Day at Cannon Beach

The next day we headed down to Cannon Beach, a few short minutes south of Seaside. While looking up things to do on our trip I read about Sandacastle Day, an event they have on a certain Saturday in June, depending on the tides. we were unbelievably excited to learn that we would be in Seaside the day of the event.

Not knowing anything about it other than it tends to get crowded, we left early in the morning and got to the beach hours before the crowd comes. When the tides are low the beach gets super wide, allowing cars to drive right on the beach. Mckay was loving the fact that our first off road adventure in the Xterra was on the beach.

We spent most of the day walking along the beach, enjoying the sun, exploring the tidepools and admiring the Sandcastle builders at work. This might have just been my most favorite day.

The Sandcastles were quite impressive to say the least. although most of them turned out to be something other than an actual sandcastle, like a budha, a pyramid, or an octopus.

After spending hours at the beach and with the crowds getting bigger we called it a day. We had quite a drive ahead of us so we couldnt stay to see the finished products.

The drive up the coast and into washington was beautiful. everything was so green and we drove through the cutest little seaside villages. We took the bridge in Astoria over the water and into WashingtonRiding this bridge was almost like a roller coaster. It was narrow and high with water on both sides. it gave me butterflies.

We arrived in Seattle in the evening and were so happy to find a Chipotle minutes from our hotel.

Seattle Love {REI and the Mariners}

Our first day in Seattle was pretty cold. like March cold, not June cold. and wet. Mckay loved the cooler temperatures so he was a happy man, its hard to hate the rain when it makes everything so pretty and green.
Since the REI mothership is in Seattle we just had to make a visit. The outside of the store was amazing, with trails, trees and a waterfall. a fun sight to see in downtown Seattle.

Mckay found himself the chaco flips he'dbeen lusting over for the last little while. and they were on sale! even better

We then made our way over to Safeco filled, sort of on the sketchy side of town but the field was amazing! and with a retractable roof so we could enjoy the game without the rain. good news!

We enjoyed a Mariners win while munching on fish and chips.

We headed back from the game only to find our lovely looking like this :( only imagine more jagged shards of glass where the window used to be.

Our car and another car in the lot had been broken in to. We had left our camera bag (empty) on the front seat and an ancient ipod on the center console. Not the smartest thing on our part, i suppose. I was upset to say the least, sad that someone would do that to another person, frustrated that we had to deal with this in an unfamiliar town. but that anger quickly turned to pity-we like to think the person was just looking for great fathers day gifts, and tremendous graditude that they only got away with an old ipod (though we were almost to the end of Count of Monte Cristo :( not good timing) and had somehow overlooked my wallet that was conveniently stashed in a compartment. The situation could have been so much worse. This new snag in our plans forced us to drive around looking like this:


yes thats the entire door wrapped in seran wrap. and judging from comments and stares, was an entertaining sight for passersby. We were hesitant to go anywhere else downtown in this state so we headed back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night warming up in the hot tub.

{UW and Crab Pot}

This day Mckay had appointments with UW admissions and a professor who's research is similar to what Mckay is working on at BYU. Since we are planning on applying here in the winter and the school is one of our favorites we really wanted to visit the school and just see what it was about. The campus is gorgeous and in such a beautiful location just minutes from downtown Seattle. There is so much diversity there, which Mckay was excited about. I think we would be really happy there, and they're doing some great research that Mckay is really interested in. We would be so lucky to go here, but it is competitive, so we'll just have to wait and see.



Library:

After our campus visit it was time to get our window fixed. you can imagine our relief! We learned from Safelite that people can get really desperate, and break into cars for things as small as a single candy bar. So we completely cleaned out our car-including bottles of water. better safe than sorry. we then felt prepared to head downtown for a delicious dinner on the pier at the wonderful Crab Pot.

Whilte waiting for our table we strolled the pier and browsed a tacky, yet so delightful souvenier shop.

Mckay loving him some crab bisque. soooooo good.

and this: our seafood feast plopped right onto the table.

We love crab, but who doesnt? but we decided to be adventurous and try Oysters, Mussels and clams too. not for us. very not for us. And i had to get up the nerve to rip the head off of this guy:

an experience i dont think i could handle on a daily basis, but such a fun dinner. definitely an experience. and after this meal, we had officially overdosed on seafood.

After dinner we took our stuffed bellies for a walk around Gasworks park, known to have the best view of the Seattle skyline, and boy did it live up to the hype.

{Pikes Place, etc.}

We found ourselves wandering down to this place on our last day in Seattle. A typical tourist spot and definitely crowded while we were there, but a delightful stop nonetheless.

The iconic fish stand you come to as you enter the market. This is where they throw fish the size of my torso across the market to a coworker, it was rough trying to capture the event in action and stomach the fishy smell at the same time.

The market was lined with booths filled with fresh fruits and veggies, beautiful flowers, fresh seafood, homemade goods etc..

We loved the market, and finished off our stroll by sitting near the water, munching on delicious calorie filled french pastries amid others who were out enjoying the perfect weather, including shirtless homeless men with their pet dogs, one which was dressed in a striped vest and tophat. the dog, not the homeless man. quite the sight i must say!

After the market we made our way back to gasworks part to enjoy the place in the sunlight.

Gasworks Park used to be the site of a gas refinery. Years ago they were wanting to tear the harsh looking machinery down but the public protested. what is left is a beautiful and unique blend of grassy hills and rusty painted refinery pieces.

We enjoyed the view so much, watched three men and their wild frisbee skills. we're talking rolls, flips, spins, twists, kicks, all choreographed to wonderful classical music. so random. I also am pretty sure I spotted the house from Sleepless in Seattle across the water. oh how i would love to live there one day. i cant even imagine how much a place like that would cost.

We left Gasworks park and set out to find the notorious Fremont Troll who lives under the Aurora Bridge at 36th. He was quite the looker. we waited forever to capture a picture of him without people posing all over him, there was one girl inparticular who just had to take a picture posing on every square inch of the thing. We finally just gave up and posed with him ourselves.

Notice what he's holding in his hand? thats right, a volkswagon. pretty sure its an actual car, or at least parts of it. This made us happy, considering our current relationship with volkswagon.

We ate dinner at the counter. a much beloved burger joint we often visited when it was in Salt Lake but has closed down, which broke our hearts. So we were happy to find one in Seattle and it was just as good as we remembered it being. And thus ended our final day in Seattle.

We woke up Wednesday morning early early to start our 14 hour drive back home. We had to make a stop at Top Pot before we headed out. We learned about Top Pot on Donut Paradise (Food Network fan here) and they definitely did not dissapoint. even the simple glazed donut was probably the best donut ever experienced. go there, its amazing.

Isn't the inside dreamy? I fell in love with it on the show. The walls are all lined with books, making such a cozy, relaxed feel.

And that was our final stop on an unforgettable trip with my honey. We had such a blast. The trip confirmed that yes we could live here, and hope to some day. I already want to go back. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect getaway.

no boys allowed.

i'm blogging from a quaint little inn in Seaside Oregon with husband asleep next to me. its almost 1:30 am, about 3 hours past my usual bed time. I usually dont make it past 10:30. however an upset stomach and a terrifying episode of dateline has left me wide awake. i figure i might as well update the blog.

with elise home from england and katie about to embark on a mega-adventure in Los Angeles/Kansas city us four girls, and elijah made our way up to Midway last weekend for a much needed girls get-together. We spent a few hours at Tarahumara until Katie joined us and we headed up to Megan's family condo.


We sewed, and talked into the wee hours of the night. scary stories were exchanged, (yes we're adults)though they might have only been scary to me (in the dark that sweet little cemetery in the parking lot was a little too close for comfort)

the sewing: (elise could not be more excited for this picture. and i forgot to capture seamstress Katie in action before she left)

I forgot to take a picture of our semi-finished project. but i luvs it. I also spent my morning taking lots of pictures of this little guy. what a heartbreaker.

We also braved a visit to the charming cemetery in the parking lot. despite it's random location it was cute, and a lot less scary in the daylight.

Thanks for the fun over-nighter girlies! it was fun being roomies again.

Memorial Day Blunder and a recipe....

We went camping/climbing over Memorial Day Weekend with some friends and boy did we have such a good time. The blunder mentioned in the title is that we forgot our camera :( and Janson and Tara were smart enough to bring a camera, sans memory card however. which is why this post is photo-less, which just about breaks my heart. We finally broke in our new tent, we played cards, swung in the hammock and ate and ate. i learned that banana boats, make a great breakfast. what is a banana boat? cut a banana in half stuff it full of chocolate, marshmallows, cinnamon and sugar, whatever. wrap it up in tinfoil and cook in the fire for a few minutes. so good. since it was memorial day the campsites were super crowded, but the families around us were great. we especially liked the family to our right, who while we were roasting hot dogs on sticks and scrambling our eggs with a knife (we forgot a few things) and using tinfoil as a plate, whipped up gourmet meals and even a cake in the dutch ovens. super fancy. In the morning we hiked a little ways up to what i consider my first real outdoor climbing experience. scary. but oh so fun! we loved every minute of this trip and even though my hair smelled like camp fire for a good three days i cant wait to go camping again! if anyone wants to do a camp out let us know!

and now i must share a quick recipe. last week we also had a spontaneous barbecue with my family. we grilled artichokes, corn on the cob, and steaks. but what was so amazing about the meal was the sauce we made for the steaks. i poured it over just about everything on my plate.

Ina Garten's Gorgonzola Sauce

4 cups heavy cream (yep thats right...)
3-4 oz crumbly blue or gorgonzola cheese
3 Tablespoons grated parmesan
3/4 teaspoon salt, pepper
3 Tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

(for 5 people we halved this recipe and had plenty of sauce leftover)

Bring the heavy cream to a full boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. continue letting it boil for 45-50 minutes. this will make it thick like a white sauce. stir occasionally throughout (and watch it, ours boiled over)

off the heat add the cheeses, seasonings and parsley. whisk until everything is blended.

-lesson learned, if you want to reheat this the next day, or even for a late-night snack, do it over low heat in a saucepan. not in the microwave.

this sauce was so amazingly good, easy and so healthy for you too ;), not really, but i have to say this sauce is worth a little indulgence every once in awhile. It's a little richer than alfredo sauce, we dipped crusty bread in it and it would be so tasty over some pasta. mckay thinks it would also be great on a burger. this is a new favorite. so when youre in the mood to spoil yourself (or your diet) give it a try, and just balance it out with lots of fruits and veggies to avoid feeling too guilty. I'm speaking from experience.

Ode to 50 cent

this is 50 cent. our most treasured turtle, an international traveller named both for the rapper and for the fact that he used to be the size of a 50 cent piece. now he's a tank.

-this picture (circa 2005) shows how tiny and precious he was, a size i naively thought he would stay.

~ sorry i cannot for the life of me get this picture to rotate.

He's been with us throughout our entire marriage, and despite his occasional stink and the catlike noises he's started to make in the middle of the night, i think he'll be around for a long time. hopefully he stops growing.

This weekend we took him outside for the very first time, and let him wander around the yard. he was quite the explorer! we also tried to get a picture of him eating out of mckay's hand, something he's done before. we're convinced it would have worked this time if we'd tried feeding him something else besides a juicy pineapple.

Some may think its silly to devote an entire post to a reptile, sorry, but he's our baby. plus he's super awesome.