Vacay Recap

I am back from vacation. I was in the Pacific Northwest for 9 days!

I went for a conference in Portland Mon.-Thurs. and then vacay the rest of the time. Conference was great, learned a lot, and made a new friend.

I am not a great flyer. I was flying since the womb, but as I got older I developed this non-love for flying. My dad is a pilot and my family has flown in everything and in all kinds of weather.

Anyway, I take my seat - always an aisle and near the wing section. Two seats over from me was a really nice lady. We chatted for a few minutes before the center seat occupant arrived. It was the pilot flying the return flight. (A HA! He would be the first to react to anything off.)

We all arrived at our destination safely. That afternoon I went to the Portland zoo for the opening reception for the conference. It was so hot all of the animals had been put away. I don't know where they went, they just weren't any around.

Next morning, conference begins. I get my coffee and breakfast and pick a random table. I exchange a few words with the other people at the table. The lady sitting across from me and I start chatting. Five seconds later I realize it is the lady from the plane! Too funny and small world. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Karen and spending time with her.

Skip to vacay. My husband flew out on Thursday afternoon when the conference ended. Yipee, vacation time! He had never been to Portland before and I knew he would love it as much as I do. (And he did!)

We spent the evening in Portland and then on Friday headed up to Port Angeles, WA. Not a ton to do here, so we took the ferry across to Victoria, BC. Beautiful! Spent two nights there. Great weather, sight-seeing and meals.

On Sunday we got on the 6am ferry, came back to P.A. and then headed to Forks, WA. It is the next town on the map and yes, it is the home of Twilight.

We reached Forks around 9amish and went to the coffee shop for breakfast. We had the best breakfast - yum. I did visit the Twilight gift store to see what they had. I did not go on the Twilight tour though. Actually, my husband offered, but I declined.

Next stop the beaches - we went to LaPush which is also a Twilight location. It is home to the wolf pack in the book. I am from FL. It was not like any beach I had ever been to. I did like it though, it was different and had its own beauty about it.

Next beach was Astoria. Interesting small town, cold, gray and good brew pubs! At one point in the early evening, I had a shirt, sweat jacket and a hoodie sweat-shirt on.

Next up - Gearhart. We ate lunch at the McMenimen brewpub/restaurant at the golf club. It was really windy and really disappointing. I have been to two other of their locations and this sucked. The other locations are hip, revitalized old buildings, lots of character, etc. The one in Gearhart had no life to it. Sad.

After Gearhart, we headed back into Portland. The super high temps had died down and it was great. Had drinks at this restaurant, The Original. They had a hamburger (the Voodoo Doughnut Burger- natural beef patty, cheddar, glazed doughnut) that had glazed doughnuts for the bun. OMG! I did not have one, but the thought of it still haunts me in a greedy way. Dinner was at Mama Mia's Tratorria and then breakfast the next morning was at Mothers's Bistro & Bar. These locations are not to be missed!

We are thankful to have had a safe and relaxing vacation (been too many years) and to have made it home safely.

Stay tuned for more projects and my hotel reviews!

Have a good weekend!