The past eleven days of my life, summarized:
Friday: Pick up Clay from the airport a whole 45 minutes later than planned, thanks to the bomb scare (AKA plumber trying to check a bag full of pipes) that morning at MSP. Hit the road, and after a rainy, windy and winding drive, arrive in Seaside, Oregon at 10. Get Pizza Hut to go. Check into our home base for the weekend complete with ocean view, Inn at the Shore, and venture down to dip our toes in the (even colder than we imagined) sea.
Saturday: Rise and shine early to grab a view of the Pacific before the beach fills with people. Wander a mile down the beach at low tide towards downtown Seaside, complete with stops to check out sand dollars and crab shells, and for Clay to play tag with the lapping waves. Grab breakfast in town, and take the famous Promenade back to the hotel, strolling parallel to the ocean. Drive down Route 101 to Cannon Beach to explore Haystack Rock, where we encounter sea anemones and starfish galore. Discover how much I love the word "anemone." Roll up our jeans after losing a battle with the waves to get close-up shots with the sea life. Explore the 1960s-ish downtown Seaside, especially the candy stores (Clay's fav). Try crab cakes for the first time at Norma's (thanks for dinner, Kim :).
Sunday: Head towards Cannon Beach, and make a (great) last-minute decision to navigate through the rainforest to Ecola State Park. Hike, climb, traverse, watch the (totally crazy) surfers and get a little muddy. Drive past eight moose grazing by the side of the road. Swing by the Crab, Seafood and Wine Festival in Astoria, the little city that has been home to Free Willy, The Goonies, The Guardian, Kindergarten Cop, Into the Wild, and The Ring Two. Sample crab (I'm hooked), taste wine, and eat corn dogs for lunch (don't judge). Introduce Clay to Parkland, and to my host, Vilma. Open up an account at Blockbuster so that I can watch all the great movies Clay can't believe I've never seen this week. (Hope the decision will make me more fluent in movie quotes.) Get all fancied up and head to The Melting Pot for dinner (thanks, Mom!).
Monday: No work! Drive to Seattle in the morning to stock up on fresh seafood for the week from Pike Place Market and grab fresh sushi for lunch, just one day before some crazy May Day riots broke out around downtown. As for that afternoon and the rest of the week...
Our cooking triumphs: coconut shrimp with thai ginger linguini; seared scallops with roasted red pepper orzo; chicken quesadillas with chipotle sweet potato fries.
Movies to check off the list: Goodfellas, Blow, Dumb & Dumber, the Social Network, and just for fun-- Easy A and Cruel Intentions. Didn't get to Silence of the Lambs. (darn.)
Memorable meals out: Violet white chocolate mocha and teriyaki pineapple eggs in Gig Harbor; Orange Creamsicle drink & Bang a Gong and Slow Ride pizzas at The Rock; parmesan fries to die for from Harmon Brewing Co. in Tacoma.
But alas, all good things come to an end. After an awfully memorable 10 days, Clay headed home this morning to resume his job as interim editor at the Monti Times, while I began my 7th of 11 weeks at MVP, complete with a whopping seven evals and the first double booking of my young PT career. Though the warm and sunny weather was conducive to my 4-mile lunchtime run, it made for a high cancellation rate, so thankfully 7 evals became a much more bearable 3. Back to reality this week, AKA studying for boards, working on my Emergency Medical Responder certification, and perfecting my resume...
On that note, I need sleep first. Good night from the West Coast :)
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