august now?
So, I've let the entire month of July go by without an update, not at all my intention. The Russian and I have just returned from an extended weekend in Portland. This deserves a dedicated entry but since I am apparently lazy and slow, I'm cobbling this entry together from emails and text messages.
~~~~~~
The weather was great, the scenery beautiful. We drove up on the coastal highway and I was a little worried the Russian would drive off the road he was so amazed by the scenery (first the redwoods, then the beaches). We stopped a lot, and the coastal route is longer, so we didn't arrive in Portland until Sunday evening. (We left on Saturday afternoon.)
The hostel was very nice, much nicer than the motel we'd stayed in on Saturday night. We had a private room, which was a bit spendy, but still in the range of what a motel would've cost and we were in a pretty residential neighborhood, within close walking distance of a lot of amenities.
We spent a lot of time walking around, especially that first day; we left the house at 10am, returned for a rest at 6pm, then went out again an hour or so later. The second day we drove to the farthest of the touristy places on our list, Pittock Mansion, then drove back and took public transport for the rest. Went to Voodoo Doughnuts (waited in line for something like 20 minutes just to get inside, good thing the donuts were tasty; now I have to try Psycho Donuts in San Jose to see how they compare), Pittock Mansion, Powell's City of Books, the library (which was HUGE; three stories tall and the biggest I've ever seen), Washington Park and the city's rose garden, several brewpubs (one of which had a raspberry beer that wasn't too bad to my non beer-loving tastebuds), a sort of Farmer's Market, an arcade with lots of vintage games (because someone I know is a big nerd), walked around the city reservoir, etc. Stopped in at the Japanese Garden and the Portland Art Museum, but they were closed on Monday and we didn't go back on Tuesday.
I've learned that Portland is a town of breweries and foodies. We didn't get to visit any of the various food carts we passed, but we ate at a lot of different places. Our last stop our last night in town was the Pope House bourbon lounge, which smelled delicious (like bourbon-flavored barbecue sauce), and where I drank entirely too much.
In conversation with a couple of people, the Russian learned that there's a decent law school in the area, at Lewis and Clark University. I expect he'll add that to the list of possibilities for next fall.
The drive back was a marathon, took about 12 hours of near-constant driving. We took the less scenic, more straightforward route. Down the 5 to the 505 to 80 to 880. Still we passed by Mount Shasta and through the national forest. Fun thing I'd forgotten about driving into CA is that there are checkpoints just over the border to make sure people aren't bringing in foreign fruits/veggies/plants. It was totally honor system. The guy asked if we had any fruits or whatever, we said no, and he waved us through. We barely had to stop.
I think Dad liked having us out of the house. (He actually went out on Sunday evening, which hardly ever happens.) We definitely enjoyed being out of the house. Had a couple of tiffs along the way (mostly about time, since I run late and he runs early) but mostly things were very easy. Of course, it might have been a completely different experience if we'd visited during the rainy season. I think we might take another vacation in the winter, driving south then to avoid bad weather. That's on the radar anyway, we'll see if it happens.
P.S.
We'd initially planned a longer trip, through Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. So Cousin C, who misplaced the last one I gave him, asked for a replacement of the red maple leaf hat that had been a souvenir from my first/last trip to Vancouver. I ended up not getting it this trip. His response when i mentioned that i didn't get him the hat:
"...My mind is a miasma of shock and depression. I feel lost. I feel deprived. I feel demolished. All hope for the future minutes has been destroyed.before me I see only a dark clock descending upon the horizon of my being. What possible use is there to continue on into a future where even a small ray of golden happiness symbolized by a small red hat with a maple leaf on it can be crushed beneath the jackboot of reality? As I stare into the diaper of futility, filled as it is with the contents of my dreams and hopes..."
~~~~~
Back to now...
This week was initially supposed to be very different. After taking the LSAT in June, and getting his results several weeks later, the Russian received invitations from a couple of law schools in Ohio to apply for their Fall 2011 classes. He was accepted to both, so planned to go. I spent a couple of weeks cycling between happy for him and unhappy for me. From an email to Cousin C: "This puts us in the funny position of his best-case scenario being my worst-case scenario, and him saying 'oh but it probably won't work out' and me saying 'oh but it probably will'."
Actually, this development resulted in a lot of emails to Cousin C. By the end of the drama, the Russian had given notice at his job, I'd gotten time off from mine to accompany him on a driving trip back to Ohio, we'd started looking into airline fares for my trip back. Friday morning, everything was in place. Then, that same Friday afternoon, the Russian called me and said, "Don't kill me. I've decided not to go."
I just sat kind of stunned listening to his reasons why not, then said I had to go, not sure whether to believe him or if he'd change his mind again. But it's been a few weeks now, deadlines have passed, and the decision seems to have stuck. So instead of Ohio, we went to Portland, and instead of goodbye, it was like saying hello again.
Home again now. More later.
This entry was originally posted at http://stuberyl.dreamwidth.org/302891.html. Feel free to comment here or there (but not everywhere).
~~~~~~
The weather was great, the scenery beautiful. We drove up on the coastal highway and I was a little worried the Russian would drive off the road he was so amazed by the scenery (first the redwoods, then the beaches). We stopped a lot, and the coastal route is longer, so we didn't arrive in Portland until Sunday evening. (We left on Saturday afternoon.)
The hostel was very nice, much nicer than the motel we'd stayed in on Saturday night. We had a private room, which was a bit spendy, but still in the range of what a motel would've cost and we were in a pretty residential neighborhood, within close walking distance of a lot of amenities.
We spent a lot of time walking around, especially that first day; we left the house at 10am, returned for a rest at 6pm, then went out again an hour or so later. The second day we drove to the farthest of the touristy places on our list, Pittock Mansion, then drove back and took public transport for the rest. Went to Voodoo Doughnuts (waited in line for something like 20 minutes just to get inside, good thing the donuts were tasty; now I have to try Psycho Donuts in San Jose to see how they compare), Pittock Mansion, Powell's City of Books, the library (which was HUGE; three stories tall and the biggest I've ever seen), Washington Park and the city's rose garden, several brewpubs (one of which had a raspberry beer that wasn't too bad to my non beer-loving tastebuds), a sort of Farmer's Market, an arcade with lots of vintage games (because someone I know is a big nerd), walked around the city reservoir, etc. Stopped in at the Japanese Garden and the Portland Art Museum, but they were closed on Monday and we didn't go back on Tuesday.
I've learned that Portland is a town of breweries and foodies. We didn't get to visit any of the various food carts we passed, but we ate at a lot of different places. Our last stop our last night in town was the Pope House bourbon lounge, which smelled delicious (like bourbon-flavored barbecue sauce), and where I drank entirely too much.
In conversation with a couple of people, the Russian learned that there's a decent law school in the area, at Lewis and Clark University. I expect he'll add that to the list of possibilities for next fall.
The drive back was a marathon, took about 12 hours of near-constant driving. We took the less scenic, more straightforward route. Down the 5 to the 505 to 80 to 880. Still we passed by Mount Shasta and through the national forest. Fun thing I'd forgotten about driving into CA is that there are checkpoints just over the border to make sure people aren't bringing in foreign fruits/veggies/plants. It was totally honor system. The guy asked if we had any fruits or whatever, we said no, and he waved us through. We barely had to stop.
I think Dad liked having us out of the house. (He actually went out on Sunday evening, which hardly ever happens.) We definitely enjoyed being out of the house. Had a couple of tiffs along the way (mostly about time, since I run late and he runs early) but mostly things were very easy. Of course, it might have been a completely different experience if we'd visited during the rainy season. I think we might take another vacation in the winter, driving south then to avoid bad weather. That's on the radar anyway, we'll see if it happens.
P.S.
We'd initially planned a longer trip, through Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver. So Cousin C, who misplaced the last one I gave him, asked for a replacement of the red maple leaf hat that had been a souvenir from my first/last trip to Vancouver. I ended up not getting it this trip. His response when i mentioned that i didn't get him the hat:
"...My mind is a miasma of shock and depression. I feel lost. I feel deprived. I feel demolished. All hope for the future minutes has been destroyed.before me I see only a dark clock descending upon the horizon of my being. What possible use is there to continue on into a future where even a small ray of golden happiness symbolized by a small red hat with a maple leaf on it can be crushed beneath the jackboot of reality? As I stare into the diaper of futility, filled as it is with the contents of my dreams and hopes..."
~~~~~
Back to now...
This week was initially supposed to be very different. After taking the LSAT in June, and getting his results several weeks later, the Russian received invitations from a couple of law schools in Ohio to apply for their Fall 2011 classes. He was accepted to both, so planned to go. I spent a couple of weeks cycling between happy for him and unhappy for me. From an email to Cousin C: "This puts us in the funny position of his best-case scenario being my worst-case scenario, and him saying 'oh but it probably won't work out' and me saying 'oh but it probably will'."
Actually, this development resulted in a lot of emails to Cousin C. By the end of the drama, the Russian had given notice at his job, I'd gotten time off from mine to accompany him on a driving trip back to Ohio, we'd started looking into airline fares for my trip back. Friday morning, everything was in place. Then, that same Friday afternoon, the Russian called me and said, "Don't kill me. I've decided not to go."
I just sat kind of stunned listening to his reasons why not, then said I had to go, not sure whether to believe him or if he'd change his mind again. But it's been a few weeks now, deadlines have passed, and the decision seems to have stuck. So instead of Ohio, we went to Portland, and instead of goodbye, it was like saying hello again.
Home again now. More later.
This entry was originally posted at http://stuberyl.dreamwidth.org/302891.html. Feel free to comment here or there (but not everywhere).