Sunday, August 30, 2009
Vacation 2009
Adventure #1 was to go windsurfing. I’ve always wanted to, and now I’m 55, and it won’t get any easier as I get older, and I found a place that was not too expensive – so I signed us up. Bob didn’t want to, but Cait and Soren and I were ready to go. We got to Hood River an hour early for our lesson, only to discover that there wasn’t enough wind to raise a wave, and there was no wind to surf. Instead, we tried stand up paddling. That’s standing on a surfboard, with a really long paddle, and paddling around like a dufflepud on a pond. We paddled to an island, and vegged out a bit, and paddled back. It was hard to keep my balance – Soren fell in at one point, not even accidentally on purpose – and although the board have a keel they don’t keep entirely straight, but you can make them go where you like. It was fun. It felt like going to the Island from the cottage at the Lake.
Then after that, we booked a night in a real hotel on the Oregon coast. I wanted to show Cait and Soren the stuff we’d seen last year, the whales and the seals & puffins and sea lions and the cool coves and rocks. We also thought we’d see the Tillamook cheese place, because people talk about it. Tillamook was a total waste of time and energy, way too commercial and crowded. So we drove down the coast, and found some empty beachy places, and that was good - though it was cloudy. (Here are Cait and Bob).
So we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It’s pretty cool – and a lot of it is outside in the rain, but I snagged an umbrella from the entry people – and we watched them feeding the sea otters, and the puffins were cool, and the seals were fun. The puffins and murres would toddle up to the brink of the rocks, and then cannonball off and blast into the water feet first. They were really funny. Soren and Cait also took the tunnel through the aquarium. They’ve built a t
unnel right through the middle of the aquarium. The walls are clear, the top is clear, there’s a window in the floor like a glass bottom boat. It’s cool and a bit freaky. Bob and I got dizzy last time, so we gave it a pass, but the kids liked it a lot.
After that we came home. Cait and I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday, I hooked her up with a friend who took her to the train station. Bob and I went to a party. And then Sunday, we just recovered from our lazy vacation. I suppose we’re ready to start a new school year. I suppose….
This year we took a low energy vacation. We didn’t go between July and August because Bob was too busy and Andrea was working. So, we planned a vacation to Hells Canyon, but that was when Cait would be here, and we just couldn’t see leaving her HERE while we went AWAY on vacation. So, we opted for two little adventures.
Adventure #1 was to go windsurfing. I’ve always wanted to, and now I’m 55, and it won’t get any easier as I get older, and I found a place that was not too expensive – so I signed us up. Bob didn’t want to, but Cait and Soren and I were ready to go. We got to Hood River an hour early for our lesson, only to discover that there wasn’t enough wind to raise a wave, and there was no wind to surf. Instead, we tried stand up paddling. That’s standing on a surfboard, with a really long paddle, and paddling around like a dufflepud on a pond. We paddled to an island, and vegged out a bit, and paddled back. It was hard to keep my balance – Soren fell in at one point, not even accidentally on purpose – and although the board have a keel they don’t keep entirely straight, but you can make them go where you like. It was fun. It felt like going to the Island from the cottage at the Lake.
Then after that, we booked a night in a real hotel on the Oregon coast. I wanted to show Cait and Soren the stuff we’d seen last year, the whales and the seals & puffins and sea lions and the cool coves and rocks. We also thought we’d see the Tillamook cheese place, because people talk about it. Tillamook was a total waste of time and energy, way too commercial and crowded. So we drove down the coast, and found some empty beachy places, and that was good - though it was cloudy. (Here are Cait and Bob). But our hotel was OK, and we had a really nice dinner, and the next day, when we were ready to climb the rocks and see the animals, it started to rain. And rain. And it kept on raining.
So we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It’s pretty cool – and a lot of it is outside in the rain, but I snagged an umbrella from the entry people – and we watched them feeding the sea otters, and the puffins were cool, and the seals were fun. The puffins and murres would toddle up to the brink of the rocks, and then cannonball off and blast into the water feet first. They were really funny. Soren and Cait also took the tunnel through the aquarium. They’ve built a t
unnel right through the middle of the aquarium. The walls are clear, the top is clear, there’s a window in the floor like a glass bottom boat. It’s cool and a bit freaky. Bob and I got dizzy last time, so we gave it a pass, but the kids liked it a lot. After that we came home. Cait and I went to the farmer’s market on Saturday, I hooked her up with a friend who took her to the train station. Bob and I went to a party. And then Sunday, we just recovered from our lazy vacation. I suppose we’re ready to start a new school year. I suppose….
