Judi's Journeys

I'm a little behind in updating....

About a month ago, James and I went to Cannon Beach, OR for a lovely weekend. The weather was absolutely gorgeous with lots of sunshine. We stayed at a cute little cottage known as the Inn at Haystack Rock with a block walk to the beach! We did some geocaching while there and went to Ecoli State Park. We searched for 4 caches and found them all! I even found one without any clues needed! I was very proud of myself. We walked along the beach for a while down to Haystack Rock. We also headed down to Tillamook to check out the Tillamook Cheese Factory and samply some cheese and amazing ice cream. It was very yummy. Saturday evening we had a yummy dinner in a restaurant right on the ocean and watched a great sunset. Then we checked out a play at the local theater with 3rd row center seats. It was fun and entertaining, a whimisical story of an actor who signs on to play Hamlet and is coached by the "ghost" of the great actor John Barrymore who played Hamlet once upon a time. Sunday we rented thse great trykes that are like recumbent tricycles that you take out on the sand. We peddled along the beach stoping to take some great pics and to enjoy the beautiful sight of the mighty Pacific right in front of us. We did some shopping and found a great spot at Arcadia beach to watch an *AWESOME* sunset. It was one I'll never forget. It felt like we were the only two people on the beach to enjoy the beautiful sight. Sunsets like those are hard to come by...Overall, it was an amazing weekend at the coast with my amazing guy. The Oregon coast is a must see in the Pacific Northwest!

Well, I finally left the Northwest for my next assignment in Hayward, CA. My last day in Puyallup at Good Sam was March 31. On April 1, James helped me move out of my apartment which turned into a day long adventure. Sunday was James's 27th birthday and we went for brunch at the top of the Space Needle! We also met his aunt and uncle, 2 cousins, and grandpa for dinner at Anthony's, a lovely little seafood place right on the water in Tacoma. Sunday night James and I drove to Portland to stay at Sam's and headed up to Mt. Hood on Monday for one final day of skiing. I decided to rent a pair of demo skis that were a little more high performance than mine. Initially I didn't like them but i really did at the end of the day. I may buy them in the off season. Tuesday morning, James and I dropped his car off at the airport and started our adventure to California. We drove out to the Coast and took the scenic route. We camped at a campground near the Oregon Dunes which was initially a very cold night. James built a great fire while I shopped for beer and we roasted hot dogs on the fire. I'd never done it before and it was great fun. The next morning, we rented ATV quads and ventured onto the Oregon Dunes. These dunes are HUGE. some talled than several stories. I'd never been on one before so I was very scared. James and I both got stuck several times and everytime I got stuck on the steep dunes I was scared I'd tip it over. After a while I learned to just concentrate on the ground 15 feet in front of me instead of focusing on the huge dune in front of me. We rode around for a while traversing dune after dune. We came upon a dune that James went right to climb it as I went left. He made it up to the top but I got stuck. I managed to back up and turn it around and start back the way I came, only to have 2 of my wheels of my quad go up on an embankment of hard sand with some vegetation. Well that was enough to throw me off balance and the next thing I knew, I was flipping my ATV and being thrown onto the sand. Thankfully, I was still on an incline and I fell uphill as my quad rolled downhill. I was initially in a state of shock and not sure what to do. I looked up the dune at James who at this point was running full speed down the dune to make sure I was ok. As soon as he got to my side, I started to cry, more out of shock and concern I just busted this very expensive machine. He righted the machine and turned it off and came back to help me. All I suffered was some pretty severe bruising and some pretty good scratches. Thankfully no major injuries. And yes i was wearing a helmet! That night we opted for a hotel stay which was nice to have a warm place to sleep and ice to put on my leg! We woke up the next day and went to see the Redwoods! We camed among the Redwoods with their tops soaring hundreds of feet into the air! We walked around some great easy trails to see some of the biggest trees you can imagine. It was just awesome. We camped that night in VERY cold weather. We both bundled up in the tent and survived the night. The next day we drove along the Avenue of the Giants to drive among more giant Redwoods. I just love those trees and it's amazing how big they can get! We then headed down highway 101 to 1 to drive along the coast to take in some great coastal views. We finally headed inland and got a hotel in Hayward so we could just wake up and move in to my new place. We arrived Saturday morning and unloaded the car. Thankfully, James was here as I was on the 3rd floor! It's a pretty nice apartment with a pool and hot tub, work out gym, gated community, and I have a garage! I'm only about 15 minutes from work which is great in the bay area as the commute can be pretty ugly for some people. Sunday I had to put James on a plane back to Seattle which sucked but we survived. Lots of tears and hugs....but we get to see each other this coming weekend at my friend Elena's wedding in Pittsburgh. Overall, it was a great trip and James and I had a blast. I'm glad I got to spend the week with him and experience the beauty the coast has to offer. Now I'd adjusting to life as a California girl!