I recommend Deluxe Yurt #17 at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. The picnic table overlooks a small lake.
![Looking over a woman's shoulder at a fence and, beyond it, a forested lake.](https://hollyhein.com/wp-content/uploads/F0C1B337-B669-4FA3-970F-F668F8F9A747.jpeg)
The foghorn at the lighthouse up the road sounds every 30 seconds or so. “Deluxe” means there is a bathroom! with a shower! and fridge and microwave and dvd player and also a little electric “barbecue” on the porch that dings like a toaster oven. As always, I seriously wondered by the time we left for vacation whether all the packing and arrangements were worth it: there’s something about bringing all your own bedding and kitchen gear that is just a LOT. But as always, I concluded afterward, yes, worth it.
![A large banana slug on a background of grass and evergreen needles, with a key alongside for scale. The slug is about twice as long as the key.](https://hollyhein.com/wp-content/uploads/BC3B4009-4604-499B-B9F3-93DCEDAF813E.jpeg)
![Boulder on a sand beach, covered in a network of holes to make a honeycomb like pattern.](https://hollyhein.com/wp-content/uploads/3EC8591A-8F75-4416-93E8-5DC582B500A4.jpeg)
the admiring beach the swimming beach
My vacation reading was David Yoon’s Version Zero, which started out great and held my attention but disappointed by the end, and Robin Stevens’ A Spoonful of Murder— the Wells & Wong mystery I’d been saving, which did not disappoint. When I got home I had an urge to reread Betsy’s Wedding, and got it from the library. I prioritize these rereading cravings like they’re some kind of nutrient deficiency. All better now.