Brookings and Grants Pass, OR

August 13-22

Allow me to begin by quickly summing up the less than relaxing two weeks for me following Seattle:

Tuesday, in Louisiana:  Found out they have drive-thru margarita bars (no, I'm not kidding). Flight home was delayed 7 hours.  Learned that yes, Dominos will deliver that late to an airport.

Thursday, in Chowchilla, CA:  Met parents for dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory.  Found out one of the principals attending workshop was a former classmate and friend from college.

Friday, in Fairfield, CA (near Napa):  Discovered you can buy Boudins sourdough bread at the Oakland airport.  And there was much rejoicing!  

 Next Monday, in Frisco, TX (near Dallas):  Worked and went straight to airport to fly to El Paso.

Tuesday, in El Paso:  Worked and went straight to airport to fly back to Dallas.

Wednesday, in Frisco again:  Worked and went straight to airport to fly to El Paso again.

Thursday, in El Paso again:  Where am I?  What time zone am I in?

Waiting with Rachel for flight out of  Louisiana.  We even got the TSA agent to  join us for pizza!

!

For the alcoholic who's always on the go... but no U-Hauls (because that would be... dangerous???)

August 28-29

Pinned to the wall in my office is a small map of the U.S. showing the states I have been to.  To date, my total is 22.  One of those states already colored in was Oregon, because well, technically I had been there before.  Now, I was only 4 years old at the time, so my memory of the trip is obviously pretty limited.   Basically, the only thing I remember from the trip was being in tears because I was totally convinced that my parents had stolen my snow during the train ride up there and replaced it with water.  (Since I had never seen the stuff before, they scooped some snow into a cup for me during one of the stops.)  They kept trying to tell me some bogus story about how snow melts and becomes water... blah, blah, blah, but come on, would you buy that story?  Yeah, me either ;)

Well, this trip gave me the opportunity to return to the scene of the crime and see California's neighbor to the north.  On the agenda for this trip were the towns of Brookings and Grants Pass.

The trip began with a flight from Las Vegas to Crescent City, CA via San Francisco.  Aly was not with me this time, so of course I got into and out of SFO with no delays.  As the plane began its ascent out of SFO and towards Crescent City, I was able to get these pics of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges:

View of Golden Gate Bridge
from the plane

... and the Bay Bridge

I heard that there was a lighthouse in Crescent City that was worth checking out, so after landing, I took the short drive to the Battery Point Lighthouse and grabbed these shots:

Welcome to Oregon, enjoy your visit...

Cool fact- this lighthouse is also a museum, but apparently somebody lives here, so I didn't want to be rude and get too close.  Also, the lighthouse is located on an island which requires a small boat to reach it.  This made the decision even easier.  Maybe another time.  I strolled around the area for a bit, then it was time to get in the car and head north to the Oregon border and the town of Brookings.

I love the coast

Brookings is a really small town located along the Pacific Ocean.  My hotel, while not the best hotel I've ever been to, scored major points for being located right on the beach.  Man, nothing beats opening the window and enjoying the cool breeze, smelling the ocean air, looking out on the endless horizon, and reading the tsunami warnings that were posted EVERYWHERE!  Wait...what?!  Not because they were expecting anything, but as a precaution.  Geez!  You guys sure know how to make a guy feel uneasy.  Maybe I should grab dinner to get my mind off that possibility- after all, I've already had a couple of close calls with a hurricane, an earthquake, and a tornado in the past year.  I'd prefer to not add to the list.

After a dinner of scallops and fish at the Hungry Clam, I was ready to head back to the hotel to unwind and prepare to present the next day.

Fast forward to the following day at 4:00 and I'm back in the car (nope, didn't get the family truckster) heading to Grants Pass.  Now, if you look on a map, you will see that Grants Pass is northeast of Brookings, not that far away.  So why, I ask, is my GPS telling me to go south?  Well, let me to tell you- that's because you have to drive over an hour an a half BACK into California before you can cross over again into Oregon and continue another hour to make it to Grants Pass.  Definitely not the most direct route possible, but it was a nice, scenic drive nonetheless.  Here's a small sample:

Somewhere in Oregon

Somewhere Else in Oregon

Knowing it was going to be a quick turnaround, I didn't even bother unpacking anything.  Just wanted to check-in, drop-off my bags, and go eat.  After a quick search on Yelp, I found that Musashi Sushi Restaurant was the place to go.  Located in the downtown area, near "that one bar" and "the other bar" (I might mention here that Grants Pass is pretty small too), Musashi's claim to fame is the JD Roll, which consisted of shrimp tempura, salmon, onions, tobiko, and topped off with several lemons, sliced so thinly that you were supposed to eat it as part of the roll, rind and all.  It was an interesting concept to say the least, but you know what, it actually worked.  It really added a 'punch' of lemon, but not too overpowering.

All in all, it was pretty good couple of days in the Beaver State.  No rest for the weary, though.  After my work day it was time to head back to the airport (Medford this time) to meet up again with Aly, Chris, and Katie.  This time, though, I would be meeting them in Anaheim because we were about to embark on something really dumb, or maybe I should say Dumbo?  That's right, it was time for the Dumbo Double Dare Race Weekend!  I was about to run 19.3 miles in two days because, you know, half-marathons are so last month ;)  Never a dull moment!

Seattle, San Francisco too...

August 2-August 8

My legs are sore, my frequent flier points have skyrocketed, and my body has no idea what time zone it is in.  This can only mean one thing- I have survived another August!  Now that the dust has settled and I have a few days off, I finally have some time to recall and begin writing about this whirlwind of a month!

It's 'Go' Time!

It started off with a weekend trip to San Francisco for the 'Giant Race' half-marathon.  After Aly got off of work on Friday, we packed a few things and flew out to the city to meet up with Chris, Katie, Kevin, and Kourtnee.  Having Aly with me on a flight to SFO could guarantee only one thing- it would be delayed, and once again we were not let down. After several hours of playing on the IPad and talking to random people, we were able to board the plane and make the hour and a half flight to one of my favorite cities.

The Stater Family

Chris, Katie, and the kids showed up the next day and we had a great time spending time together and walking around the city.  Not too much walking around though, because tomorrow was the big run.  And what a great run it was!  The 13.1 mile course started out at AT&T Park (aka Heaven on Earth), led us down Fisherman's Wharf, past Ghirardelli Square, and continued all the way to Golden Gate Park.  Just before we got to the Golden Gate Bridge, we made a U-turn (Dad- you probably would have recognized this), and headed back toward AT&T Park again.  Perhaps the highlight of it all was that the finish line was inside of the ballpark!  Here, we all met up, had some snacks, and snapped a few pictures.  The weather was great, the scenery was beautiful, and to top it off, Aly and I both set personal records!

Showing off the Medals

On hallowed ground

After showering and checking out of the hotel, the six of us met up again for lunch.  Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of time to relax because I had to go from there straight to the airport because I was off to Yelm, WA (about an hour south of Seattle) to work for a week.

Finding the Mariner fan was a little bit like playing Where's Waldo?

Having never previously been to Seattle, I figured this would be a great opportunity see a couple of the city's highlights.  Something I quickly became aware of was how green everything was.  Living in Vegas for the better part of a decade has definitely taught me to appreciate this.  Emerald City indeed.  On Tuesday night, I drove up to Safeco Field to catch a Mariners game.  I have to say, this is definitely one of the better ballparks in baseball.  Intimate seating, good food options, and outstanding views of the downtown skyline!  Oh, if the only the people of Seattle could see it. Seriously Seattleans... Seattlites... Seatles... uh, Citizens of Seattle, feel free to SUPPORT YOUR TEAM!  The stadium was completely taken over by Blue Jays fans!  Final score:  Blue Jays 7, Mariners 2.  Both Mariner fans went home disappointed.

The next evening, I drove to the north end of Seattle (side note: Seattle traffic is brutal!  Did not anticipate that.) to have dinner with a friend whom I haven't seen since she moved here from Vegas 3 years ago.  Tanya recommend this place called Bizarro, a funky little Italian restaurant founded by circus performers that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (you may have noticed from previous blog entries that this is one of my favorite shows.)  Obviously they heard I was coming, because we were given the:

I'm kind of a big deal around here ;)

 

If it's good enough for Guy Fieri, it's good enough for me!

The house specialty is linguini and clams, so I had to go for that.  Outstanding!  And by the way, if your cell phone starts ringing, don't even think about answering it here.  There are signs all over warning that if you are seen using your cell phone, there will be an extra charge to your bill.  Haha, love it!  You know, perhaps more businesses should adopt this approach.

There is so much more to see in Seattle, but I promised Aly I would save the rest of the touristy stuff (Pike's Place, original Starbucks, Space Needle, etc.) for another time when I could take her.  This also includes one destination that I had no idea I would be so infatuated with, and that is Mount Rainier.  I was absolutely blown away by how majestic it looked from a distance.  Seriously, I couldn't stop staring at it!  Except, you know, when other drivers yelled at me for not paying attention to the road, but what do they know?

Mt. Rainier- trust me, this picture does not do it justice!

Anyway, at 14,111 feet, it rises over 11,000 feet above everything else around it.  I was also told that people climb this peak when training to hike Mt. Everest.  That's pretty intense.  Hmm... perhaps hiking it is out of the question, but visiting the national park and just standing in awe of it is definitely on the to-do list.  Anyhow, this concluded my first week of August.  From there, it was time for a quick trip home, then off to Louisiana and California!  See you there!