More of a Very Good Thing!!

The second day got off to a much better start. There is a lot to be said about waking up in a nice warm cozy bed, or at least a dry sleeping bag that is on a dry air mattress. We luckily had the opportunity to dry the sleeping bags the day before, once the weather started to cooperate with our wishes. Not that we were necessarily in a bad mood the morning before but it is a lot less work to get yourself into a positive mindset when you are not wet and cold. So this morning was much more amiable than the one previous.

We started off our day with a champion’s breakfast. Eggs, bacon and hash browns all cooked over a warming morning fire, all consumed while sitting on dry camping chairs. We were off to a good start. The breakfast provided us with the energy that we needed to take us through a day of surfing, the Vitamin water hydrated us before another day of beer consumption and the “Anaconda” playing in the back ground got us in the right mindset to party! Our day actually started when I decided to fire up the speakers from inside Shannon and I’s tent, sending out the intention for everyone to take a deep breath and get ready to go hard for our second day of surfing….and I do not think that I need to tell you which song was the one being played as I was sending this message to our fellow campers J.

We were in no real hurry to get to the beach. We spent a considerable amount of time letting our morning fire run its course, relaxing and enjoying the freedom that we felt with a day of nothing but fun ahead of us. Those are some of the finest moments of life. The feeling of relaxation mixed with excitement that you have when you are on vacation with nothing else to do but think about what type of fun you intend to have next. You have your whole day ahead of you and the opportunities are endless. Even if you have a plan in mind you never really know what other sort of excitement you might attract into your reality along the way. How great of a feeling is it when you have nothing but awesomeness in your daily forecast?! I will tell you it feels amazing!!

Once the fire was no more, everyone went into action with the same relaxed energy that has been with us most of the morning. The surf boards were piled up and tied down, the snacks were being packed and the coolers were being filled. All the items on the “great day checklist” were accounted for, so we were on our way!

The weather once again was amazing! As I mentioned before there is an understanding that most every day in Westport starts off overcast and foggy. Sometimes it burns off quickly, other times not so quick and other times not at all. On this day we were pleased to see if slowly breaking to the point of complete clearing once we reached the beach. The parking lot had a different look than it had the previous day, and I would suspect that the current weather conditions had a lot to do with this being the situation. We looped around once with no luck so we decided to drop off the gear at the closest point to the beach and then have our friend go and park. While he was doing this, a spot opened up that we could not get to without looping all the way around one more time because of the one way nature of the lot itself. To make sure the spot was still available once the car was able to make it back to the spot we had another friend go and stand in the spot in order to save it. A person standing in a parking spot would be a useful deterrent to stop someone else from taking that spot, or at least one would think. Well on this occasion this was not the case. A family in a large truck decided it was a good spot for them to park so they started backing up right into our friend!! If our friend didn’t get out of the way the guy would have backed right over him!! We could not believe the audacity of this guy! We were beside ourselves that someone would do something so reckless without any warning. At the very least swear at us and tell us you don’t give a $$%$^& if we want to save the spot because you are taking it anyway. At least have the nerve for a verbal confrontation before you run him over!!

We found out later in an awkward turn of events that he did not see our friend at all and was very, very sorry for the incident. He even offered to move his car and let us take the spot. This all happened after our friend came back and told us what had happened and then we all started talking about how amazed we were of his demeanor and his boldness to threaten physical injury without any warning. This was then followed by many points and glares sent from our group to theirs. I stand by the fact that he was still very much in the wrong for being so unaware of his surroundings but he did not deserve the character abuse he was unknowingly receiving from our party. This is the trouble with jumping to conclusions when you do not know the other person’s reasons. Shannon and I once overheard a bartender at a wine tasting talking about some customers that she had that had used the vessel to dump out some of the wine they were tasting. We went on for probably a good ten minutes saying how ridiculous we thought that was, how bad could the wine possibly have been to waste it by dumping it out. We talked about how arrogant that person must have been and how we did not believe that anyone’s palate was so sophisticated that they could not possibly taste anymore of that wine, it was just too below them. We said a lot of things and made many assumptions that painted whoever this was in a worse and worse light. We then decided to ask the woman behind the bar what reason the person gave for pouring it out. She then surprised us by saying that it was because the glass had been filled too high and the person wanted to make sure they didn’t drink too much since they had to drive home. Imagine how silly we felt after all of the bashing we had been doing lol. It was a perfectly legitimate, not to mention exceedingly responsible, decision. In that particular situation, it would have been a poor decision not to pour it out. It was an important lesson in our lives. It brought to light the importance of asking questions and learning about the real situation before you start jumping to conclusions. It was a situation that humbled us and opened our eyes to the error of our ways. I truly believe that is has had an impact on how I have conducted myself going forward in life.

In the end we accepted the apology from the guy driving the truck, we said no to the parking spot he was offering, and another spot two cars down opened up so we were all able to benefit from being parked in an advantageous location. With that being taken care of we were off to the beach.

There is not much for me to say about the surfing itself. The description would have been very similar to the one that I gave for the day previous. The waves were still choppy, we still got pushed way down the beach by the current, it was still hard to get out past the breakers, and we still had an amazing time. We all caught some quality waves and we all felt like our skills improved by logging some more surfing experience.

Up on the beach we were up to our old tricks. Enjoying some craft beer, snacking on chips, and lunching on hot dogs grilled over our beach fire (that I once again started with my Old Spice body spray blow torch). I love cooking hot dogs on the beach after surfing. I get so freaking hungry that my usual two is just not enough for me. In fact I believe I had 4……and sadly, possibly 5…..on this occasion. The volume of hot dogs consumption correlates with the amount of shredding you do on your surfboard, it is a scientific fact. So just imagine how much shredding I was doing to earn myself 4 (or 5) Johnsonville Brats (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H_2mzLVa2o)!!

One funny story worth mentioning had to do with some of the dogs that were similarly enjoying their time on the beach. There are many, many dogs gallivanting along the beach. It is a great spot for friendly dogs to roam as their owners are out surfing. I like it…you have to be careful to not leave your food out…..but I enjoy seeing the dogs having the time of their lives!! This one particular dog, a small black Pug decided to pay us a visit. This little guy was very friendly and he even brought along his German Sheppard friend/bodyguard. It was very cute how this German Sheppard was looking out for his little buddy. The Pug stayed with us for some time, enjoying all the love he was receiving, but then it was time for him to move along. We said our goodbyes and saw him wander off. We didn’t pay too much attention to him since he was not our dog and therefore not really our responsibility. We later saw him going up the hill toward the parking lot. Not long after we saw his owner searching for him. We told her we saw him going up towards the parking lot. She did not seem pleased, whether she was not pleased with the dog or with us or a combination of both, is unclear. Our one friend went up to use the washroom and said she saw the woman angrily scanning the parking lot for her dog, she also said she thought she overheard the woman cursing us for telling her the dog had run up to the parking lot and now she couldn’t find it. She seemed to feel like we had sent her on a wild goose (pug??) chase. Minutes after our friend got back to us with the news we say the dog returning from the parking lot, down to the beach. We knew the woman was still up there searching but we did not feel like it was our duty to go up there to inform her of the new situation, especially after how ungrateful she seemed when we tried to help out the first time.

When she eventually returned to find her dog lying in the arm of her friend she was none too pleased lol. We were not close enough to hear what all went down at that point but I would imagine that dog got a good tongue lashing. Poor little guy, he was just exploring J.

I finished my last ride of the day at a decent time on this occasion. I did not want to interfere with the others intentions for the second straight day. We also had plans to check out the local winery (http://www.westportwinery.org/) on the way back to camp. We tried a number of their wines, and they were excellent! We particularly enjoyed the Bog Berry Blush — Cranberry Gewürztraminer, very tasty! There was also a particular beer that we wanted to try there but it had been so popular that they were completely sold out until the next batch was ready. We did not stick around too long since the wine was a bit more expensive than we were willing to pay knowing that we still had plenty of our own wine waiting for us back at the campsite. It was a good stop since one of our friends really needed to use the washroom. When she was in there we decided to do the old “move the car to a different spot to scare her” trick. It worked like a charm! I think it was especially successful since the campsite was within walking distance, so it was plausible that we would leave her there is we got tired of waiting for her. I don’t think she would have been very impressed if we did, but it was within the realm of possibility lol.

We did not stay long at the winery but we do have plans to include it in our next trip down there. They have live music on Friday nights between 5:30 and 7:30 and they also serve food at the time and could make for an enjoyable evening!!

Once we got back to our site we wasted no time creating another huge camp fire…we still had plenty of wood to burn and a limited amount of time to burn it! It was another great evening, good food was eaten, tasty drinks were consumed and enjoyable company was enjoyed. Those are some of the most relaxing nights. Your body is thankful for the rest after a long day of strenuous activity (surfing), your hungry has been satisfied with a nice big dinner, and then it’s time to curl up close to the warming fire with your favorite drink in hand, all while spending some quality time with the people you enjoy spending it with the most. That is called living the dream and fits right in with the name and spirit of this blog J.

The last morning is always a bit sad, and the weather resonated that feeling. It was raining once again, not as hard as it had on the first night but it was still noticeable. Packing up in the rain is not ideal since you will then be required to unpack everything, again, once you get home in order to dry everything that cannot be stored wet for risk of it molding. Luckily Shannon and I have my sister who still lives at home with my parents to help us out. We would have no place, other than in the middle of our apartment, to re-setup our tent to dry it. So she has now been our savior on such occasions and offers to do it for us since my parents have the space to do it. We are eternally grateful for it and we thank you!! It is also not fun to end your vacation from reality. Even if you love the job you are going back to, you still don’t want to see this segment of your life come to an end. But I have yet to find a way to stop if from coming to an end at some point so until I can do that, I must be brave and strong and deal with it the best that I can J.

Once we were all packed up we hit the road for a long drive home. We stopped once for a Jack-in-the-Box lunch which ended up being huge meals (http://www.jackinthebox.com/food/jacks-munchie-meals/hella-peno-burger-munchie-meal)! It consisted of a burger, a drink, curly fries, and two tacos. In my experience most meals use “or” not “and”. It’s normally fries “or” tacos, not fries “and” tacos…so we were surprised. It was not easy to finish but we did anyway J. I cannot say that we felt amazing after eating that much food…but it had been good at the time lol.

The trip was quick and easy and we were back at home to lounge our way through the rest of the evening in preparation for the new school year, not either of us have any invested interest in that but even still it does feel like a marked end to the summer and the beginning of a new time of your life. It was the end of an amazing summer, and the beginning of who knows what’s next!!

From Rain to Shine

I would like to say we had a decent sleep that night, considering the situation. It was not overly noticeable that our bed was significantly less hospitable than it usually is when we go camping. It wasn’t until early the next morning that things started to go south. We were awakened by a familiar yet unexpected sound….rain pounding on the outside of the tent!! This was not supposed to happen!! The weather was supposed to have cleared up over night, not clouded over!! We were not prepared to deal with rain. We had no air mattress to lift us up off the ground, we had not covered our tent with a tarp yet , in fact, we almost decided not to put the fly on the tent either. We naively thought that it would be a good night to star gaze and allow the fresh air into our tent J. One for three is not bad for a major league batting average, but it did very little for keeping us dry on this Saturday morning in Westport, Washington.

The rain started out innocent enough, but it grew in rage much like an inebriated Cowboys fan bearing witness to Tony Romo blowing yet another chance at winning a playoff game. That rage is usually an object of amusement for me, since I have never been much of a Romo fan, but angry rain turning our campsite into one giant puddle does make me giggle in the same way….though I did start laughing at one point when the rain started coming down so hard we could barely hear each other talking, despite being in the same tent! At this point we were still relatively dry. The sides of our tent were not as fortunate, but we seemed to be safe where we were, situated in the middle. But even that only lasted for so long.

It was a matter of minutes before Shannon started to realize that water was soaking through our tent and into the blankets on her side of the bed. We could not figure out why her side was getting wet but mine was not. It was not until later that morning when I left the tent that I realized the flaw in our set up. During our half assed attempt at setting up camp the night before we had pitched the tent on top of a tarp. The reasoning behind this move was that it would provide a layer of defense against the morning dew. Not a bad plan if that is all that we would have had to deal with. Unfortunately, the rain was running off of the tarp that I had used to cover our tent after we had woken up to the rain, and then started to pool underneath our tent…..right underneath Shannon’s side of the bed. I attempted to “fix” the problem after it was already too late, by using my sandal to splash all the water off the tarp and pile empty beer bottles around the tent, under the tarp, to direct the water away from the tent. But as I mentioned before it was much to late to fix the problem, it was now more about damage control lol.

Once we were awake and realized that we were wet and getting wetter, it was time to get up and face the day. Luckily our camping companions had the foresight to set up a tarp covering the picnic table the night before. It was by no means a perfect set up, but it served its purpose. Using our surfboards to prop it up to a level that we were able to function under comfortably, it was time to make some breakfast. In order to lift our spirits Shannon and I suggested that we do something a little bit less conventional for breakfast. We offered to share our prized food item with the group for some comfort eating. We offered up a baked brie J. Well at least a wheel of brie that we would bake and share with the group. Baked brie, soft bread, delicious deli meats, and some breakfast beers….oh and I almost forgot, some candles to set the mood.

It did not take long before we were laughing and enjoying ourselves just as much as we would have on a sunny day. There are very few problems in life that cannot be solved using cheese, bread, meat, and beer and/or wine. During our breakfast discussions we realized why the weather was unpredictably poor. My sister and her friend were telling us about the great deals they got on their rain coats from the Columbia outlet store (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/columbia-sportswear-outlet-tulalip). “We bought them just in case it rained this weekend” they said. So they were responsible for bringing the rain! Unreal! We gave them a good tongue lashing for the trouble they caused and then as a group (them included) we decided to put in an order for the weather to clear up for the rest of the day. I know what you must be thinking “good luck with that”, and I would venture to guess that you would be speaking sarcastically in saying so. Well if that is the case, I am happy to tell you that in no more than an hour or two after we decided we wanted the weather to clear up, it did just that. From cold and rainy to hot and sunny, perfect surfing weather!!

After we had our breakfast we headed into town to check out the craft fair/seafood cook out. It was fun to take in the sights of what I believed to be a picture of American culture. We waited in line for a good 45 minutes before we realized that none of us had any intentions of buying anything and then decided to check out Westport Brewing (http://www.westportbrewing.com/).

By this time the sun was out on full display and I was regretting the fact that I was still wearing my cold weather Under Armor gear while the others were working on their tans. The brewery itself was a sight to be seen. It was not your traditional brewery, in fact it started out as someone’s garage. The garage door opens up to a make shift bar, offering growler fill up, tasting paddles, pints, and a fun tasting room to enjoy all that is offered. They also have outdoor umbrella covered tables and chairs to use when the weather is favorable, some are even located on the porch of the of the neighboring house (I would venture to guess that whoever is the owner of the brewing company is the one that owns the house and turned his/her garage into the tasting room, but I can neither confirm or deny that is actually the case). Whatever the case may be it was a great place to enjoy a few pints and even though we were still new to the idea of sour beer it was a pleasurable experience and one that I hope to replicate on a regular basis on my future visits to Westport!

After our memorable time at the brewery we headed back to camp to get prepared to surf the afternoon away. On our way to the beach the task of getting us pumped up for the waves fell squarely upon the sturdy shoulders, or more appropriately booty, of Nicki Minaj. It was an “Anancoda” marathon for the ten minute drive to the beach. It should be noted that playing songs on repeat has become somewhat of a trend on our camping trips. Every year a new song is unintentionally chosen as the theme song for the weekend. One especially memorable trip we had the Park Ranger come to our site and say “I know all I need to know about your friend, and can you please turn down the Chris Isaak?” This was after our group had started ranting about a friend from high school while listening to “Wicked Games” on repeat (I believe the next day our Ipod told us it was played 53 times in a row lol) and thus a tradition was born.

Well what can I say about our time at the beach?! It was great fun! Beers were drunk, hot dogs were eaten, waves were caught, and grand old times were had! Lighting a fire on the beach can be a tough task. Finding dry wood is not usually an issue but kindling can be in short supply. This is why I always include a bottle of body spray in my surf backpack. What does a bottle of body spray have to do with starting a fire, you ask?! Aerosol can + lighter = a sweet….and great smelling…..blow touch!! This is how you start a beach fire quickly and easily J.

The surfing itself was an awesome time! I would not quite describe it as epic, the waves were not big enough or clean enough to provide an epic day of surfing. As much as we tried we could not make it out past the breakers to catch the epic waves. We were also on an area of the beach where the under tow would continuously push us down the beach. There were some areas where it was so strong that we could barely walk out in a straight line. I felt like a drunk dude trying to walk on ice. It was even tougher to paddle out. There were a few occasions where I thought I saw a break in the waves and a great opportunity to get out where the waves were best. After a solid five minutes of paddling (or at least that’s what it felt like) I saw a fellow surfer, and he was standing in waist deep in water. Very discouraging lol. To make things worse when I turned around to look at the shore I realized that I was waaaaay down the beach, a good ten minute walk back to our sun tent. On the up side I did catch a few sweet waves, not epic, but I will take sweet.

The highlight of the day was the sunset surf session at the end of the day. I told my co-surfers that I wanted to catch one more good wave before calling it a day. It ended up taking quite a bit longer than I thought that it would but the view was amazing! I have seen pictures and paintings and I have seen some unreal clips in surf movies, but it takes on a whole new meaning when you see it in person. My first thought was, I wish I had my camera. My second thought was, why not just take a mental picture? Mental pictures allow an element of creativity and imagination that cannot be matched by any of the special features included on top priced cameras. I was living a dream and enjoying every minute of it, so much that I kind of forgot about the other group members sitting on the beach waiting for me. It wasn’t until later that I realized that everyone was not having as much fun as I was, they were actually eager to get back to the campsite before it got too dark, which is exactly what happened. But it was not an experience that I will forget anytime soon and it was definitely worth it J. One of the reasons why I love surfing as much as I do is that it is not just about the waves. The environment plays such a large role in the enjoyment of the sport, that you can have an unbelievable time even if the waves are not going off and providing the rides that change lives. Surfing is more than a physical experience, it includes an element of spirituality that is not common in the world of sports, an element that can create memories that stick with you for years to come. 

Westport, Oh How I Have Missed You!

Westport, Washington is our surf destination of choice (http://magicseaweed.com/Westport-Surf-Report/310/). Most people wonder why we choose to drive 5 hours down to the States, when we are so close to Tofino (http://magicseaweed.com/Tofino-Chesterman-Beach-Surf-Report/1123/). Well we have done the math and Tofino is not that much closer or it might not even be closer at all. Distance to our destination is not the deciding factor. We choose Westport for a variety of good reasons. One reason is because we do not need to take a ferry to get where we want to go. This is not to say that we do not enjoy riding on the ferry, on the contrary in fact, we love riding on the ferry! Riding on the ferry is a mini vacation in itself. You have someone else driving you, someone else cooking for you and someone else taking care of the navigation for you. It is like a mini cruise! When the weather is agreeable you can even sunbathe out on the deck of the boat. You might raise a couple of eyebrows if you strip down to your bathing suit to do it, but I don’t believe there to be any rules against it. But like a nice luxury cruise you pay for the experience. It’s not enough to break the bank but it’s an added expense that does not go unnoticed.

A second reason for choosing Westport over Tofino has to do with the popularity of the location. Surf trips are usually reserved for long weekends, and when you are travelling within your own province you would have to have a very remote destination in mind to escape the crowds of other vacationers that share your idea of a good time. We have come to realize that going down to the States on Canadian long weekends let us avoid the crowds. This is not to say that we are all by our lonesome, with the entire Westport beach to ourselves, this is not the case, but it is not nearly as busy as it would be in Tofino. Tofino is crowded on a regular weekend, rain or shine, and its popularity only increases on special occasions. Seeing as neither of us are professional surfers by any stretch of the imagination, the more room we have to maneuver out in the water the better.

The third and probably most important reason why we choose to surf in Westport is because of the price. In the States gas is cheaper, beer is cheaper, food is cheaper and accommodations are cheaper. Whether you are camping or staying in hotel when compared to the prices you would be faced with in Tofino, you will always come out ahead by staying in Westport. All things considered Westport has been our choice for several years and in all likelihood will continue to be for years to come.

So our journey begins much like all of our other roads trips, with us trying to leave as quickly as we can after work on Friday evening. I once again was fortunate to have the ability to skip out of work early, though I think it probably would have gone unnoticed if I decided to not even show up at all. The office was a ghost town much like it had been for most Fridays during the summer. This gave me the chance to get all the packing done so that I could pick up Shannon from work and start our journey from there. If you have read any of my other posts, all our trips start out very similar so I will spare you the details.

Once on the road our journey was once again smooth sailing. From Vancouver to White Rock we were traffic free. Going across the border only took about 20 minutes, which is unheard of on most Fridays in general, let alone a Labor Day long weekend! We blazed through Seattle and Tacoma, only stopping for gas and for groceries and dinner once we hit Lacey. Apparently we have gotten really good at creating our only reality through positive thinking and expectation. Avoiding traffic on a long weekend road trip is an amazing feeling and does a great job setting the tone for the rest of the trip J.

After driving for a solid 4 hours it was time to do our grocery shopping and treat ourselves to a lovely Olive Garden dinner, especially enjoyable when you are able to take advantage of the buy-one-take-one-home promotion(http://www.olivegarden.com/specials). The Olive Garden can be so generous!

When we go grocery shopping in the States we try to do it at WinCo (https://wincofoods.com/). What makes WinCo so appealing? In the past we have gone to Walmart or Costco, both viable options but neither have the selection and the prices of Winco “The Supermarket Low Price Leader.” We stumbled upon WinCo by accident on time after having an early morning breakfast high caloric value breakfast at IHOP at the beginning of another road trip (we do not usually concern ourselves with calorie counting but the IHOP in the States, do to some law change I would imagine, have to tell you how many calories you are consuming when you order your meal….WOW!! I knew it was high but not that high!!). They were huge and packed with variety and best of all on their labels they show you how their prices compare to the other major supermarkets, just to drive home the point that you are shopping in the right place! They also have an epic beer selection which is something that will always catch Shannon and I’s attention J. Wooohooo!! Beee-eeer, Beee-eeer, Beee-eeer!!

It did not take us long to fill up our cart. This usually happens when we are in the States shopping for beer. If I could think of one possible down side to buying beer it would have to be the sheer volume of the cases. It really is a double edged sword if you think about it. Sure it’s heavy, and takes up a lot of room in the cart and the car, but that is only because you have so many bottles that you will enjoy later. I would say it is worth it…..but that’s just me ;) We did a good job filling up on the items that we want and need, so check that off the list. Then it was time for stage two. In my experience you can never really accurately predict how much space you will need to save in the trunk for groceries. On the other hand I have never, not been able to find the room needed for the groceries either. Sure your hot dog buns resemble something closer to tortillas after they have been flattened by a case of beer, but is that not just one of the joys of camping? Believe me, you will still be craving a late night hot dog around the campfire whether or not that it’s settled nicely in a soft, fluffy bun or wrapped with a flattened pancake-like bun substance. You will also be thanking the beer for how great your night is going rather than blaming it for doing unspeakable things to the hot dog buns. I would also say that the packing experience is a bit more cramped in the Mazda than the Sebring convertible that I used to use on our previous road trips. The lack of a roof makes things that much easier to pile in the back. This doesn’t always mean that they will still be there once you reach your destination. I do admit this has never actually happened to me, but you can see how it could happen and that was enough to make me ultra sensitive to every noise I heard as I was driving and it had me checking the rear mirror more often than a narcissist checks his reflection. I had other metaphors that I considered using for the example but decided this was the safest and most politically correct lol. There is a lot more peace of mind when you are not worried about all your groceries getting blown away, even if you means having no visibility out your back window.

At this point we had a full car, and a lot of great food, but none that we could indulge it at the current time. For this reason we set off for our next stop, The Olive Garden! What can I say about the Olive Garden, you come hungry and leave full. They just keep bringing you more salad and more bread sticks. After every bowl of salad and every stick of bread you think, I still have a huge portion of pasta coming, maybe I should slow down and make sure that I still have room when my meal arrives. I guarantee that this happens to 95% of their customers, and I will also go out on a limb and say only 5% actually listen to the sound logic that is going on in their heads and the rest throw all caution to the wind and gorge themselves! But I do not blame anyone for doing exactly what they know they shouldn’t because I do the same. I do pride myself on my will power, but I choose not to exercise it at The Olive Garden because unlimited salad and bread sticks are not something that is offered to you very often and if it is ever offered it would be a tough task to match the quality the that Olive Garden offers for those two items. Say what you want about their entrees but The Olive Garden is the King of the salad and bread sticks!

The meal was not much different than any other meal that we have had there in the past. We ate too much bread, too much salad, and accompanied it with a free appetizer offer my wife was able to stalk down on the internet (The Olive Garden and Montana’s seem to have these types of offers all the time…not that you need more food on the side of their already generous portions lol). The entrée was better than some but not quite chart topping. I have never left The Garden unsatisfied and this time was no different….not to mention that they gave us a second to-go portion to take home with us. It was a unique idea in the sense that it was not a second portion that comes fully prepared. It is The Olive Garden’s equivalent to a Michelina’s microwave dinner (it even had microwave heating directions printed on a sticker that was slapped on the lid!). I have never seen this before and may never see it again but it was a perfect take-away for our camping dinner menu. In fact once we arrived we found out that my sister and her friend also got the same deal from The Olive Garden and we ended up blending all of our second portions into one big pot for a lovely dinner the next evening….actually I believe it was more like a late breakfast lol.

Back to something that I mentioned in the paragraph above “I have not ever left an Olive Garden unsatisfied” but I have left insulted. Last year Shannon and I were going to the same place for a surfing vacation. We had the same idea that we would go to the Olive Garden for dinner and WinCo for groceries, but in reverse order to what we did on this trip. The promotion that was going on at the time at The Olive Garden was the unlimited pasta bowl. We had full intention of getting the most out of this deal and decided that we would order our second portion before we finished our first so that we would not have to wait too long since we were in a bit of a hurry to get to our site and set up camp. This idea backfired because it did not seem to have any effect on how long it took for us to get our round two’s. Then what happened was when the waiter brought our new plates we asked her if we could get them to go. I realize that this looks a bit cheap, like we had no intention of eating any of it there and just wanted to take a full second portion home. If it was a different type of restaurant, and if we hadn’t seen other customers do that exact same thing as we did without even trying to pretend they were going to eat it there, than I would understand if she thought we were cheap or unclassy. Even if we were unclassy and cheap (which we are not!!) then it still does not justify her complaining about us to her fellow waiters and insulting us within ears distance of our table. It should be said that both Shannon and I have pretty thick skin when it comes to others being rude to us. More times than not we end up laughing rather than feeling any degree of disrespect BUT how unprofessional is that! Something else to be taken into consideration for this situation is that earlier in the night Shannon had ordered a glass of wine from the same server. She poured the glass, which to our eyes did not look disproportional, but the waiter said “sorry” and said she would be back to fill up the glass the rest of the way. How generous we thought! How unexpected and generous! But is appears that she was too busy having a bad day and bad mouthing her customers because she never came back with the wine she had promised.

After all of this we decided that we did not feel the need to leave any of our hard earned money as a tip for our poor service. The dilemma was, if we leave a small tip than it will just give her more ammunition to classify us as cheap and unclassy. So I decided that I would go ahead and not leave a tip and write a little note next to the empty space where a tip amount usually goes telling her that she forgot our wine and that we heard everything she said about us as she complained to her coworkers to explain why there was no tip J. Then we up and left before she could confront us lol. Problem solved!

Then later in WinCo we realized that we needed some ice, as we were going through check out. Instead of going with the usual bagged ice we were drawn to an advertisement up front for dry ice. The sign was very misleading and made me think that we could buy a couple small portions for a reasonable price. This was not the case, if fact you could only purchase large amounts at a big price. I sheepishly had to say that we didn’t actually want to buy it after they had to call a special person to unlock the freezer and put on special gloves to get the dry ice I had asked for. I felt bad, but how was I to know when the checkout woman herself didn’t even know. As I packed up my groceries a number of other workers crowded around the cooler and started asking about the ice. “Did some asshole customer ask you to get the ice out for him and then change his mind after you did all this work” is what I heard from their conversation. Little did they know that the “asshole customer” was standing right there as they were unknowingly ripping on him. I don’t think that sort of thing has happened to me all too often in my life let alone twice in an hour lol. I guess I can consider myself lucky that I do not offend easily J.

The conclusion to this story is that Shannon wrote a letter of complaint to both establishments. The Olive Garden sent us a $50 gift card as an apology and WinCo responded asking us if we could tell them what the employee looked like and what time the shift was….so we possibly got him fired. Not the first time this has happened to me. I believe I got a phone sales man fired after he mistakenly told me that I had one month free calling when I signed up for my first cell phone plan. I then proceeded to rack up a $500 bill that I refused to pay since I never would have made so many calls if I had not been told it was part of the deal I was getting. Rogers rectified the situation by wiping out the bill and giving me the equivalent of three months worth of coverage as a credit and……..most likely fired the salesman after asking me the same questions as WinCo asked Shannon. But life goes on J.

Once we had done all that we needed to do we continued along the final leg of our journey. By this time it was 11pm when we left Lacey and close to 12:30am when we arrived at our campsite. The drive was very ordinary and the only thing really worth mentioning was how hard I was struggling to remain awake along the pitch black highway to Westport. Driving along dark, deserted highway with no visibility out the back because of the packed to the gills back seat it is extremely easy to get pulled towards a state of slumber. But I held on and made it all the way without incident. Then we drove a couple of laps looking for our site….this is what happens when you forget the order of the numbers of the campsite (http://www.parks.wa.gov/292/Twin-Harbors). Was is 137 or 173? Or was it 731 or 371?? It did take some time to find….but not too much. At that point, being so late in the evening we decided to do the least amount of set up, so basically just the tent and the sleeping bags. No need for an air mattress, we will be just fine on ground. Famous last words….

Day 5- Back to Reality

This post is not as exciting as maybe the last few but you cannot live your life on vacation...or at least I haven’t found a way to yet, but believe me I am fast at work trying to find a one J. 

So day 5 started very early, I am talking at 4:30 am. We really did do ourselves (and our camping neighbors) a favor by doing the majority of the packing the night before. But we left a few things for the morning. We figured that it was worth it to pack our tent and our bed in the morning. Sleeping on the ground without a tent would be an interesting idea, but interesting ideas are not always GOOD ideas. I did mention before that adventure was the main purpose of this trip and packing up a tent and rolling up sleeping bags in the dark was an adventure J. We were louder (carrying a bag of empties to the recycling is not quiet) and brighter (had to use our lantern for some things) than we planned on being but one key factor that is not to be overlooked, since it was so dark and since we were gone when everyone else got up.....they cannot be sure who it was...genius!

We were all packed up and ready to go when 5 am rolled around. We were 80% sure we had everything and 20% didn’t particularly care if we did or not. We were still half asleep and trying to be as considerate as possible. Then we were off! I was in a strange sort of haze where I was obviously awake and coherent but still felt like I was in a dream like state, but don’t worry I was fine to drive J. It do not take long for Shannon to slip off into dream land and I did not interfere, she had done her job helping with the packing and we do not have the type of car that allows two people to drive at once so I had no reason to stop her. There is a strange calm when it comes to driving, running or really doing anything, at a time when you are, for all intents and purposes, alone in the world. I know it will not be a popular recommendation, but I will still recommend trying it sometime. It gives you a whole new perspective which can be especially refreshing for anyone living in big cities where you constantly have to share your environment with a large volume of people. It is not something I plan to make a habit of, but I appreciated it in the moment.

We decided to drive up the coast on the way home. It would take a bit longer than other available routes, but we budgeted for the time and were excited to take the scenic way home. After a few directional issues were ironed out with the GPS we had our route programmed in and we were ready to go. The early part of the drive was virtually uneventful. The sun was rising from the east and the water was to the west, plus on top of everything it was heavily overcast....and don’t forget still very dark out. It was a few hours and many miles before there was much of anything to see. Things started to pick up a bit after we stopped for a healthy sausage and egg mcmuffin as we were pushing through the veil of darkness. After that we took in some small fishing towns speckled along the river side when the road took us inland and some quaint beach towns located along the coast. Many picture opportunities missed by our camera but well established memories in our minds. It was a good thing that the roads were clear because I spent more time gazing at the coastline looking for an excuse to wetsuit up and catch a few waves, than I was on the road ahead. The waves were visually stimulating but not to the point where it warranted unpacking half the car to get my gear and repacking around a wet board and a soaked wetsuit. I did, however, start a list of places I want to visit my next time down the coast, and that was good enough in my books. Knowing that the water would be colder than a witches’ tit also helped keep me out of the water. I continued to drive until we hit the renowned Cannon Beach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Beach,_Oregon). I did this for a chance to get out of the car to stretch and wake myself up, but I was not disappointed. It was beautiful! I imagine it would be beautiful anytime, in any weather, but the early morning fog gave it a ghostly, haunted feel, not creepy, more mysteriously engaging. We snapped some amazing landscape photos, traded positions in the car and were back on the road with my lovely wife behind the wheel.

It did not take long for me to check out of reality and into the Sandman Hotel (get it *nudge *nudge??). Our touristy stop at Cannon Beach was as much for the sightseeing as it was to avoid falling asleep behind the wheel. So, needless to say, I have very little to say about the next part of the trip. I awoke once while on a bridge with no land in sight, freaky but fun, and then regained consciousness close to Westport, WA our usual surfing destination. This brought back some good memories for us, but none that are really interesting enough to share in this post.

There were only a few other things worth mentioning on the ride back. One is the Quizno’s miracle, and two was the awesome time we made on the way back. The Quizno’s miracle was when Shannon told me that she really wanted to eat a Quizno’s sub for lunch and she wanted to eat between 10 and 10:15. Fast forward now to when the car clock moved from 9:59 to 10 and the roadside sign we passed immediately after was for a Quizno’s at the next exit....BOOM, mind blown! Second, I ordered an arrival time of 2pm and we arrived home at 2:15...not bad at all. Plenty of time to get to my ball game and on time....and we won the game too! Brilliant!

So that was our trip to Portland, and the Oregon Coast! I hope you enjoyed the tales of our travels! The next question is; what do we have to look forward to next? Well seeing as this took me sometime to get through (I do have a day job after all) I should have two more trips to write about, our random trip to Penticton and our Labor Day Classic Camping/Surfing trip in Westport. Stay tuned, I promise I will make it worth your while J.