mejaka

I found a beach house that has a typical per-night price but an unbelievable 30-day deal. I mentioned it to my sister and a friend, and they both thought it sounded GREAT. So…we’re planning on splitting up the cost and the time in August 2008. My family and I get two weeks, my sister and my friend each get one. It works out to about the same per night as a budget chain hotel.

I’ve always loved the rockier coastline beaches. I’ve never been able to take a vacation like this, though. The one time we had one nearly planned, a medical issue intervened.

But this year is my 20th wedding anniversary and I am thinking about this pretty hard. In 20 years, we’ve spent maybe half our anniversaries together; our first anniversary together was our 4th. This morning I was leafing through my journals and found that between 1987 and 1997 I only mentioned four anniversaries – our first (we were apart), our fourth (our first together), one which we celebrated by going out to dinner, and one which we celebrated by going fishing. The ones for which we weren’t together aren’t even referenced.

My sister is celebrating her 10th and they’ve planned a romantic getaway, which got me thinking. Somehow, my husband and I – probably because anniversaries were so hit-and-miss – never really established a celebratory tradition. But 20 years is something.

So, maybe the Oregon coast. I’d like to find a rental on the beach, maybe in a less-magnetic area where the rates might be a bit on the lower end of Oregon coastal rates.

it’s as good as I was ever told.

My sister and I have birthdays in the same week, and we’ve decided that we’re going to spend them at Powell’s with our mom.

in C d’A’s small-town cousin. This place is beautiful, and there’s a ton to do. Can’t say much about the nightlife because I’m old and dry, but if you like outdoors this is a great spot-kayaking, hiking, biking-and there’s art to be seen. My favorite is the glassblowing exhibition shop/coffee house…You can get a drink (not just coffee—some nice sodas and stuff) and watch the guys make something in the glass-walled studio.

My husband will probably be attending a mgmt conference here in July, and I’ll go with him if I can. The conf is at the Heathman Lodge. He’ll be busy all day for a work week; evenings open after 4:30, probably.

What to do? What to see? A trip across the river to Powell’s is a given. But what advice is there for an Idaho small-towner whose city experience is minimal but who doesn’t want to sit around all day no matter how cool the lodge is? Arts, aquariums, places to look at the water? And how shall we use our evening time (we’re pretty old, quite conservative and we don’t drink…so think walks and architecture and nature and gardens over pubs and clubs)?

Just kidding. Seattle’s got it’s good points and I’ve enjoyed visiting before. Problem—this time the visit is so short as to make one laugh. We’ll fly in around 8, Brett interviews at 10 in the Fed building (where even IS that?), we’ll have lunch but we have to be on a plane at 4.

So…wow. I guess I’ll go ask a question and see what the natives have to say about what to do with about three hours in Seattle!

I just want to see the Lady Banks rose that grows in Tombstone. The history behind it is so intriguing and the plant itself just sounds incredible.

A local company has just announced the addition of kayaking trips in the Galapogos to its itineraries. Not trips by barge with day kayaking. Actual kayak-and-camp trips.

I will never go. If I had that much to spend, I couldn’t do this while people were struggling for food and basic life needs. But oh…it would be so cool.

I did a study of Laos for an international communication class, which was supposed to include various accounts by travelers.

I came across a fascinating pair of travel accounts. Both described nearly the exact same route (Luang Prubang, typical tourist river route, etc). Both hit almost all the same details—smell of city, description of boat and other passengers, food, even the same building at one point. The curious thing was that one of the travelers saw wonder and beauty everywbere (without being entirely blinded to certain realities), and the other thought the whole trip basically sucked (his language matched his attitude).

Interesting, huh?

I came out of the exercise really wanting to visit Laos; the Plain of Jars is of particular interest.

That’s it.