Oregon Coast - Astoria & Seaside

Today's adventure rocked!  I had plans to hang out with my friend, Justine, today and she suggested taking a drive to the coast so of course I was down for that.  We left Beaverton around 2:00 P.M. and stopped for lunch at Silver Salmon Grille in Astoria.  We were able to get some cheap happy hour eats and I snuck a picture of The Goonies poster.

After lunch we continued down the coast and went to Seaside which is a lovely beach town - much like Santa Cruz, CA without all the rides.  They do have a carousel, bumper cars, and a tilt-o-whirl - oh and an aquarium so there's enough to do.  I bought a pound of salt water taffey for $5, had a fresh waffle cone with bubble gum ice cream, bought Shaunna's Christmas present (a little early, but it was too perfect to pass up), and Justine and I split a deep fried Twinkie.  I had never had one, but let me tell you it is delicious!  So light and fluffy and very, very yummy.  :-)  After all that we sat at one of the benches on the beach and had fun people-watching.

So that just about wraps up this post.  Unfortunately we didn't actually have formal plans for visiting Astoria, otherwise I would have done some online research for sights since it is home to two of my favorite movies (The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop).  But we can always go back another time...  And now it seems I need to get to bed so I am refreshed for tomorrow's adventure.  While driving back home tonight, Justine suggested we take advantage of the long weekend and drive to Idaho and visit her friends.  So I think we're going to do it!  Gotta pack and get some sleep.

Nitey nite!  :-)

Movie Date

Eddie and I recently decided to make Tuesday night our weekly date night.  We've never set anything up like that before and in some ways it feels too stiff and formal.  But I also think it is a good thing for us to be doing.  Last week was our first official one and it was Eddie's responsibility to plan.  He took us to Wankers Corner Saloon in Wilsonville.  It's a restaurant we saw advertised on the side of I-5 our very first day driving up here with the U-Haul.  Of course the name made us laugh so we knew we had to check it out.  It turned out to be a fun place - Chili's meets Jimmy Buffett and Goat Hill Tavern where you can throw peanut shells on the floor.

Tonight's date was planned by moi and I decided to class it up a bit - not much, but a bit.  I have been begging Eddie to go to a movie with me.  He's not anti-movies, he just rarely sees one advertised that's worth paying to see in the theaters.  But I am the type of person who loves the entire movie experience from the popcorn to the surround sound and the audience reactions.  Just to put things into perspective, before tonight, the last movie Eddie and I saw together in theaters was Sherlock Holmes!  And before that it might have been the Batman movie.  Too few and far between.  I'd prefer to see a film at least once a month so I'm going to try to make that happen with these new date nights.  Well the only movie out right now that Eddie had any interest in seeing is Toy Story 3 so I timed it right and we got to see it in IMAX 3-D (hence the funny glasses in the photo).  I was actually quite impressed with the movie.  They didn't try too hard to pump adult humor into this - though I do think they could have been okay to make more references to Ken's sexuality.  All in all...  an enjoyable movie.  And really good in 3-D.  I was worried about it hurting my eyes because sometimes I have a hard time watching things in IMAX.  But the 3-D effects were done so well.  Instead of objects popping out towards you they mostly made objects go backwards to give you a better sense of depth.

But the date didn't end there.  Since the sun doesn't set up here until well after 9:00 P.M. we had plenty of time after the movie to go for a walk.  We came home first to pick up a softball and our gloves and then we walked to a park that's about a mile from our house.  We pretty much had the park to ourselves which was nice and just had a fun time playing catch.  This photo is my blurry action shot of Eddie throwing to me.

Winery Picnic

First off I have to thank Eddie for catching my mistake.  Apparently I keep referring to my book as Shelter Island instead of Shutter Island.  Whoops.  I guess I have San Diego to thank for that.

Today was not much of an adventure, but I packed a picnic lunch (an apple and a granola bar) and found myself at Sokol Blosser where Eddie works.  I had full intentions of checking out a new winery but when I got all the way out to wine country I realized I had left my ID at home.  So I went to the one winery where people know me and know that I am of age and I purchased a bottle of the rose and enjoyed that while reading.  I spent a couple hours out there enjoying the sunshine and finishing my book.  By the way...  I think I should have seen the ending coming from a mile away.  Now I'm really interested in seeing the movie.  I'm assuming Leo plays Teddy - definitely not who I would pick for that role.

Now that that book is over I have moved on to something new.  I had been waiting for the Kindle version of this to go on sale because there is a big Kindle movement for people to not purchase any books that cost more than $10 and I am trying to abide by that.  By the way, I do not own a Kindle, but I found out they have a Kindle Reader program for my Macbook.  I've been using that the past few months and have read 20+ books that way.  So far so good and it's definitely making me more interested in owning the actual Kindle.  Back to the book...  I am only a few chapters in so far - Belinda has just graduated high school but so far it is a page-turner.  Probably not that way for everyone, but since I was practically raised on The Go-Go's, I am hanging on to her every word.

Festival of Balloons

Today's adventure was inspired by something I saw during yesterday's bike ride - a poster advertising the Tigard Festival of Balloons.  I checked out the website and knew I had to be there today.  I figured I wouldn't be able to wake up early to see the balloons launch at 6:00 A.M. (thanks to not falling asleep until 3:00 A.M.).  But two events in particular really piqued my interest - the Rogue beer garden and the helicopter ride.

Armed with $23, two liters of cold water in my backpack, and my Shutter Island book, I set out for the event.  I decided to walk there today since they had the bike path fenced off around the perimeter of Cook Park yesterday.  After paying the $7 entrance fee and the $15 fee for a 3-minute copter ride I knew I wouldn't have enough cash for any Rogue but I was hopeful they would have a credit card machine set up.  They did not so I sauntered back to the launch pad waiting area and read a few more chapters in my book.

The helicopter ride was definitely worth the wait.  It was my first ride - piloted by Dominic who's been flying copters almost daily for five years.  The ride was much smoother than I anticipated - especially considering the very small size of copter - just a small 2-seater.  Our route followed the train tracks and the Tualatin River giving me great views of my apartment complex and the neat scenery.  Such a perfect day for a little flight.

The rides were done by Jerry Trimble Helicopters. They offer $10 rides out of McMinnville on Saturday mornings throughout the summer so I just might have to check them out again and fly over the wine grapes that time.

On a side note...  One thing I did in my blog yesterday is mention a form of media that I was interested in.  Yesterday was the Shutter Island book I started reading.  Today I'd like to mention some music I've been listening to.  I watched a biography on Courtney Love (which was really a bio of Kurt Cobain through Courtney's eyes) which prompted me to purchase Hole's Celebrity Skin so I've been listening to that today.  Hopefully I'll continue this tradition with the books, movies, TV shows, and music albums that are influencing me at the time of each entry.

Ciao!

Leaving California

Hi all,

I thought it was high time I started writing again. I used to be so good about writing my thoughts regularly either on paper in a journal or online at one of the many blog sites. I stopped writing as I got more involved with Facebook, Myspace, and now Twitter. I figured I was posting nearly daily updates with those that I really didn't have much left to say for an actual blog. But I had an idea tonight while watching my cooking shows and sipping on my Pinot Gris. I am starting this blog to remember my first year in Oregon.

Most reading this know my story. But for those who don't, I was born and raised in Northern California and moved south to Orange County to attend UC Irvine in 2001. After graduation I decided to stay down there to be with my friends and start my working career. Well a few years later, Eddie and I decided we were ready to leave the expensive, right-wing hoity-toitiness that is the OC. But where to go? Surely returning to Nor Cal would be great to be with my family. And it would put us near wine country. But we thought we could do one better and actually live in wine country. I had reservations about Napa & Sonoma though. I didn't think I could find a job as easily in Nor Cal wine country since the towns are somewhat small.

After many discussions we decided on Portland, OR. We actually live in Tualatin which is about 25 minutes from Dundee Hills (the heart of the Willamette Valley) and just twenty minutes from downtown Portland. Perfect location for us. So on March 31 we loaded up our U-Haul and started driving to Oregon. Nearly three months later we are loving life up here.

Unfortunately my old company in California that hired me as a consultant to work from my new home in Tualatin has decided to let me go. So I found myself with a lot of free time this week and decided I wanted to commit myself to exploring my new home. And that's why I'm starting this blog.

Okay. Time to wrap this up. I didn't do a whole lot today but I was determined to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. But since I'm jobless and a bit poor I wanted to keep it simple today. I packed up a little backpack with a light snack and a book and set off for a bike ride. I rode out on the trail near my apartment which follows a portion of the Tualatin River (pictured). I rode around until I found a cute bench to park my bike so I could eat and begin reading Shutter Island. I never saw the movie but the book is good so far.

I'll end it there for the evening. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow (if anything). I will say that my short-term quest will be to find the awesomest burger in the Portland Metro area. And also to find a burger joint that is most similar to In-N-Out. So you can expect several burger entries in the near future. :-)

Peace!