The 92 Days of Summer: Day 2

e-scrubjaw = e-xx(r)xbxxx

Okay, so today I was not much of a Jay Gatsby, but instead, Otis and I had a chance to participate in a fiasco. Well, maybe not a fiasco, but a misadventure for sure.

After making arrangements for the boys (thanks NatDog and O), Otis and I headed out fairly early this morning for what was supposed to be three days and two nights out on the Long Beach peninsula, enjoying a beach house and a couple days of taking in the ocean air to kick off the summer.

We had heard that it was supposed to be a beautiful day in Seattle, and, sure enough, it was clear and sunny as we headed into the end-of-morning-rush I-5 traffic. The great weather lasted all the way until Olympia, and then when we cut west to head out through Pacific County, the skies covered up and it became as overcast as it gets.

Sigh.

We continued on through Raymond and South Bend, with no blue sky in sight, getting to Long Beach a few hours earlier than our "check-in" time, in time for lunch. We drove up and down the strip looking for a place that was (a) open and (b) looked like it had decent food. We picked Chico's Pizza, only to find out too late that it only met (a). Canned mushrooms on the veggie pizza and iceberg lettuce as the only salad bar greens should sum the place up; just add a lot of signs telling you what you can't do (get refills, go through the salad bar twice, &c.).

Le sigh.

To settle our stomachs, we went and got some tea at the local coffee shop, the only place around with wifi. It actually was pretty decent, except for the guy who picked up the house guitar and started practicing his riffs.


Me, as usual


Otie, doin' something mystical with her brew

So, we headed down to the house, and it was... a house. Just a house. Not cute, or cozy, or rustic, or beachy, or comfy, just a three-bedroom house that might be fun to fill with friends for a sleepover but which was just a cold empty place to us. A fine house, but just nothing that said "relaxing getaway" to us.


Yeah, this is... great.

So, we had also been told that the house was five minutes from the beach. It is - if you drive. If you walk through the neighborhood, it was closer to twenty minutes. I think our townhouse is actually closer to Green Lake than this place was to the Pacific Ocean. But, we made the trek and took a nice, long beach walk in the bright afternoon gloom.


The beach access road


One of the few shadows we saw all day


The desolate and majestic beach


I point out the desolation and majesty, in case you missed it


Otis honors the ocean with "limping crane" pose (or something)


Actually, the ocean is always cool, even if the weather is crappy


Innit?


Still not a lobster.

When the wind chill got too much for us, we returned to the house for a little sit-down and relaxing. Even with the heater on, it was a little chilly in the house, but Otis snuggled under a blanket and fell asleep. I read, and then joined her.

The day was rapidly losing its charm. We decided to give Long Beach one last chance to amuse us, by going to the local Thai restaurant because even though it described itself as both Thai-tastic! and Thai-licious! in its ad.

We should have known better. Bland curry, sweet-ketchup pad thai, and a table next to a crowded fish tank with one goldfish who had literally gone belly-up.

That did it. We decided to cut our loses, abort the mission, and just come home. As a diversion, I decided to cut across to Longview and come up the freeway from there, rather than driving through the soggy bog country again. Just a short 14 miles down 101, this is what we saw:



You see that bright spot on the other side of the Columbia River? Do you know what that is? That is Astoria in the sunshine. In the 30 years that I have lived in the Pacific Northwest, do you know how many times I have seen Astoria sunny? NEVER, that's how many. It was beautiful. All of Clatsop County was beautiful; we had returned to the sun.


Looking back at Pacific County from Oregon


Entering Rainier

The drive up was wonderful, sunny and warm and pleasant. I called the catsitters, both of whom confirmed that we had missed a gorgeous day on Seattle. So, six or seven hours of driving, fifty bucks for gas, a couple of bad meals, just to leave great weather for crappy weather - actually, I've had much worse days.

Okay, so now my vacation can really begin!


Us.