Vacation Days

We've been here for about a year and a half now, we've done a little exploring but nothing too major. Kim and I had discussed doing a weekend somewhere and a couple of weeks ago I had mentioned I would like to see Long Beach. We've done a few events there but it was more driving to and then home.  Kim and Steve thought this was a great idea and offered to start looking for a place to stay. They're frequent users of air bnbs and just love them - I've never done that but it sounded interesting. Kim found a lovely place within walking distance of the beach. It was a townhouse - 2 beds, 2 baths, full kitchen, living room, fenced patio, dining area. So if you've never done an air BNB it's a bit different than renting a hotel room -  the initial cost is $177.50 for two nights which is 355. But then you need to add in cleaning fees ($100), service fee ($64) and then occupancy taxes and fees - 58.67 which raises it to $577. BUT then you have to half it - $288 which comes to $144 a night which is reasonable. Plus you're only eating out if you want to so overall it ends up being cheaper - but the best part is you don't end up feeling like you've spent the weekend sitting in your bedroom. It was really a lot of fun. Kim brought thier little dog Piggles since dogs are allowed. 

We left a little early - check in was 3 but I wanted to look around and there was a yarn shop I've been dying to  visit. We arrived in around an hour and a half (not far at all!), the yarn shop was lovely and there was a great pyrenees to pet. Kim called to let us know we could check in early so off we went. The town house was beachy themed, we brought out own coffee, beer, wine, snacks and breakfast food - this I really liked because I do like to eat out, I do not like to eat out all day. We went off to explore the town as the place we were staying was right in town AND 5 minutes from the boardwalk. The stores were very touristy, fun to look in and nothing I wanted to buy. Moving around a lot you tend to lose

your taste for buying random knickknacks. Dinner was at the Lost Roo, food was great. We spent the evening playing a card game and then off to bed. David and Steve cooked breakfast, we lounged around playing with the dog and chatting, then off to the boardwalk. Everyone is distancing and a few people were wearinng masks but it wasn't really necessary, was it? The surf was full of green algae, that apparently is normal for this time of year but oh my, how yucky.  There are whale bones but they did not live up to thier hype. I had visions of Pirates of the Carribean sized bones, rising from the surf  with a house sized rib cage. Sigh. They were poking out of the grass and knee high. They were a bit sad. After that we drove to Cape Disappointment to see the light house ,  then to Oysterville. We went to Long Island, then back home to eat out again. We had a great time and it ended much too soon. David had to meet the heating guy out at the flip but not a big. We had to be out by 11am, so we started the towels and stripped the bed, took out the trash, wiped down the counters - that's the other difference. Did you know the airBNBs rate the guests? If you leave the place a shambles you get a bad rating and then good luck renting again! Since  a lot of them are privately owned it makes sense. So we said goodbye and drove home to unpack, then David left to meet the heat guy. It was fun arriving home in a little over an hour was great. Wash is started and everything is put away, it was a short vacation but it was a lot of fun.