4/16/23 reflections from OR

Rali and I are sitting in the dark inside our toasty little Turtle listening to rain fall on the roof - and on the fire we attempted in the pit just outside - while we drink Bud Light Lime, nibble on Dot’s Homestyle Honey Mustard Seasoned Pretzel Twists, and contemplate our dinner of Noodles & Beef, which we’ll make by boiling water on our JetBoil, stirring it into the pouch of dried food bits, & waiting 15 minutes as it rehydrates.

There’s no internet connection now, so I’m writing this in Notes to transfer later.


We spent the last two nights at Cascade Locks outside of Portland, OR.  Beautiful spot surrounded by state parks with lots of waterfalls.  We’ll include some picks from our hike yesterday.  Last night we met Rali’s friend Tori for dinner at The Sports Bra.  No typo there.  We hadn’t heard about this place, but it’s gotten some national press attention.  The place plays only women’s sports on its TV’s and serves beers made by female brewers.  The walls are covered with female athletes and teams.  This place is amazing!  There should be a Sports Bra in every town.  In fact, I won’t be surprised if we begin to see them - or variations on this theme - popping up.  This morning we met Rali’s friend John and his wife Lindsay for brunch at this wild and fabulous place called McMenimins (SP?) in Enfield, also just outside of Portland.  If ever you are in the area, make a trip - hard to describe and 100% worth it.  Now we’re in Skokomish, WA, and we are blissed out by the lush GREENS of the forest we’re in and arm of water that stretches off Lake Cushman.  I think I would be quite happy running a campground like this . . .


Meeting more of Rali’s friends was so great.  In addition to being awesome peeps (no surprise there), hanging with them and her allowed me to get to know Rali even better.  Isn’t that cool?!  We never know all there is to know about another.  Marriage (noun) - the process of continually getting to know the person you choose to share your day-to-day life with.


We are currently obsessed with Robert Galbraith’s books. Cormoran Strike has shown up in our dreams, in fact.  Off to listen to more while our meal prepares itself!  :)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It ain't over till it's over

Image
 We are still on Sabbatical but we are home in Dedham. I have missed our town but have come home to quite a mess. Backed up sewage in the basement, rotted-out kitchen flooring, and a messy house. I always like to clean things before I leave but we left the dogs here and work has been going on in the house. Alas, nothing could be done but plug away at a long to-do list. I wonder if living in the pop-up would be a preferred life for me. The giant parsonage feels so overwhelming sometimes, where the pop-up you just sweep a little floor and you are often done. Thank goodness I have more help with the parsonage :) Once we were nearing the end of the trip I couldn't wait to get home. I did get the norovirus in the last few days so that may have helped me want to get home- it isn't easy being sick on the road. As you might also remember I got covid after our January trip to Florida so perhaps home is where I want to be sick? Or home is where I can tick off my to-do lists.  My heart is
Read more

It's official: We're on sabbatical!

Image
It may not be the best picture of either of us, but both the setting - South Beach, Miami on a Tuesday afternoon in January - and our smiles serve as proof that we are, officially, both on sabbatical.  Truth is, we've already had some fun adventures!  More to come . . .
Read more

Sail Away to the Great Skipper Cay

Image
Cruising's like luxuriating in a pretty darn high-end resort that magically transports you to a new destination every day or two. Our stops were Great Skipper Cay (Bahamas), St. Thomas (USVI), Torolla (BVI), and Dominican Republic. The first is an island apparently owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, and the only stuff on the small island seems to be geared toward handling a few thousand people for excursions and beach time. Rali and I took the first tender (cruise jargon for the smaller boat that takes people from a ship anchored offshore to a destination - a ferry) at around 7:30am and were in the first group of zip-liners on our first full day of the cruise. It was FUN! I wish the course was much longer, but the zip lines and elements in between them were fun. It was especially cool to sail over the crystal clear water seeing the our ship just off-shore, noticing the differences in depth and terrain, and trying but failing to name the color - colors - of the water. Turquoise
Read more