Well I had to get out of town. My new iPhone (which I love!) became a source of contention in my marriage and I got tired of Joey following me around like Gollum trying to get his hands on my precioussss phone. So I spent 6 wonderful days in Oregon (and a couple of hours in Washington) while Joey scraped together enough money to get his own dang iPhone. Things are much better between us now (we can sit in bed and text each other in peace).
On monday I took a beautiful drive to the beach (beautiful except the part where I had to pee really bad and stopped at the skankiest gas station in the Northwest). It was a perfect day, nice and sunny but not too hot so I propped myself against a piece of driftwood and just sat there watching the ocean for about an hour. Then I took a stroll and made plans to come back next year with the family so I can spend a few days propped against driftwood watching the ocean (sort of like Weekend at Bernies except I'll be breathing).
Haystack Rock. I was too late to get to the tide pools so I didn't get to poke any anemones (which they tell you not to do but come on).
I ran around town and got 2 pounds of salt water taffy here at Bruce's. That all my kids wanted from my trip. I love this place.
Here's where it gets really fun. I headed north to the beautiful town of Astoria (which is named after John Jacob Astor who was worth $20 million when he died, which translates into over $110 billion with a "b" in todays value, wow). I drove up up up to the Astoria Column and climbed all 184 steps to get to one of the most amazing views in Oregon. My legs were quivering for days and I'm deathly afraid of heights but this place is so amazing that I just swallowed my fear, snapped a few pictures and quickly hurried back down.
Lewis and Clark (and team) came down the river to the left as they were nearing the end of their journey (only to have to wait out a freezing winter before heading back). My next stop was the highlight of the day (and just about the whole week)! That arrow on the right points to the home of Monica Solario-Snow...The Happy Zombie (insert dramatic "du-du-dummmm" overture here). And I got to go there! Do not try to use the directions in the picture to track her down and stalk her. You won't find the place. I mean it.
Here's her famous ironing board (as seen in Studio magazine!). Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, I'm getting used to the camera function on my iPhone (have I told you lately how much I love that thing?).
And here she is! Yes, that's a banana keeper. I know you're thinking it's a banana phone but it's not so just knock it off!
Here's her cute little table with her perfectly folded fat quarters. I was here.
We had the best fish and chips at the Wet Dog (and heavenly clam chowder) and did some "tweeting and eating" so that all our twitter friends would wish they were us. I think it worked (Monica's got in covered here, and you can see what my hair looks like after a day in the coastal humidity). Monica showed me her back yard (1 acre folks, with trees!) where she wants to put a vintage camper and wouldn't you know it, I found the perfect fixer upper for her a few days later at Voodoo Doughnuts (and the color matches her "banana keeper")! Dang! And since zombies and voodoo go together I'm sure they can work out an agreement.
And here is Voodoo Doughnuts in all it's pink tackiness! Exquisite!
Inside! For some reason this place had me thinking about Rocky Horror Picture show (which I've only seen 8 times) and I was humming "Let's do the time warp again!" while snapping pictures.
The display case (sealed with duct tape)!
I sat here.
And enjoyed this. A bacon maple bar (yes, that's right) and cup of Stumptown coffee. Bliss.
I pretty much ate like this the whole week (plus 4 Burgerville hamburgers, 2 plates of fish and chips, gallons of coffee and oodles of salt water taffy). Joining the fitness center this week and tired of the heat here already. It was good to get away though!
