Wanderlust

This area has very beautiful scenery – ranging from morning sunrises to evening moonrises and sunsets, and amazing sights on the high deserts of Washington. That’s one thing that you miss when you leave the mountains – you can actually see all around you without mountains blocking the view – astounding.

The weather is extreme too, especially for June – we went from 100s to pouring rain, 50 mph wind and 60s, in a matter of days. Good reason for the hot tub, and the pool!

Out trip started out a tad rocky, from truck problems to a questionable RV park that we quickly ran from, but got into a nice groove after the truck was repaired and we settled into a groovy new place to live in.

We’ve been able to have some fun, even though the main reason for Richland, Washington is work. The Tri-Cities have an amazing greenbelt that circles Richland, Kennewick and Pasco that runs more than 20 miles long.

We did some of it, which was really nice, but quite buggy as well. At least they were knats, not mosquitoes – but by the time we were done, I had about 30 new friends buried in my shirt and hair. They aren’t bad until you get them in your mouth or nose, or eyes. Then again, it was beautiful scenery, right along the river, so not a huge surprise. Right along the river, we ate at Anthony’s with Randy. It was a great evening, dinner and visiting, with a trip out to Pasco to see Randy’s nice abode, too.

Lots of the people staying here are working at the same place, so we’ve had some barbeques and get togethers. We have met some great people – old coworkers from different states, hanging out with Shereen from Louisiana, who we met in the hot tub! Also met a nice woman at a store in Richland – turns out she is a Mary Kay director. I warned her that I wasn’t really a makeup lover, but Shereen and I still went out to her house for a facial. It’s actually a contest – a before and after contest. Quit laughing. I have the pictures – but I really can’t tell the difference between the two.

Our drive was interesting - logistics are harder to picture when you are dealing with bodies of water. Not like you have a choice - but it's not the cut and dry - go east, style of direction. Basically, we went from Oregon to Washington to Oregon to Washington again, and included a groovy bridge from Astoria that was something close to four miles long!

The Rokkaku workshop was held at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach, Washington. Did you know that a 'World' kite museum was in existence? Now you do. During the class, there were random museum visitors inspecting and watching the Rokkaku building, like it was an exhibit - mom was on display. Funny enough, I felt like I was taking her to her first day of school when I dropped her off. But then I met her and her classmates for lunch, which included beer, so that little mind induced scenario was blown out of the water. About kites, I didn't really realize just how much goes into making them. When I was a kid, you buy a bag and snap together the sticks, and place them into the holes that say 'Insert Here'. But, someone actually figured all that crap out just so I had it easy. I'm talking the dimensions - what height and width works, what shape and why, the spars - length and position, not to mention the composition of both - what material are they made of, and why. Oh, the math, all the geometry is just so much it creates freshman flashbacks. However, look at the beautiful results of all their hard work!

We were fortunate enough to have been able to stay in a house in a nice neighborhood off the beach, thanks Azumanos! Though we did have the luxury of a kitchen in which to cook, we definitely took advantage of the fridge to store our leftovers every day from local dining. Walking down to the shoreline, we were surprised to find deer at the end of the street. As were they. Along the boardwalk on the beach, there are great displays of things like settlers of the area and and old grey whale skeleton. They have had beached whales, like further south, and they also dig holes and bury them. I find that strange, but can't really offer any other suggestion, but the smell has got to be pretty pungent, wouldn't you think? One of the displays looked just way to comfy to pass up.
There is a store here that is called Marsh's Free Museum, and they have just about anything odd you *might* be interested in. One of which is this skeleton of Jake, a part human/part alligator. See, kind of interesting, but moreso just odd. They also have vintage quarter machines which can tell you the answers to any of your questions - along the same lines of Magic 8 Ball. This specific machine was broken. Really.
So even though it says 'Frigid', it doesn't really count! I have an excuse so of course I will use it.

Just a short drive from Long Beach, there are two great things to do - one is a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, and the other is a Washington Park called Cape Disappointment. Everyone has heard of Lewis and Clark, but they just seemed a lot more interesting to me now. Maybe it was the display, although the exhibit at the Idaho Museum was really nice, too. These guys, group of 50 at times, were pretty amazing, plain and simple. What they did was very brave and took skills and smarts. With the preponderance of information today, it's hard to imagine a location that does not have a map that I could buy, or a website that lays every detail out. The entire concept is so foreign to me, but still remarkable. Oh, and did you know that Meriwether Lewis actually died a few years after the expedition from an apparent suicide? They didn't tell us that in the 5th grade Oregon Trail lesson. There's lots of good hiking in that area as well - the building on the cliff here is actually the Lewis and Clark Center, from a view accessible via foot at the base of a lighthouse. The names of the trails and areas are great too - this one is aptly named Dead Man's Cove. Isn't that just the perfect name for this? However, I sadly admit, the mosquitos were out in force that day - as you can tell by the vicious head swatting in front of me.

The majority of my trip 'home' was spent at home... doing a small bit of the mundane upkeep and chores like yardwork, paperwork, oil changes, etc... But, we also had lots of mini-trips in the past few weeks - Spokane to Boise to Long Beach, on top of all the groovy things going on in our own little town!

Cats the Broadway show came to Pocatello, which we made into a great evening of dinner and great company with Johnna, Dixie and Cheri. I can still hear Dixie laughing at the singing and dancing. Another great night included Karen and Kathy at Westside Players. Debbie was in the Cemetery Club, and it was a fabulous show. I had no clue she had a background in theater, and that I would laugh my ass off at her timing and the show - she was great! Mom was a rockstar that week - not sure how much sleep she actually got before waking at moon-thirty for work, but I know if it was me, you wouldn't want to be around. Pocatello has an African Sister City which is humanitarian in nature - and at their fundraiser, it was truly heartwarming and heartbreaking to hear of their plights and challenges. Just one more occasion that makes you grateful, thankful and wider visioned than the day before. Catching up with family and friends is a bigger priority when you just don't have all that time you used to use to procrastinate in.

I can 'help' with gardening in few aspects - two of which are 1) creating a wish list of food I would like to eat from a garden, and 2) shovel up weeds with an accidental occasional flower. And admittedly, I can't even do the latter that well. Good thing these living things are in the green thumb encrusted hand (and land) of mom - otherwise they wouldn't have a spark of a chance. I apparently (and unknowingly) killed all her poppies while I was there, too, sheesh. And there is also a beef I have with terms in gardening. Apparently, an annual is a plant that will live this summer, and this summer only. If you want it next year, you need to go get another. Isn't 'annual' the wrong name for this? When you hear of an annual event, it occurs every year. If this is part of the fundamentals of gardening, no wonder why I don't get it. My brain doesn't work that way.

The Boise Race for the Cure was a huge success this year - turnout was over 13,000! The local ABC affiliate was there and everyone is apparently in one of these videos crossing the finish line, and I think I saw Dianna and Justin - but not Grace, mom, or me. It's always an amazing event that can really affect you if you take a minute and think about how everyone there has a tie to breast cancer. Not to mention all the survivors in the survivor's parade wearing their bright pink shirts! What a inspiring and strong group of women and men. And I'm proud to say that my mom is one of them.

As dictated by a lovely tradition, our team had lunch after the race where we caught up with more friends and family - some of which did not actually make the race. (like Wendy who leisurely drank coffee while we sweated, haha!) Finally got to meet Hailee, who (I think) looks just like her Auntie Chaz.

Mom taught a Kite Making workshop at the Ada County Library later that day, and yes, Robert got his to fly afterwards!

As if we just couldn't get enough walking in, we celebrated Mother's Day by participating in the Moms and Daughters Fun Run with some friends. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

We made a quick trip to Spokane to visit family and participate in the Spokane Race for the Cure. Luckily, we flew on Alaska Air, which has complimentary beverages hence our apparent enjoyment of the flight.

Our team was the best team, of course. Obvious by these pictures, I'm sure anyone would agree. Thanks for Rick for taking us and picking us up downtown so we only had to walk what the race actually designated. Oh, and have to mention our official 'sleep-in' member, Sean. Of course he was a member of the team, the smart one that was still dreaming while we were rubbing our eyes. Logan was our leader, and probably could've done it twice in the time it took us to do it once.

Naptime! That race and the lunch after it was draining...

I'm still not sure which sister is actually taller, despite the back to back measurements... I leave it to the judge bear to decide...

What a lovely family I have!

The Farmer’s Market in downtown SLO is great – very busy, friendly and lots to offer.

Best artichokes and strawberries I’ve seen, like the other produce for sale here. Worth the risks of riding the bike up there - we ran into a rattlesnake and high winds, but had great parking.

If you know me at all, you know that food is one of my most favorite pastimes, and we did eat at Jockos in Nipomo, CA – a local must-eat restaurant. Lucky for us, even though there was a 1.5 hour wait, a friend filled Curtis in on the breezeway seating.
We were in and out before that time was up, being willing to sit in the hallway right next to the kitchen!

This whale welcomes you to Pismo Beach, and thankfully it’s unlike the other two we’ve heard of in the past two weeks – washed up dead on a shore. Sad.

Drove down to Santa Barbara via Solvang, CA. If you saw the movie Sideways, this is the area it took place. They had ostrich farms (no, we didn’t eat it) and a (touristy commercial) Danish village to walk around.

In Santa Barbara, we wandered around the harbor and State Street areas, where I had *excellent* sushi at East.

This picture is for Pam - HAD to find this campus!

Up Mountain Road, the view of the city and ocean were spectacular, and we saw two large coyotes or wolves – not sure which. Our hike was lush and green and in the clouds.

Although neither of us have a great desire or palette for wine, we figured that a Wine Tasting was in order as we looked around at our current location. And all the wine signs and ads didn’t hurt our persuasion, either. At Robert Hall Winery in Paso Robles, Allison was a great Wine 101 instructor for us. Though most weren’t fabulous for my taste buds, we did find two that were good. Funny, they were desert wines, and one had brandy added, go figure that’s the one that tastes good. She took us down in the caverns where there were thousands of barrels of wine (or potential taiko!) that we got to taste test.
There were huge vats of in-progress concoctions and women in dresses stomping on grapes. Ok, maybe the latter was just in my mind. Either way, it prompted US to buy wine - like - *good* wine, but like I said, we are not wine drinkers... hence our cups.