and horrifying) parts of our trip.
First of all, (TMI) my son was not feeling well at the beginning of the trip and while on a quick (diaper bag free) outing to grab coffee, pooped through his diaper and onto me. Quick parking lot clothing change followed by him vomiting all over himself and the car seat. Clothing change two and we were on our way.
In addition, I forgot my son’s beloved BunBun lovey in the hotel the first night, and they haven’t been able to recover it. This meant that when he was feeling super crappy (no pun intended), he didn’t have his sweet bunny to comfort him and I felt *awful*.
This pretty much concluded the bodily fluids section of our trip, but then I got strep throat for the third time this year and I promise you that it is less fun to chase a toddler around the edge of the ocean while you are not feeling top notch. I am extremely thankful for my mothers never ending ability to entertain him. (I am not proud that I spent more money on DoorDash’s delivery fees than I did the tea that I had delivered, but here we are.)
Skip to us having a lovely time at the Oregon Coast Aquarium (did I mention this earlier?), checking out some fish and stingrays, when little man decided that he was no longer enjoying his time here. I would say 70/30 for the ratio of time he spent face down screaming on the floor to actually enjoying himself, and the latter was actually thanks to a sweet little boy who asked him to play.
I cannot count on one hand how many wrong turns, missed exits, almost speeding tickets, got-there-too-late shopping adventures and old-AF iPhone meltdowns while trying to run Apple CarPlay were compiled into this trip. There was an abundance of other hilarious memories and so many amazing learning opportunities, and I am so incredibly grateful that we went. I would ten out of ten recommend the Oregon Coast; it is GORGEOUS. I would also ten out of ten recommend going into it without a plan, because dang, our trip seriously could have been a total bummer if we didn’t have a great sense of humour about a LOT of it.
So thanks for reading, thanks to everyone who shared Oregon must-sees and *THANK YOU* Mom for being the best travel-buddy and Number One Gramma!
With love,
Erin
