Home Sweet Yurt

Our newest adventure brought us to a yurt in Grayland State Park this weekend. It was so fun! We wanted a quick and cheap way to sneak away for the night before Vern has to return to work this week and to take a break from some of the current pressures and excitement of my career. No TV,no plumbing,bunk beds and all the electricity you could enjoy on 50 watts of power in a round hut made of super durable canvas wrapped around a frame that looks like a bionic trellis. I'd be lying if I said we were roughing it..more like it made us feel like kids again. The wind and rain blew sideways outside pretty much the whole time but it was fun to "roll" up the window shade and watch the storm (above photo) whip through the campground while listening to huge waves crashing on the nearby beach. We bought our dinner at a mini mart down the road. Chips and salsa,bbq pork with sesame seeds and hot mustard,crackers... and smoked cheese,pork and bbq sauce home made by Vern. It was delicious and simple, just as we had hoped. We ended the night with some chocolatey brownies and some hilarious shadow puppets before we rearranged the furniture and created a make shift king size bed. It wasn't great but it wasn't any worse than some of the hotels/ guest beds I've slept in. I found the sound of rain hitting the side of the tent put me right to sleep and was a welcome sound when I was feeling restless during the night.

I woke to the bright daylight pouring through the clear plastic dome on the roof. After a short,cold sprint to the bathrooms  with Maxine tucked in my sweatshirt,I poured myself a cup of coffee and began to anticipate a hot shower. Vern got me enough tokens for 12 minutes of campground shower bliss and if I had hot water I planned on frivolously using up every last second of it! But much to my disappointment,my shower fantasy was cut short when the power went out on my way to the showers. Crap. So I bathed with a bottle of water in the yurt and we headed on our way home. We had to take the long way because the highway was closed due to the fatality accident that had knocked out the power. Stores and houses were dark for miles as we wound down the coast looking for a latte stand with power. This spoiled northwest girl needs her coffee! It rained...and poured....and blew...all.day.long. but the coast was gorgeous and we were in no hurry to get back to reality. We ended the relaxing part of the trip with a burger and fries before merging onto the busy highway home.

It was a perfect way to reconnect with Vern after many weeks of stress. We talked and laughed like only we do when we are alone. We rolled into the driveway happy and exhausted. Oh and when I finally got that long hot shower,it was a lot longer than 12 minutes ;)