Back From Vacation

I just got back from a great vacation. Okay, maybe it has actually been a few days, but I’ve been getting used to working again and having to sleep on an inflexible schedule.

The vacation was wonderful. 2200 km of driving. Cool elk sightings. Great gastronomic sampling at a good smattering of Tom Douglas restaurants. Any one who comes to visit us out here, we will treat you to a wonderful dinner at Dahlia Lounge.

We kicked it all of with a night in Seattle, which is exactly how we ended it. We love that city. The last morning we were there we were discussing, over doughnuts and octopus ,how we would buy the place across the street if we won the lottery.

On the first full day down in Oregon we headed to the Newport Seafood and Wine Festival. I ate something called a Crab Melt there. I thought it was going to be horrible, but it tasted so great that I convinced Holly to try them and ate a second one myself. Holly tried out several different wines. I stayed away from the wine, as to me, it all tastes something like I imagine filthy, smelly, rotting socks.

The rest of the days are a blur. We drove far north and south of where we were staying. We visited two cheese factories in Tillamook. One of them had a petting zoo filled with interesting animals. Holly and I talked each other into feeding the animals. While at one of the cheese places we discovered some very tasty sugar free jams!

We also swung by a smoker outlet facility and bought beef jerky in bulk. It was just as weird as it sounds; and just as good.

There was a day spent at the outlet mall shopping, shopping, shopping. I truly understand the meaning of the phrase “Shop until you drop” now. Somehow I think I ended up with more clothes than Holly. I’m still not sure how it happened.

Of course we also saw the aforementioned Elk. It was pretty cool to see a herd of elk lazing in the sun. On the drive back we drove up a very twisty 1 1/2 lane road into the mountains to find a closed campground at a lake. We decided to wander in to the lake and a have a look at the whole situation. It was a fun little adventure. Unfortunately, we were sharing that 1 1/2 lane road with several logging trucks…

One of the afternoons was spent on the beach. We had quite a time finding actual beach access though. It was nice to walk along the beach arm in arm.

We took a lot of pictures and some of them will make their way here. Others might find their way to Facebook.

I also finally got to go to a Fry’s. I know that might not sound like much to most, but it was a lot of fun for me being such a technophile. We even toyed with the idea of buying a new TV, but it wouldn’t fit in the car…

As wonderful as the trip was, it feels good to be home. I could stand not being back at work yet, but it is great to be back in my own bed.