Wednesday morning we piled into the Tildens' minivan and set out for the Oregon coast. I did quite a bit of sleeping on this drive, and some homework, but still had time to admire the scenery out the window. Generally long drives bore me, but this one was brand new to me , and fairly pretty. Essentially, we followed the Columbia River all the way along the Oregon/Washington border til we reached the coast. We stopped for lunch at Wendy's in "The Dalles" Oregon, very interesting name for a city. A couple hours later the Tildens stopped to show me Multnomah Falls. I love waterfalls, so that was a fun surprise for me. I bought huckleberry muffin and pancake mixes from the gift shop for Christmas gifts.
After Multnomah, the ride got to be a bit tedious. We hit a LOT of traffic going through Portland and some thereafter. The original plan had been to meet up with the rest of the Tildens for dinner, reaching Newport before dark. That changed to 6 pm, then 6:30, then 7:00, then 8:00. At 7:30 we stopped for dinner in Lincoln City at Mo's Chowder. That was a fun dinner. It was a very casual, homestyle seafood place decorated cute with lots of twinkle lights. We all shared a pot of clam chowder and Tad and I shared a shrimp melt, mmm!
We finally got to Newport at 9:00, about 10 hours after we left Richland...apparently it's only supposed to be a 6 hour drive...yeah, yay traffic. We got settled in our rooms and then went to say hi to the rest of the family. I got to meet one of Tad's cousins, who is extraorinarily quiet, and his aunt and uncle.
Thanksgiving was extremely rainy. I was somewhat disappointed the I couldn't see more of, well, anything, through all the rain. I called home and did homework in the morning. Tad's family eats out on holidays, so we headed out just before 1 for our reservation. I was extremely nervous about this, my family NEVER eats out on holidays, but it actually wasn't terribly different. We ate at "Fishtail Cafe". It was a small restaurant, decorated like a home living room with pictures and comfy chairs and a Christmas tree. The owner had been there since 6 am cooking turkeys.
It was a wonderful, home cooked meal, complete with almost everything I've grown up having at Thanksgiving. The only real difference was that we weren't the only group in the room and the people serving weren't eating with us.
Once full with out salad, turkey dinner, and pie, we mosied back to the hotel and had triptophan induced naptime. ... Several hours later ... we gathered in Tad's uncle's room for a light dinner of lobster bisk, rolls and cheese, and more pie. I got a chance to talk quite a bit with Courtney, Tad's cousin Peter's new wife. We hung out for a while and then returned to our own room.
While his parents worked on a puzzle they had brought with us, Tad and I went to spend some time in the hot tub. We had about 20 minutes and then the pool closed. Before coming back to the room Tad took me down to see the crabbing dock. Crabbing is a major thing to do while staying in Newport. Back at the room Tad taught me how to play Guitar Hero, and I think I'm now addicted, hehe
Friday was a very lazy day. I did some homework and played a game on the wii with Tad and Jeana. Lunch was with the group at the Chowder Bowl in town. I shared a seafood platter with Tad and tried fried clams and oysters, not bad!
After lunch Tad and I walked (with Valencia this time) back to the crabbing dock. I had asked if we could go during the daylight so I could see more. It seems like it'd be fun to crab, or even just watch people. There was a tiny little dungeness crab on the dock, so I actually got to see one up close.
The afternoon was spent hanging out, doing homework, and playing more guitar hero. We rejoined the group again for dinner at Lum Yen for Chinese. There was more puzzle action in our room, followed by Tad and me starting a game of Mario Party.
Saturday we had a casual lunch type meal in Tad's uncle David's room (sandwiches, chips...and chocolate fondu) and spent most of the rest of the day shopping. We drove back up to Lincoln City and spent a couple hours at the outlet mall. I got a couple more things for Christmas gifts and a new clinic shirt from Aeropostale. I also got a tshirt from the Christian bookstore that says "Faithbook: Jesus wants to put you into his book, do you accept? Revelations 3:3" There was another one I wanted to get, but was too big that said "Join me for happy hour, every Sunday morning" it had a verse from Ephesians about not getting drunk on wine but worshipping God joyfully.
Shopping trip complete, we met the rest of the gang at Tidal Raves restaurant in Depoe Bay. It was a very nice dinner. I got more clam chowder and coconut shrimp. Tad and i shared a slice of marionberry cheesecake for dessert. After dinner we all played a couple hours of Apples to Apples. Tad and I finished our game of Mario Party once everyone else had gone to bed, I won!
Sunday morning we got up early and started the drive back to Portland for me, and TriCities for the Tildens. We got lunch at Gustav's Pub and Grill in Tigard. We shared swiss cheese fondue and a platter that came with broworst, snitzel, chicken, spatzel, and saurkraut. After that the Tildens dropped me off at PDX and headed for home.
I had a great trip, it was nice getting to spend time with Tad and his friends, and getting to meet more of his family. I'm having an awful time of it now without him, we only have a month til he moves, but that feels much too long. Hopefully I can pull the next 3 weeks together to finish the semester strong.
Me and my love :)
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