Beach Getaway

I headed out August 7th and returned yesterday from the beach. Jerry was able to come down Friday through Sunday, and then back again the following weekend when Joyce and Bob came to join us.

Before everyone's arrivals I read five books and wrote the reviews for them. Next I am blogging those I want to recommend.

When Jerry, Bob and Joyce arrived we rendevoused at The Cottage Bakery for lunch. Then we slinked through the Antique Mall in Seaview, and the purple & green antique store across from it. Joyce found a really cool red theatre seat for their 50s room. Later we zoomed to the trailer, settled in, visited, and had ham and bean soup. Jerry and I were amazed that they had never seen The Princess Bride, so we had to fix that problem. The next day we visited the antique mall in Klipsan Beach and went to a late dinner at Jimmela's...well worth the wait. Be sure to go there. But make your reservation before the day you want to eat; lesson learned. It was amazingly good and they made a beautiful off-menu meal for Joyce.

Sunday we attended sacrament meeting at the Long Beach chapel, and Joyce found a friend that she worked with at Techtronics. Small world! We ate lunch and went to the Oysterville Cemetery. I don't think Bob and Joyce were jumping up and down to go there, but it is the coolest old cemetery with local pioneer family plots, sailors lost at sea, and old, old wood headstones. Jerry left after dark, and the rest of us watched Hairspray. I love that musical.

Monday we had the Seaside adventure! There is one word for all the traffic...slow. First, a car that looked like it was driver-less, cruised at 20 mph in a 35mph then kept the same speed in a 50 mph zone. I was dying! Finally she/he? moved somewhat off the highway so that we could take our lives in our hands by passing as we lurched into the oncoming lane. Not amused. Then there was a major pile-up in Astoria. There were two cars involved in something on the Youngs' Bay Bridge. The fun continued. I pulled into Costco to buy some gas, and inadvertently headed back to Astoria. I knew there was something wrong with a sign saying Fort Stephens was the next LEFT. Turned around and had a thankfully uneventful trip to the outlet mall in Seaside. I bought a few items at EB and H&D, found Bob and Joyce and piled in their car to head down the main drag of SS to the Pig N Pancake (new favorite place) and then to the antique mall there. We hurried down the street to play Fascination. What a hoot! Bob won a blackout game. I mainly threw my balls back at me, over the top into Joyce's alley, or back into the return shoot. Laughed myself silly. We took off to get to The Bowpicker for tuna fish & chips. Joyce literally ran down the trolley and got us on the last run. Bob trailed us with the boat (his cushy town car) so that we could go on the entire run. Afterward we hugged bye and they were off to Vancouver and me back to the trailer.

The kite festival gang was arriving and Long Beach was hot and crowded as I drove home. A great beach vacation!