new with me

I've been a bit lax on the blog front because I've been distracted. A certain someone has returned to the Pacific Northwest, and in addition to a busy schedule at work, we went on vacation to the Long Beach peninsula.

Our second stop, aside from a coffee break in Kalama, was Astoria. We ate at the Elliot Hotel restaurant (which is not in the Elliot Hotel, but across the street). We had AMAZING open-faced crab melts and I took this picture from the grounds of the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

We stopped at Fort Columbia just across the bridge in Washington, then headed onto the North Head lighthouse. We didn't walk the 65 steps to the top because we didn't bring the required $2, but the view was still beautiful.

After the lighthouse it was late enough to check into our hotel, the Inn at Discovery Coast. It was a lovely room with a huge tub, and warm scones with yogurt instead of continental breakfast. We took a walk along the boardwalk and took this picture, which is my absolute favorite, ever.
We walked back along the main drag where M tried on the ugliest hat I've ever seen and tried to convince me that its being practical was worth the cost. We did not buy the hat.

The following day we explored Ocean Park and all the other little communities north on the peninsula. We spent an hour or so at the Willapa Bay National Wildlife Reserve. On our way back to town we saw a bear on the side of the road. M just kept saying in a really high-pitched voice, "What do I do?"
I wanted to get a picture but M wouldn't slow down. This is the resulting photo.

After the Wildlife Reserve, we visited the Cape Disappointment lighthouse. We also visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, which made me feel like a fourth grader all over again, in a good way. It was raining on and off that day, including some wicked downpours so the trail to the lighthouse was very muddy. No one slipped though and I got a some beautiful shots of the afternoon sun.


In addition to my first grown up vacation we
*went to Joe's Place Farm and picked pumpkins
*rode our bikes all the way up the street before mine went kerpluey
*attended a couple fun and quite disparate Pumpkin Parties
*celebrated Obama's crushing victory with BV pumpkin shakes
AND
*planned a train trip to Seattle this Veteran's Day weekend to meet the family and karaoke our little hearts out

Here we come, Seattle!