Georgia had been asking, “When can we go to the pit-pat-paddle-pat beach again?” It’s a sweet little spot, with an ancient shipwreck, easily accessible tidal pools, basking seals and soaring pelicans, but I wanted to try a closer beach, one I’d heard was better for kids. But as Georgia asked again and again, I checked one tiny beach cottage’s reservation calendar and saw two open days! I was feeling desperate, June having zipped past with barely a wave and seeing July go through its daily shrinking routine, so I reserved the cottage. As part of our ongoing effort here at Chez Momster to spend more time in the great outdoors, we took off last weekend and went to the coast.

It was a lovely trip, a bit too windy for Georgia to spend much time on the beach, but we did explore tide pools, and saw seals, pelicans, and G swears she saw FIVE whale spouts. We drove down Highway 101 to see the Devil’s Punchbowl, and the phenomenal, violent beauty of the Oregon Coast and then relaxed and stayed warm in the cottage while Georgia painted, putting to use the paper plates that had been left there by a previous renter. We chose the cottage’s stoneware plates and picked up trash on the beach, but there were other ways we weren’t feeling especially green. While on vacation, are we on vacation from our normal, greener sensibilities?

It would be difficult to do all the things we do at home. There was no recycling in the cottage, no separate bins out back, they may not even have recycling, but should we have brought our tuna can home with us instead of tossing it in the trash? We enjoyed the gas fireplace, giving little thought to saving resources, cranking up the heat to block the seaside chill, knowing the cost of gas was included in our rental fee. I also enjoyed a very long, hot shower. We had planned to take all our own food to cook, but we were rushed and didn’t get the shopping done. We knew there was a grocery store right near the cottage, but we were pretty sure there would be no hope of finding organic offerings. We fixed breakfast and lunch ourselves, but ate mediocre, surely environmentally unsound seafood and beach burgers for dinner.

If we had had more time to plan I think we could have done better. If we had made our goal to be as mindful as we are at home we could have still felt warm, but maybe not had the heat turned up as high. We could have gone out to eat once at the real fresh seafood restaurant that supports local fishermen. We could have found a way to fix the leaking faucet so I didn’t have to watch gallons of water drip down the drain. But our goal was to relax and enjoy the natural wonders we are blessed with, and I admit it was nice to push environmental worries to the back of my mind and just be comfortable for a couple of days. Building Georgia’s appreciation of nature may take several comfortable trips and I don’t know that we’ll ever build up to slogging around in bad weather! And though someday I’d love to take a real eco-tourism vacation focusing on doing good for the earth, for now our vacation mindset includes the illusion that the world is in order, things are fine, and our actions don’t affect much.