The Adventure Continues

I am sorry for the huge delay in the completion of this blog post. There are too many things to blame but I will save you the task of having to listen to a long list of excuses. Instead I will merely continue on with the story and make a better attempt at consistency moving forward J.

So where was I??? Oh yes I remember!! We had just gotten off the tram and were attempting to track down a place called Dig a Pony. Shannon remembered it from when she was down in this area for her Bachelorette Party where her and a group of girls (and guys) took over the town rocking “Wedding is Coming” t-shirts sporting the, now unmistakably, Dire Wolf sigil of House Stark, which anyone who is a fan of the ultra-popular book series (or for some the HBO series) Game of Thrones should be ashamed if they cannot recognize. I had my qualms about how reliable her memory would be from that weekend considering the stories that I heard, but I thought “meh” even if her memory is not spot on it’s still better than someone who has never been there before (me), and worst case scenario I am always up for an adventure!

Adventure I wanted, adventure I got. Things started out well enough since Shannon had a definite direction in mind. So that is where we went. Approximately 5 minutes later we re-evaluated the location in which we were heading and decided to double back to where we started and head in the opposite direction. Well, unfortunately that didn’t seem to be the way either, so once again we went back to where we started and chose yet another direction to head in.

A humorous anecdote was how the confusion of the situation seemed to be contagious. There was a group of rough looking drunks hollering at us from a bus station. We noticed them when we first got off the tram but paid little attention to their hollers and did not waste much time evacuating the premises to create some distance between us. But, then we came back and they started to holler again and we spent little time pushing past them in the opposite direction. But then once again we were back and of course despite their confusion they did not miss the opportunity to continue to holler. It was amusing if nothing else.

At this point we forged ahead in a more promising direction and for a short period of time it seemed like we had finally gotten it right. But, once again, it was not to be, and once again we were back where we had been at the start. It felt like a very confusing level in a video game where you get so lost that you decide to kill yourself so that you can just go back to the beginning and start again rather than go through the effort to get yourself un-lost.

At this point, the earlier pints had worked their way through our systems and it was time to find a place to answer nature’s call. Luckily, there was a Burger King right next to the place we got off the tram, so we did not pass up the chance.

It ended up being a smart call because not only did we get a chance to relieve ourselves, which took away our sense of urgency to find our destination as quickly as we could, but it allowed us access to WIFI and get Google Maps opinion on which way we should try next. It was at least comforting to know that our senses were right that in our previous attempts, if we had continued, we would not have found our way to Dig a Pony...we would have been very very lost indeed!

All in all, no harm done, but it was nice to be headed in the correct direction finally. Despite looking like prime targets for a mugging with smart phone out in front of us and our eyes looking down to read the map, we were able to get where we wanted to go efficiently and effectively. We had arrived!

I cannot say that it was a place that blew my mind with coolness but it was a place I was glad I had visited. The beer selection was vast, the prices were fair, the music was suitable and the atmosphere was inviting. It started to fill up soon after we arrived but we were able to nab a patio spot on the street which I gotta say it is nothing less than a luxury to be able to sit outside on a patio in shorts and flip flops.....in October! Nothing short of amazing!

Our time at Dig a Pony (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/dig-a-pony-portland) was enjoyable. We were able to sample a number of selections from their extensive line of taps and all met our approval. Good times were had but once again in Portland the night life experience is restricted by their early closing hours. We knew it was the case and we planned our activities accordingly but it still does not make it any less disappointing when you have to wind down your evening before you are feeling ready to do so.

Seeing that our time was running out we had to make our move to Robo Taco (http://www.robotacopdx.com/) a short stroll down the block. I did not participate in this portion of the evening but I knew that Shannon had a mean craving for this place ever since she got her first taste a year back. Knowing Shannon and her love for food I would not dream of getting in the way of that just because I myself was not hungry at the time J.

The fun thing about Robo Taco is their selection. I, myself, am not much of a taco connoisseur but I can see the appeal of having such a large selection to choose from. Instead of one big taco they offer a large selection of smaller taco so you can mix and match and create your own meal. I saw one guy with an entire table full of different tacos! Shannon kept her order to only 3 with enough sauce to coat her entire arm with drippings. It reminded me of something that I heard my Aunt say once that stuck with me ever since. She said “I do not usually use butter, but when I eat corn on the cob I use enough butter that is drips down to my elbows.” I really enjoy when people love what they are eating so much that they do not care about making a mess. That is true love!

Funny story from our Robo Taco experience, since I was not hungry I instead opted for two beers instead. Well, they must have gone through some kind of crack down because we had noticed that they were IDing much more often, and now at this place the guy seemed very confused why we were ordering 3 beers for two people. I would be surprised if a place like Portland was unaware that sometimes people like to buy more than one beer at a time. He was like “oh....ok where is the third person?” and we just looked back at him confused and said “what do you mean? She wants the tacos and a PBR and I want two PBR’s...” It was at that point that he said he could not do that, and though a bit disappointed I understood. Really, all he had to say from the beginning was “sorry, you can only order one at a time” he did not need to make us feel like idiots and alcoholics for trying lol.

All in all it was a good experience. The decor was fun and I enjoyed the buzzing atmosphere that accompanied it. I usually am not a fan of places being super busy, but I think when you are travelling and you end up in a place like that, you appreciate the experience for what it is because it means that you have found one of the spots that is the “place to be” and you embrace the popularity. Also, the taco and the extensive sauce selection was enough to make my lovely wife cry from the spice....not a feat that is easily achieved!

From there we caught the bus back to the area of town we were staying. We kept our eyes peeled for the tram station that we started our journey from. Being hyper aware despite the time in the evening, I was able to recognize our stop...or at least what I thought was our stop. In reality it was not the stop that we were looking for but rather one that merely had a small resemblance to the one that we were looking for. This is not new for me. My experience taking that bus was not very efficient. Because of a fear of missing my stop I unintentionally have made a practise of getting off the bus one stop to early. This has resulted in significantly more walking than there needed to be. Don’t get me wrong I have nothing against walking, in fact most times I would prefer it, I am only pointing out that my bus riding trips are not as time effective as they could be.

The end result of this was a long walk home. It sounds bad, I know, but it worked out just fine. It allowed us the opportunity to check out the Portland Trailblazers arena, the Moda Centre. It was really cool! Lots of fun lights and water features, exactly the type of things that I would take notice of and appreciate! So we snapped a few pictures, watched the show at the water fountain and then continued on our way back, as we walked through the deserted streets in the industrial part of town....exactly the type of place where bad stuff seems to always happen in the movies.....

But alas, our lives are not the movies and we were met with nothing but empty streets and closed for the day factories. The view was interesting but far from beautiful. The walk though it was lengthly, but did not take very long to complete. In fact, we even made it back to the Widmer Brother’s Brewery (http://widmerbrothers.com/) just before last call! When something like that happens it is no coincidence....it’s a sign...a sign that your night it not yet over!! So in we went!!

Not only did we make it there before last call but we were also able to place an order before the kitchen closed. I was not hungry before but that long walk back had me running on empty. So we ordered a couple drinks and plate of sausage fondue and oh man it was good!

Shannon and I have a love for brie cheese. We love to bake it alongside a plate of deli meat and a loaf of baguette. We have been enjoying it this way for some time now and have never thought about different ways to do it. It was not until we tried the sausage fondue at Widmer Brother’s that we realize how hot of an option it would be to have cooked sausage in place of deli meat to accompany our baked brie.....MIND BLOWN!! Things have not been the same since!!

As far as recommendations go I would definitely recommend the sausage fondue, and when it comes to beer I would say try them all lol. Their beer selection is constantly changing from season to season and batch to batch so all I can really say is they have so many options that I would be floored if you did not find one that you liked.

I would give Widmer Brother’s Brewery a 4.5/5 for no reason other than I want them to keep working on ways to improve the customer experience....I don’t want them getting lazy thinking hey we got a 5/5, our work here is done, now all we have to do is sit back and let them come enjoy our brewery for what it is J.

So finally you have the end to the first night of the Dirty Thirty Portland Extravaganza!!

Dirty Thirty Here I Come!!

As I mentioned in the previous post my intention was to spend my thirtieth birthday in Edgefield. As a general rule my birthday celebrations have always been more of a hit or miss type scenario.

Seeing as my birthday weekend is always the same at Canadian Thanksgiving, the majority of the people that are on the guest list already have prior obligations. It would be bold of me to think that my birthday party would take precedent over a National Holiday but I do take consolation in the fact that most people would rather be out partying with me rather than visiting family for the traditional turkey dinner.

I really quite enjoy my family dinners. The food is great, my family is full of good people that I enjoy spending time with, but even I on occasion have blown off my family dinner to go out and celebrate my birthday at the pub. In my defense it was not just a simple matter. It was also that time of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. So all of you that were gasping at my lack of family loyalty can stop that train of thinking right where it started. I am not a bad guy! I am just someone who enjoys drinking beer and watching rugby on his birthday. Nothing wrong with that J.

My point is that I am no stranger to having less than 10% of the guest list show up to my celebrations. It is for this reason that I decided to make up my mind very early on what my intentions were going to be for my Dirty Thirty. I wanted to give people ample time to make the proper arrangements to make sure that they could be part of the action. It also worked out well that Thanksgiving weekend was a bit later this year and so we did our Shin-Dig on the weekend before.

Even with the extensive notice, it was not an unbelievably large crew that was there in the end. But, I will say, that it was just the right amount of people. Any larger and we would have run into issues booking rooms. Any smaller and it would still have been a lot of fun but it would not have been the same. In the end we had a party crew of ten including myself and my lovely wife.

I would also like to take this chance to give a shout out to my wife who did a fantastic job arranging everything for this special trip. She was very astute in booking the rooms and keeping everyone updated on the availability and even when the right time would be to book. She arranged all of the details, all the way down to which communication app we were going to use to keep in touch which each other when on site (Viber is what we agreed on….the stickers are so fun!!) She is an amazing planner in general, and she really flexed her planning muscles in a big way making this trip happen!! Thanks again my love!!

To go back and fill in a few gaps, you might be wondering why booking seemed like such a complicated issue for us. The reason for this is because by the time we went to book our rooms there were not many options left. We found out later this was because of a number of events that were happening there at the same time we were booking. There was a wedding, a business conference and even a child’s birthday party (though I believe that might have been the parent’s choice of venue lol.)

This being the case, out of the ten of us, two couples were able to book a joined room and the other six ended up in dorm rooms. The three dudes bunked up in the guys’ dorm and the three broads in the girls’ dorm. Very summer campy, I know, but it made for a memorable experience. Some enjoyed it more than others I think, but I (being one of the three) thought it was kind of fun! Both the guys and the girls had some fun stories to share about their bunk mates the following morning J.

For full disclosure, the dorm rooms contained roughly 8 bunk beds, so we had some bunk mates to co-exist with. One such bunk mate decided that he needed to get into his locker at the crack of dawn, or close enough to count. I give him props for trying to open his locker without turning on the lights, but what happened in the end was far from discrete.

I fully believe his intentions were to avoid disturbing the other guests. Well that was good in theory, but did not work out so favorably in reality, for he could not open said locker. The tried and tried and tried some more but it was not happening for him. The would rattle the locker for a good minute, then stop, pace the rooms taking some deep healing breaths, then start rattling away once again.

In the end, a staff member of the hotel had to pull the locker out of the dorms and into the hallway and then break into it using a crowbar. It appears it was not the fault of the fellow trying to stealthily get his stuff in the morning but he was still able to wake up most of the people in the dorm despite his initial intentions. It didn’t bother me much, I actually found it quite amusing, but I cannot speak for the others.

On the girls’ side, they had a couple characters as well. One woman with a sleep apnea machine and another older woman knitting in the corner…..watching everyone change!! I kid, I kid, I added that part myself. I have no proof to make such an accusation lol.

The one dorm story that I especially appreciate was the one where my wife told another girl in the dorm that she was using the wrong locker. It was the classic 6, 9 mix up. If they do not make it clear which one is which you are always going to have confusion? I understand that she thought she was completely in the right when she told the poor girl to pack up her stuff and move on over to the right locker, but it turns out she was not. The girl had been in the right spot and was right to protest, but my wife can be very convincing and intense and I assume that is why the girl gave in despite being correct the whole time.

This story, to this day, does not make much sense to me seeing as the key for locker 6 would only fit locker 6 and would not fit locker 9. I would have thought that would have been the best way to settle the debate. But if you are able to convince someone that there are using the wrong locker despite this hard fact, than you must be good J.

Good times were had in the dorms. I would have chosen the same arrangements, even if I had the options of a room, strictly for the randomness of it all. I love experiences that give you interesting stories to tell, and that is exactly what these rooms did for me!

I do believe that I have gotten a bit ahead of myself. You do not even know how I got to this point yet. That is a story for another day.

Thank you everyone that continues to visit my blog on a regular basis. I appreciate your interest and will continue to detail my experiences for your amusement. I apologize for my inconsistency with the regularity of the posts. I work a full time job and I am not always in the mood to write after a long day at the office. I have made a mental goal to be more diligent with my writing, so we will see what that looks like from this point moving forward.

Keep coming back, and I will keep providing the entertainment J. Also tell your friends!!

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….

"The Channel"

After we spent some quality time at Bad Tattoo we got the message that our friends had arrived in town and were ready to party. We let them know that we were 110% on board as we had actually already started without them lol. So we hopped in the car and headed into town. This was probably for the best because if we stayed any longer at the brewery I would have had to stop drinking (drinking more than you should and driving is not something anyone should be doing) and would have had to take up the spectator role as Shannon continued to sample the fine tastes of Bad Tattoo beer. So we were ready to leave and take this party to the next level. Crank it up to 11 and rip off the volume knob!!

There was one more stop before we met our friends and that was the Liquor Store. We cannot just show up empty handed to a hotel that we were invited to stay at as non-paying guests. So we loaded up on supplies and a promotional model airplane that sadly did not ever get a chance to go airborne. There was an accident during the assembly that saw to that. It was not meant to be L

So we arrived to find our friends with a packed cooler, a number of empties, and big smiles on their faces, just the sight we were looking to find as we settled in. After some catching up and a number of plans thrown back and forth, Shannon and I were informed just how close we were to “The Channel.” This is something that we have wanted to do for years. I had the experience of going down The Channel on a yearly basis when my parents would take me and my two sisters up to the Interior during our summer vacation. We have many great memories from those trips but few as great as the time that we spent floating down The Channel. As I got older and the family vacation traditions changed it was an event that was not readily brought back to mind until a few years ago when I overheard another friend mentioning what they did on their road trip to Penticton. When I heard that, the gate in my mind was lifted and all the memories can flowing back to me....very similar to the way that the water flows down The Channel J.

From that point on I kept telling Shannon every summer “we have to go down The Channel! You will love it!” One thing that is worth mentioning is that as fun as it was to float down The Channel when I was young, appreciation for such events seems to evolve to something a little bit different once you pass the age of 19....the age you can legally drink in BC. It has often been said, and even more often been thought; how great is it to do (blank)? But how great is it to do (blank) while drinking?! The same rule applied for me and The Channel. Floating down The Channel is awesome! But how much more awesome would it be if we were doing it while drinking?! The answer....way more awesome! Unfortunately the suggestions were heard but never followed through on. Up to this point we have never had the chance BUT today was the day!

We were actually very lucky because Shannon and I had decided to bring up our inflatable air mattress “just in case.” We were not planning on using while sleeping in the car, and we were 90% sure that the hotel would have a pull out couch for us but we thought, it doesn’t take up too much room so why not bring it “just in case.” We didn’t end up needing it for anything else but it was a great way to navigate The Channel!

So it was decided. Our friends started pumping up their two person tube with a cooler in the middle (genius idea!) and we pumped up our two person air mattress. What was even better was that the starting point for The Channel was only a five minute walk away! So we changed into our suits, loaded up our “supplies”, grabbed our floatation devices and off we went. Once we got close to the starting point, we decided it was best to try and keep a low profile, didn’t want our “supplies” getting any unwanted attention. We all agreed that was probably for the best. At that very moment another group walked by us with a flat of Cariboo Buck Shots (beer) right out in the open, not even the slightest attempt to conceal them. When no one seemed to bat an eye at their very public display we realized that maybe we didn’t need to be as discreet as we once thought.

Once in the water we had a plan to tether ourselves together so we didn’t separate on our way down. Their device had a rope that we could use but our mattress didn’t have much to tie it to. We tried the first idea that came to mind, which was to hook it up to the plug that holds the air in our mattress. I realize that sounds like a terrible idea but it was not as simple as that. The plug is a bit more of a complex system than they used to be, so it did have some safety mechanisms so the air would not leak out immediately if the plug was pulled but it still was not a great plan and we found that out almost immediately. The new system we came up with after that was simply holding onto the rope to make sure we didn’t get separated, and that worked as well as it needed to.

After that it was smooth sailing for the next couple hours. The time went by so quickly that we bailed on our initial plan of only going have way, and did the entire channel. It was a fabulous decision except for one factor. The brilliant two person tube that our friends were using had a leak. We knew this was an issue going in, and so we tried to fill it up as much as we could before we unmoored and started the journey, but we did not think that it would get too much worse as the trip went on. So things started to look rather meek near the end, and one of our friends had to come and join us on the mattress for the final 5-10 minutes. This was perfectly ok for us, there was plenty of room, but he did not enjoy it too much. He was perfectly content sitting in his tube out of the water except for his feet. It was not so much that the water was cold but they weather was overcast and warm but not hot. This was to say that if you were out of the water it was not heating you up enough to justify a plunge into the water for any other reason than to “relieve oneself” lol. Once you were in the water it did not take long to acclimatize but his initial reaction was amusing.

There was one upside to the epic meltdown of the tube. At the beginning of the trip our friends had debated whether or not there tube was going to be able to make it through the summer. They had vowed to buy a new one next year but thought they could squeeze a few more trips out of “Old Faithful” to get them through this season. After having to abandon ship a kilometer before the destination it was not a hard decision to donate it to the garbage can beside the bus that was waiting to take us back to the top (a lovely feature for those who are seeking a way to avoid needing a designated driver).

A few worthy mentions for our trip down The Channel. One was the dudes that we saw with a set up that included a cooler twice the size of ours and a radio. The radio was a nice feature, a little outdated and out of tune (no wait it was just country music) but still a welcome add-on. Another was when Shannon had pulled herself out of the water and completely onto the mattress. Then when she was in mid story she fell over backward into the water. Hilariously funny, though I don’t think we ever heard the end of the story since we were laughing too hard. The final one was the awkwardness of arriving with rows and rows of empty cans lining the mattress as we pulled into shore. Environmentally responsible but incriminating lol. Luckily there was a guy that floats around at the end and collects the cans from the other floaters. He must make a killing...not a bad gig I would say. Get to hang out in the sun all day, floating around and checking out the girls in their bikinis *wolf whistle*. I bet he also gets free drinks from people that have extras that they don’t want to bring on the bus home with them. Not too bad at all.

So that was our trip down “The Channel.” It was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon in Penticton! That is also it for this part of my post. I will continue with our jam packed day in my next post. Check in with me again soon J!!

Day 2 of Penticton Extravaganza

Day 2 starts out waking up in the back of a car. It takes a bit of time to collect yourself and remember why you are in the back of a car. What? Where am I? Was I actually kidnapped by Captain Crunch and Count Chocula or was that just a dream? Once awake we soon realized that sleeping in the back of our beloved Zoom Z. McGee is just fine, but hanging out in the back...well...it’s not something that I have the desire to do for an extended period of time. This suited us just fine, because after a reasonably long and restful sleep we were eager to arrive in Penticton. With very little to pack up we were soon on our way back to the highway to finish the last leg of our journey. Something that I realized on the drive back was that driving fast along the logging road actually seemed better for the car than driving slow and methodically like I usually do. I had seen a few vehicles bombing down the road last night, but they were all trucks and SUVs. That morning I had seen a few cars, not that much different than ours, driving the same way. I initially thought that they just didn’t care about the possibility of damaging their rides. I do pride myself on being teachable, and open to learning new things, so I decided to test out their way of tackling the pot-hole filled road. Much to my surprise it did seem to work a lot better. How much time had I wasted thinking I was doing the right thing for my car and my passengers? I do believe that my last car (Jean-Claude Grand Am) would have broke into pieces if I had trialled the new approach using it, but it was good knowledge to have going forward.

After a much smoother and quicker drive back, we were once again on route to our destination. We were on the road by 8:00am, a bit early but seeing the early morning sun sliding above the mountainous landscape and spray its glowing rays over the glass-like surface of Okanagan Lake was worth the price of admission. It was a task to keep my eyes on the road, and I might have wandered over the centre lines a few times, as I was drawn toward the spectacularity of the lake much like Monterey Jack to cheese (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGBlSHoaIfg). The roads were not busy and therefore a car creeping over the centre line is not as scary as it would otherwise be. Shannon was kind enough to snap some quality pictures, so I could enjoy the scenery later in a safe environment. Thanks!

Once we arrived in Penticton we did a drive about and headed down towards the lake. We wanted to check out the new digs, even though our friends were still hours away from arriving. The lake was gorgeous, and uncluttered, for the moment, from the inevitable swarm of lake-goers that would soon occupy the shoreline and the strip. It was a pleasant experience to take in the sights hours before you know it will be packed with people. It’s like the few moments after you have everything set up perfectly for a party but the guest don’t arrive for another half an hour. The fleeting moments of perfection that will soon be destroyed once the party gets going. So we took in the sights and the tranquility before our stomachs reminded us that we had yet to feed them any breakfast.

We decided to go the classy route and go with a McDonald’s breakfast....I did have a smoothie there....and a sausage mcmuffin...I think they even each other out. I also decided to go healthy and order it on a wheat muffin. They mixed up the order and gave me the regular one, which was not a big deal but when we went to point out the mistake they took the one they mistakenly gave me and through it directly into the trash. I will admit I had high hopes and ambitions that they would give me both, but greediness aside couldn’t they have saved it somehow, either give it away for free to someone else or eaten it themselves. I don’t know, neither of those might be good options, but throwing it in the trash did not seem like the right answer, that is all that I am saying.

Once breakfast was completed, we did not waste any time lingering around. It was sooo cold! It must have been set to the same temperature that would be needed at the hottest part of the day because it was ice cold in there. I’m talking, teeth-chattering, arm rubbing, distractingly cold. Brrrr!! Not for me, time to leave!

One thing that we did manage to do before we had to vacate our breakfast spot for risk of hypothermia was get on the free WiFi (thanks McDicks!) and find a way to amuse ourselves for the next couple of hours while we wait for our friends to arrive. What better time than 9:00 am to go beer and wine tasting!! The only hitch in our plan was that the first brewery did not open until 9:30 on the weekend. This was a nothing more than a minor detail; we decided to kill some time to hit up the wine shop/tourist center (http://pentictonwineinfo.com/)....this combination made me smile. It really let us know what is important in Penticton J Unfortunately the wine tasting they had planned was not until 2pm that afternoon, which interfered with our plan to taste but on the up side we were still able to buy and we did have a special wine in mind. Last November Shannon and I did some wine tasting in Summerland during the trip we took for our One Year Anniversary. The first stop on our trip was our favorite, a place called Summer Gate Organic Winery (http://www.summergate.ca/) where we tasted an amazing Riesling. This wine compelled me to write “buy Riesling more often” in my tasting notes and has since motivated us to do just that. Riesling is now our wine of choice, but few that we have tasted since have compared to the one we tasted at Summer Gate. It is for this reason that we look for it by name at any specialty shop that we think could be carrying it. So it was a great find during our time killing exercise at the wine shop.

After purchasing a bottle of celebratory wine reserved for our upcoming Two Year Anniversary, we looked at the time and it was a couple minutes short of beer o’clock, the perfect time to make our way over to Cannery Brewing (http://www.cannerybrewing.com/) for a post-breakfast beer tasting. We followed the footstep floor stickers to the entrance (I had a very amusing time hopping from sticker to sticker) and walked into an absolutely packed tasting room! I kid of course; we were most definitely the only other people, besides the workers, it being five minutes after opening and 9:30 am lol. But we did not let this deter us, no judgement here J. Shannon and I decided to share a taster between us. We decided to try the Triathlager (aka the Paddleboat Lager specially renamed for their sponsorship of the upcoming Challenge Penticton Triathlon), Paddles Up Pale Ale, Naramata Nut Brown Ale, and the Blackberry Porter. We also, later in the day, bought a 6 pack of the Antichrist Amber Ale. I think I liked the Nut Brown best, and Shannon liked the Paddles Up best. I would say that Cannery is worth checking out, I would not say they have the best beer that I have tasted but I could see why other people, with a different palate than I, would enjoy the style of beer that they produce. The tasting room in itself was worth the ticket price (well its free to go into, but you know what I mean). I enjoyed the rustic wooden bench at the tasting table. It was not flat like most benches but had to inward sloping planks of wood that made a comfortable butt groove which made sitting on it dramatically more comfortable. They also supply playing cards for each table, something to amuse yourself as you taste. It gave Shannon and I a chance to sharpen our Blackjack playing skills while sipping at our samples. They also have some cool looking stools made out of rice bags on top of kegs. I cannot speak on the comfort but they looked really fun J. Cannery Brewing gets a 7.5/10, fun and visually pleasing atmosphere, pleasant and helpful staff, amusing knick knacks and above average beer, just not the type of flavor I usually expect from craft beer. But I will give them an increase of 0.5 for opening so early on a weekend....so 8/10.

By this time we knew that our friends would be arriving within the next hour and a half so we still had some time to kill. So we decided to check out another brewery/restaurant we saw on our way into town called Bad Tattoo Brewing (https://www.facebook.com/BadTattooBrewing). It turns out that it was a brand new location; it had just opened up a week or two before we arrived. The sign immediately caught our attention; their logo is a tribal looking tramp stamp tattoo of what appears to be an angry hop. I enjoyed that logo for sure! As you might have imagined this place’s employees all had tattoos and it had a bit of a biker theme to it, very Son’s of Anarchy-like. It appeared that beer and pizza were their specialty. We were not very hungry upon arrival but the more we saw the pizza that others were ordering, the more interested we became. They had some pretty out there ideas for their pizza selection. The one that caught my attention the most was the Black and Blue, with apples, blackberry compote and blue cheese, not something I would expect to find on a pizza. We were assured, on several occasions, that all the items on the menu were deliciously well accepted by their customers but this was not enough to entice us to eat a second breakfast a mere two hours after our first. But it did make us curious enough to seek them out for a second time on our next trip to Penticton.

I cannot give my opinion on the food, but I was impressed with the beer....and the story about how the establish got its name. The story is short and simple and rather incomplete but we were told that it was based on a tattoo choice the owner had made years ago. None of the employees know what it is, or have seen it for that matter but I am choosing to believe that it is absolutely horrible and something that the owner regrets on a semi-daily basis. Ok well I guess it is not a great story but I liked the name and enjoyed learning that it is based on a true story J. I think I enjoyed all of the beers equally in their own way. None really stuck out as an absolute favorite and none made me make a mental note to avoid in the future. Our time at Bad Tattoo was enjoyable, the pizza looked and smelled amazing and the beer selection put a smile our faces. I would give it an 8.5/10 and maybe higher if we had tried the food. All around it was a good decision that we made to find it again after our first time through the city, and worth the difficulty that we had trying to find parking. A useful tip for anyone that decides to visit Bad Tattoo in the future, you do not need to hunt out a parking spot like we did. It appears that they had large and, at the time, a very empty private lot for the restaurant, something that is noteworthy considering how tough it is to find parking near the beach. Another thing to look at while trying to find parking is the signs that are up providing the regulations for street parking. Shannon and I spent a fair amount of time looking for a spot without a sign to limit us. It turns out the “residents only” signs are only in effect on weekdays, which seems weird considering when the beach would most likely be at its busiest. So make sure you read the signs carefully and you could be rewarded with a spot missed by the others that are not taking the time to read the small print.

I am going to break this post up into pieces since it was a long and exciting day that we spent in Penticton. I do not want to leave too much time in between posts. Hopefully you enjoy what I have written so far and stay posted throughout the week for what happened on the rest of the trip J