I cannot imagine summer will bring me any better vacation time than the days I enjoyed in Oregon last week. 

My daughter-in-law Debbie found a place to rent on the coast for five nights --one of those friend-of-a-friend deals.

Just a short walk from the beach, it turned out to be a sizeable one-bedroom cabin, on a woodsy lot, with a deck and carport separating it from an adjacent studio-sized unit. 

Cost? A thrifty $75 a night, total.  Debbie assigned me the cozy studio and sent Annika over to awaken me every morning for breakfast. Lovely.

The distance to our get-away was greater than we would have chosen—halfway down the Oregon coast, to picturesque Yachats. Deb’s drive from Idaho with Annika took ten hours.

My drive took over six hours, and so did daughter Lisa’s.

Three cars to transport five people to the beach! 

Alas, with different schedules and distances, that was what we needed to do. 

Lisa and 14-month-old Adam arrived in time to have dinner with us the first day.  They had only two nights to spend before they needed to head back to Seattle, but their brief stay was a treat for them and for us. 

Adam and Annika had a splendid time playing together on the beach and in the cabin. We adults talked, read and enjoyed simple times, simple meals.

Before Lisa and Adam left, we drove north to Newport to visit the outstanding aquarium there. 

Starfish, seals, jellyfish and eels: a jillion creatures to see-- and some to touch. Spotted leopard sharks glided over our heads and under our feet in a complex glass exhibition of amazing design.  Adam sat in his stroller, blue eyes perfectly round, leaning forward, open-mouthed, overwhelmed. 

Annika, with a fondness for harbor seals and otters, spent a long time against a thick glass barrier, watching seals swim close to the window, as curious as the little girl viewing them.

Best of all, our ocean trip gave us opportunity to walk on the long, smooth beach every day. 

Feeling the sun and the sea breeze, hearing the pounding of the surf, we meandered, heads down, searching for bits of colored glass.

Then we splashed into the water, holding hands and shrieking as the waves surged around our ankles.  (It is great fun to do things with a silly little child. 

One gets to behave the same way the silly little child behaves. I so appreciate that!)

On our final coastal evening, at high tide, we walked to the top of a wall of huge rocks fronting the low beach bluff. 

Perched safely above the waves, we watched as they gathered and crashed and foamed against the rocks.  

The noisy drama alarmed Annika and her skittish dog Henry, but they sat close to Debbie and me, braving the moment. 

The sun slid toward dusk, and we walked back to the cabin, the sounds of the surf fading behind us.