The Oregon coast is…interesting; especially for outta state visitors. When people think of the beach, they think of sunny, warm, fun in the sun and waves. In reality, it is like that for a small portion of the year. It’s usually cold, windy, sometimes cloudy, and most of the time you have to pack like you’re going to Alaska during late spring/ early fall.

The Coast, as what Oregonians call it, holds a very special place in my heart. Before my grandparents got sick and my family relocated them to Bend, they lived on a hill in the Northern Newport area close to Agate Beach. My fondest memories are the little trinkets in their house from Grandma Joy’s music boxes to Grandpa Don’s collection of classic car models. Along with other fun interior stuff like carousel and ocean stuff.

After when we relocate them to Bend and, years later, passing away, we never visit Newport as much as we used to. The only time we returned to Newport during my teen years was when me, my parents, mom’s brothers and their families buried their ashes on a small hill in Agate.

The return to Newport

It wasn’t until just this last year that my parents started going back to Newport in their 17 year old motorhome. When they started going back, I caught on. The first time back was in July 2021 and I had a grand time, despite me dealing with some negative stuff. Last October, we visited yet again, but instead of visiting the aquarium like we did in July, we went down to the historic bayfront. That was a great weekend!

In both times, I thought how fun it would be to bring Brennan to Newport to bond with my parents, even though my parents absolutely adore him. When we got the dates on the calendar, Brennan and I found a nice Airbnb near where they’ll be staying and booked it.

Day 1

Woke up with the cat all over me, as well as her scratching the side of the bed, in which she hasn’t done since she was an adolescent. I eventually got up, finished packing, and got ready. Even though Brennan said we’d leave at 10:15 instead of 10 like planned, he was there at 10 anyways.

It was a foggy drive over to Willamette Valley Vineyards, located next to Enchanted Forest amusement park, but we had fun. After getting a snack, we put on some Bill Engvall, one of my favorite comedians, and boy did we laugh! There are some points where Brennan did laugh but most of the time, he was like “yup” in an agreeable way to some of the things Bill mentioned.

We got there early but a little later than my parents but they did park within walking distance from us. we both get greeted by mom and Shiloh, the oldest German Shepard. Every time I see her for the first time in a while, she was all over me, ears down, wagging her tail off, and this was no different.

Since we reserved our spot for 11:30, we get the downstairs table, which we’ve never done before. We started with the daily flight, mom and dad ordered the chop salad while Brennan and I ordered their burger. Since both Brennan and I are not huge fans of tomatoes, we picked them off of our burger and let my parents eat them.

We had great conversations about different things that kind of just blended in. But it feels nice that Brennan is there enjoying his time with us. When we got done we went out on the deck and took a couple pictures.

After getting our bottles of wine, we got on the road! We got a bigger head start than mom and dad, but we did have fun on the way to Newport. We finished Bill, listened to Gabriel Iglesias, and start on Jeff Dunham. When we got to our Airbnb, the owners were not yet ready. So we went to Agate Beach for a bit, had an emotional hello to Grandma and Grandpa, and enjoyed a bit of our time on the beach.

After a sweaty walk back to the car, we drove a short way to our Airbnb, got settled and relaxed a bit. When we woke up from our nap, we drove a short way to where my parents were staying: Pacific Shores. Of course, we were greeted by both dogs, and both dogs were all over me, including the youngest Kaiser. For dinner, we had pizza, Papa Murphy’s pizza to be exact, and we played Fish after dinner. It was fun to see how Brennan plays it, which was very graceful when giving up his 3 of Kings for example, versus us Wanglers who were at each other’s neck, playfully, when we give up our 2 or 3 of sevens. And it was fun for me to see my parents be so competitive and mom blaming dad for cheating. So much that I told Brennan that this is going to be us in 30 years.

Once we were done with our game, Brennan and I dressed down and walked over to the courthouse where they have a hot tub and pool. We spent a good 15 or so minutes in the pool before we went back to our place and wind down.

Day 2

Woke up late, which is unusual for us because I used to wake up at 6 in the morning to go to work and he wakes up early to help out his grandpa. But we had a lazy morning, had some of mom’s breakfast burritos and we got going with the rest of the day.

I thought we were going to the aquarium or the wax museum, but Brennan preferred to just chill out and want to go out for lunch. The majority of the day was my parents and Brennan talking about football and other sports. Personally, I don’t mind them talking about sports, let alone college football on a Saturday, but just hearing it non-stop for a good 8 or so hours makes me go “get me outta here”. But I didn’t say anything because I know that this is all about them bonding, and that’s all it matters more than my annoyance towards the constant talk about sports.

For lunch we went to Rogue Alehouse; we tried going to the one closest to the aquarium but it was a long wait. But dad and I managed to find a photo op in the entryway on the way out to go to the Bayfront location.

Once across the bay, we had to search near and far for a parking spot, and my patience was running low. Fortunately, we did find it and walk a ways to the alehouse for a late lunch. Brennan had fish and chips, as well as some chowder. My parents split the fish and chips, and I just had chowder. During a trip to the bathroom, poor Brennan lost his silicone “promise ring” and was bummed about it. To make him feel just a wee bit better, I bought him a new one, since it was Prime Days on Amazon, and checking out the infamous sea lions of the Bayfront. Usually, they talk up a storm but they were a little tired that afternoon.

After lunch, we went down to the beach via through Pacific Shores, and we brought the dogs down for their exercise. And boy did Brennan wore the dogs out! He threw that ball so far that the dogs wondered if he has a built in “chug-it” arm. Once we had our down time at our place, it’s time to go back and help make dinner. Boo Bear was in charge of the steaks and everyone else contribute it. I did tell my parents Brennan makes some mean steaks and he made my parents drool and want seconds out of his steaks! To end the night, we played liars dice (Brennan won due to beginner’s luck), I had a bath back at the place and we watched old game shows on Amazon Prime.

Day 3

I woke up earlier than Brennan, only because we had to pack up, get ready and check out before meeting up with my parents for breakfast. Eventually, he did and get up, shower, pack and got ready. Same as the day before, while I was working on this blog or the travel vlog, Brennan would come up behind me, wrap his long arms around me and kisses me. It startles me at first but I love it.

For breakfast, we had scrambled eggs and chocolate waffles, yes you heard me CHOCOLATE WAFFLES. But it didn’t have much of a flavor though; but once you put some butter and syrup on it, it tastes good. Mom was mediocre jumping for joy when I was having coffee with them. I’ve been having coffee and enjoying it since the staycation back in August. Before they buttoned up to go home, we took the dogs on the same trail we went on Saturday morning. After the walk and a few minutes or so of relaxing, Brennan and I started to head out. Now, Brennan has been welcomed as apart of my family and it is so nice to see that. Especially when we are considering getting married in the future.

The drive home was LOOOOONG! Aside from listening to more comedians, the 3 hr drive feels more like 5 or 6. B the time we got close to Tigrid, we were starting to get hungry. I saw a Which Wich, a sandwich place I’ve been to YEARS ago, but they were closed. So a Mickey Ds will do on a Sabbath. After a long 3-4 hours, he dropped me off at home. Now if we were living together, I would go straight to bed for a nap and he’ll work on his gig and won’t say goodbye. Ugh! Can’t wait for that!