Road Trip '08: Day 7

Gresham, OR to Robin's Woods, WA (on the Olympic Peninsula)
Miles driven today= 202
Total miles driven= 1503



Left Oregon today and headed north to Washington's Olympic Peninsula to visit old friends, Jennifer Robin and her grand daughter, Princess Cupcake. Jennifer lives in a beautiful 3-story log cabin on 42 acres of land known as Robin's Woods.

I was very much looking forward to this part of the trip--to seeing their property, getting some photography tips, and just relaxing with the great views and all the trees around me. Plus, I was very excited about finally going up to the Peninsula, home to Bella and Edward and my other beloved Twilight characters! Driving to the house was a perfect start to my experience--the tree-lined path that leads to their cabin from the main road looked much like what I imagined the drive to the Cullen house would have looked like. If I had only looked at the right moment, I may have caught one of them running by, hehe.

It was a low-key day. I got a tour of the house and the backyard (gorgeous views!), watched the chipmunks hanging out at the chipmunk hotel for a while, received a "basics" photography lesson (so I could start playing with the Nikon D200 that my dad let me borrow), and learned how to make home-made bread. Jennifer cooked a yummy pasta alfredo dinner, which we ate with our homemade garlic cheese rolls. Mmm, it was so good to eat home cooking again after almost a week of eating out. She always cooked the best meals, and I will definitely enjoy eating like this for the next few days!

Road Trip '08: Day 6

Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area & Portland, OR
Miles driven today: 76
Total miles driven: 1301
# of times I got lost today: 3



Started my day early in the morning, to explore the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, driving along the Historic Columbia River Highway (US 30). The highway has some stunning scenic points that overlook the river, but the best part is that it passes along a number of easily accessible waterfalls. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get to them, some just steps from the road, and others a very short walk away. People often have to hike miles to see a waterfall, and here these are, just right off the highway. I'm also amazed that there were so many waterfalls in such a close area. It was awesome, I visited five waterfalls today: Latourell Falls, Shepperd's Dell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls (my second favorite of the five), Wahkeena Falls, and the most beautiful & most popular (and my favorite), Multnomah Falls. It drops 620 ft, and is the second highest continuously running waterfall in the country. It was truly stunning. (Multnomah Falls also happens to be another site that the Twilight movie filmed at, hehe.)

After spending the first half of my day on the scenic drive, I spent the second half at Powell's City of Books & in the Pearl District of Portland. Getting there was quite a frustrating adventure--oh those bridges and one-way streets can be so confusing!

Powell's is a monster of a bookstore. One can get lost in the huge place, roaming aisle after aisle and room after room, which suited my book-loving self just fine. I'm trying to cut back on my book-buying problem (need to save money! must read the unread books on my shelf! just got a library card last month!), so I was only looking to buy a few books that I wanted, rather than picking up anything and everything that looked interesting. Got two good deals today: found a paperback version of our current book club read The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry for $8, and a copy of The Mists of Avalon (which I've been wanting but not wanting to pay $14 for) for $6....After Powell's, I had a very late lunch at a vietnamese restaurant called Silk. It was very tasty!

Off to Washington's Olympic Peninsula tomorrow, so excited!

Don't forget to check out my pictures! Link is to your right.

Road Trip Pictures

I've created a collection on my flickr page for my road trip pictures, with each day separated into its own set. The link is on the right under the "Blogs & Webpages" category. Check them out, and check back for updates! So far, Day 5 is my favorite set of pictures!

(If you can't find the link over there, here it is Road Trip 2008 Pictures

Road Trip '08: Day 5

Newport, OR to Gresham, OR (outside of Portland)
(with stops in: Tillamook, Cannon Beach, and at Ecola State Park)
Miles driven today: 215
Total miles driven: 1225
# of times I got lost today: 1



Things I learned today:
-It takes five quarts of whole milk to make 1 pound of cheese
-It takes ten quarts of whole milk to make 1 pound of butter
-India is not the only place you find cows on the road

So, I was playing things by ear, and decided on the plans for my drive today at the last minute. I was trying to choose between two options--go on a whale watching trip on the boat that Mesha works on, then take a straight shot to Portland -OR- leave early in the morning and drive up the coast, visiting a couple of places I wanted to see, then cutting over on a highway further up. Although the boat trip would have been fun, I decided on option two because I get to go on boat trips pretty frequently at home, while I don't get to visit the Oregon Coast very often. Plus, I really really wanted to see Ecola State Park...

The drive up was gorgeous..stretches of untouched beaches, cute small towns, expansive farmlands, tree-lined roads, green hills...Nothing much but beautiful scenery from Newport to Tillamook, except for when I came upon a cow on the road. He was trotting along, smack in the middle of the road, and I found myself having a flashback of being in India. It was quite amusing. Since he was in my way, I couldn't do anything but follow him for a while, then he finally moved over a bit and I was able to sneak past him. Interesting. Wonder who's cow it was, and if the farmer ever found him...

In Tillamook, I stopped at two places: the Blue Heron French Cheese Company (which had a cute petting zoo out front, and a cheese and souvenir store inside), and at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Walked through their self-guided tour (the factory itself is only in production Monday-Friday, so I didn't get to watch the production line), sampled some cheese (love the sharp cheddar), ate breakfast at their cafe, bought some cheese curds, then went on my way.

Next stop was Cannon Beach, where Haystack Rock looms right off the beach (it is the third largest sea stack in the world.) It was a pretty impressive rock. I walked the beach and took some pictures, then headed out for my next stop.

Ah, Ecola State Park. The HIGHLIGHT of my day. I am so very glad I made the decision to check the park out--the 4 hour drive up the coast and $3.00 park entrance fee was worth the visit. Now, I must confess my reason for wanting to visit in the first place. Since you all know that I'm an obsessed Twilight fan, I'm sure it wouldn't surprise you to hear that it was because they filmed part of the movie here. It wasn't just any scene though, it was the First Beach scene, and I just had to see it. Indian Beach was the sight they used as "First Beach" for the movie, and since I'll be visiting the real First Beach, I wanted to compare the two. The drive into the park from the highway was amazing, but it didn't compare to the drive from the ranger station to the Indian Beach parking lot. I can't even describe how heartbreakingly and breathtakingly beautiful it was--the tiny road snaked its way through the forest, surrounded and shaded by beautiful moss-covered trees. Pictures don't do it justice, you just have to be there, to experience it for yourself. Indian Beach was cute. I walked down the beach, and since it was low tide, checked out the rocky intertidal area at the end of the beach. Saw crabs and snails and sea start, but I didn't poke around too much. I then found a log to rest on, and relaxed for a while, just taking in the scenery (and imagining Bella & Jacob hanging out on the beach, haha.) Ate some bread and squeaky cheese, wrote in my journal, and just enjoyed being there on my log.

Come on, just picture them sitting on that log, chatting and bickering.

Road Trip '08: Day 4

Newport, OR (just hanging out in the area!)
Miles driven today=4 (Mesha drove most of the day)
Total miles driven= 1010

The last time I visited Mesha back in 2006, we crammed quite a bit into my couple of days on the Oregon Coast. We spent most of the time driving up and down the coast, seeing all the sights (other towns, lighthouses, scenic lookouts, etc), but spent little time in Newport itself. So today was my chance to just enjoy Newport at a relaxing pace!

We started our Saturday morning at the local farmers market...


Grabbed a cup of coffee and then stood in line to get some treats from the "bread lady"...


Walked around the farmers market, then... Went back to the bayfront for a bit..


Checked out Nye Beach & had lunch there...


Explored the Sylvia Beach Hotel (A hotel for book lovers, and is the neatest place ever! Each room is a different theme based on an author)...


My favorite was the "JRR Tolkien Room"...


Went to Yaquina Head...


Where the Yaquina Head Lighthouse is...


And at the end of the day, enjoyed a beautiful sunset...

Road Trip '08: Day 3

Ashland, OR to Newport, OR
Miles driven today= 268 + 7 miles around town
Total miles driven= 1006



The route from Ashland to Newport was a lot prettier than my first two days of driving, making the trip much more interesting and enjoyable. I had another 5-hr drive, and arrived in Newport in the early afternoon. Since Mesha was still at work, she left a guest pass for me to explore the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Since my last visit in 2006, the Aquarium has added a new exhibit gallery, "Oddwater", featuring the odd and unusual creatures that live under the sea. The way they displayed the specimens was very unique and neat--in a tank amongst pretty glass art. After touring the front-of-house exhibits, Mesha took me to see their Education classroom & some behind-the-scenes areas, including the top of the HUGE tank where they use to keep Keiko.

For dinner, we went down to the historic bayfront, and ate at a Local Ocean Seafoods, a restaurant and fish market that specializes in serving sustainable seafood. It's pretty cool, all the seafood that they serve has a background: you can get information on where it was caught, by what means, and by who. The food was delicious! We each had a cup of the crab soup, then shared crab cakes and grilled fish & chips. Mmmm.

Road Trip '08: Day 2

Rocklin, CA to Ashland, OR
Miles driven today= 298 + 11 miles around town
Total miles driven= 731
# times I got lost today= 3 (hoping this doesn't happen anymore!)

This is a photo of Ashland Creek in Lithia Park

Today, I'm giving thanks for several things:
1. Yahoo maps. Not sure how I would've gotten to some places without its directions.
2. REAL-in-your-hands maps from AAA. For the moments when Yahoo maps failed me. Which happened a couple of times today.
3. Cute road workers. For the moments when Yahoo maps & regular maps fail because road construction is occurring. I would still be driving in circles right now, if it weren't for the guy that helped me out. I actually had to hail him from the road (the one I wanted to be on), and he off-roaded a bit & drove over to the side road I was on (the one I didn't want to be on but didn't know how to get off of) and nicely pointed me in the right direction.
4. That I enjoy country music. Because that's pretty much all you'll find out here in the middle of nowhere, and I don't mind one bit.

So, my drive to Ashland took a bit longer than expected due to my little "getting lost" detours, but I arrived with a good portion of my day left to explore the area. Checked into my hotel and took a quick break, then drove into the main part of town. Had a yummy late lunch at a sandwich shop, Big Town Hero. Ashland is a very cute place, with a quaint and easily-accessible park. Ashland Creek runs through Lithia Park, and I took a walk along it for a while. After exploring the park, I went home to rest a little bit more, before heading to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. I saw their free Green Show, featuring the Indian music of Bindaas. Right before leaving for my trip, I was able to get a last minute ticket for one of OSF's plays, a wild-west adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors". The show was in their outdoor Elizabethan Theatre, and it was great. Although the ticket was a little pricey, I am so very glad I went.

Visiting Mesha on the Oregon Coast tomorrow!

Road Trip '08: Day 1

Long Beach, CA to Rocklin, CA (outside of Sacramento)
Miles driven today= 422
Total miles driven= 422



Okay, I know I just left this morning, but thought I might as well take advantage of the internet access while I can. Day 1 of driving is done! I left at 6:15 this morning, and after listening to a lot of country music, drinking a cup of coffee, and taking one pee and gas break, I've arrived safely at my first destination. It took me six hours to get up here, and I'm now chilling here at Jake's place, enjoying the air conditioning and avoiding the HOT outside. Checked out the school Jake teaches at and his classroom, took a tour of the house that he is in the process of buying, and am about to pop open a strawberry blonde and RELAX.

Heading to Oregon tomorrow!

Road Trippin'

It’s vacation time! I’m heading out of town tomorrow, on my first long road trip--spending two and a half weeks in the Pacific Northwest. There are many things on my itinerary, including visiting friends (Jake, Mesha, and Wendy), visiting Twilight locations like Forks, La Push, and Port Angeles (and yes, I will be looking for Edward while I’m there =P), camping in Olympic National Park, and going to Haley’s wedding. I'm hoping that I'll have time to blog some during my trip, and will let you know how it's going!

Breaking Dawn

Release
The Breaking Dawn pre-midnight release party I threw at my place was tons of fun. Over twenty of my Twilighter friends attended, and we spent the evening hanging out, snacking, drinking, and playing fun Twilight games. I had a “Kisses” guessing game, Twilight trivia, and a raffle (which was rigged for me to win—my great friends caught me by surprise and totally embarrassed me! Thank you guys!) Kellyn made an amazing Twilight board game, and Raelene made cute “worry doll” Twilight Character game pieces for us to play with. After the party, most of us headed over to our local bookstore to await the midnight release of the book. We participated in a trivia raffle game, then sat around until we had to line up outside. The bookstore gave away four prizes that night, and three of them went to our group! Staci won a Breaking Dawn t-shirt, Anitza won the Twilight movie poster, and Kristen won a signed copy of the book. It was great! I had a wonderful night, and am glad everyone else did too!

(Photo courtesy of Anitza!)
So here we all are, shortly after getting our books. We are all adult women (many of us are married women!), being nerds and indulging in the fun of a teenage vampire love story =D

If you want to see more photos from the party, check out the rest of Anitza's Pictures (especially if you want to see Raelene's "worry dolls". My favorite is Jacob.) I'll post my pics up on my flickr soon.

Reading
I finished the book early Sunday morning, and thought it was wonderful (with one exception, but that is easily forgivable). To avoid giving spoilers, I won’t go into too much detail about my opinion on the book, but I will say this--I don’t think it deserves all the disappointment and gripe that it is getting from fans. I don’t think they are fully appreciating it the way they should. After calming down and letting go of their prior expectations for Breaking Dawn, I hope these fans will revisit the novel and give it a second chance.