Friday

Aug 24, 2001

the coast

We are up and feeling great. The plan has been to take off for the coast around 11. But the other guest's bag is lost so we set a later time. We do some walking and hanging out in downtown Portland and check out of the hotel. We see the ballet practicing and have snacks.

Our chauffeur takes us to the Oregon coast. Peaceful villages where the cell phones don't work. Beaches. Rock formations. Cool air. We eat lunch al fresco. Because we can and not fry. FFP and I even find (yet another) secondhand bookstore and buy some stuff. In one little town, FFP and the gals look for real estate to buy. It's tempting, I must say. A little motel or a house a block from the beach and across the street from the grocery and the tavern.

Looking at the massive rocks, I ponder the volcanic eruption that tossed them into the sea. People in these parts talk about what they could see when Mt. St. Helen's blew her stack.

Back to Vancouver (Washington, that is) across the mighty Columbia from Portland. We eat appetizers aplenty at The Chart House. Outside. Right on the river. In our jackets! I love it.

Then it's off to the 'house on the hill' in Vancouver, WA to sleep with the windows open. Ah, yes.

mystery on the beach

massive rock - haystack, I think