Saturday, July 5, 2008

Cruisin' to the Coast




As folks who live in Portland know, it was dang hot last weekend.  Although our basement is a few degrees cooler than upstairs, it was still a pretty miserable weekend.  Just holding Radha just made her sweaty and sticky.

We decided to trade in the heat for some cool ocean air and head to the coast.  This was the first road trip with Radha and we had no idea how things would go.  We figured, if anything, we would be out of the hot and stuffy house and in an air-conditioned car.  We also figured I would nurse Radha before we left, and if we needed to stop on the side of the road for another feeding or fuss, we would just wing it.

I think we lucked out as Radha napped on both legs of the trip.  We had packed up a blanket and assorted baby gear, thinking we would possibly lounge on the beach.  As a typical coast trip goes, it was mostly cloudy at the coast and quite a bit cooler.  Still, it beat being home!  Radha seemed to like the ocean air as it made her more sleepy.  We decided it was still a bit cool for lounging so we just walked for a long time while I picked up my usual assortment of shells and cool rocks.

The most challenging part of the trip was diaper changing.  We discovered that with a full trunk and slanting seats of a sedan, it's not so easy to have a mobile changing station (unlike a family-friendly wagon or hatchback with raised trunk).  Despite this, we managed the change without incident, phew!  I can't wait until Radha gets older and we can make sandcastles with her.

 

1 comment:

Lizzie said...

Oceanside is one of my favorite spots on the coast. Quiet, quaint and a gorgeous, relatively untouched beach. What a beautiful place to introduce a new Oregonian to the ocean! Glad you managed to get away from a little hot time in the city. And I agree, changing a baby on a slanted car seat is really tricky and risky!