Oregon & Washington State

For our family vacation this year, we decided to explore Oregon and Washington State. Specifically, Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington and Elwha/Port Angeles, Washington area (further out Northwest).

The Fireman, the girl and I left Saturday, June 4th, 2016 around 9:30 am or so, stopping for coffee on the way to the airport. We left truck at our favorite PreFlight Checkin and had enough points for a free park. They shuttled us to the airport and we were checked in by 4:45pm. Fast check in! We stopped at Chili’s for a quick dinner. We had time for a drink to kick off the vacation right, the girl had a shirley temple.

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

For our 7th year anniversary, the Fireman and I decided to go to Dennis Port, Cape Cod. We left on August 3rd, a Thursday after work and dropping off the girl with my parents. We had time to stop in at Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steak house. It was sooo good! Those guys in those fun gaucho pants were on it! If you’ve never been to one of these restaurants before, they give you a token with one green and one red side. When you’re ready for meat, you flip the token to green and they just keep it coming!

You will end up so full, but happy! There’s a salad bar to load up on first, and a hot soup, bread and bacon bar. The bacon was a brown sugar peppercorn bacon and was incredible! I could have just eaten plates of that and be good to go.

Branson, again…

I know, the fireman and I were just at Branson, like 3 months ago. It’s a problem, really.

Not really. We really love it there. We took the kiddos this time, even though we were going to leave it as OUR place. That’s ok. We didn’t take them to Big Cedar….that’s still OURS… 😉

We stayed at The Chateau. It’s super fancy. We loved it. We also got a really good price on it!

Ooh, there’s our hotel.

We were exicted. No, I was super excited. They were too, but they weren’t taking pictures…

Here’s the place from the marina. We really wanted to rent a boat, or take out a canoe/kayak, but it was super cold. It rained the whole drive down. But that’s kind of okay. We really love the seasons and I liked the spitting rain and cold weather. Especially after such a warm summer. It was exciting.

I had to take a fun photo. This is our room. There was a sink with a mirror to the left and the bathroom was down the hall by the door. That was nice cause I could do my hair while others were using the restroom, or brush my teeth, or whatever. We also had a little balcony, which had a nice view of the marina and mountains.

We stopped at a candy store on the way there, somewhere mid Missouri. The kids filled a bag of candies, plus each got wax fangs. They were super cool. 🙂

We Rode The Ducks. It’s an aquatic vehicle, made by the military. They drive straight into the lake, which splashes and is super cool, BTW, and then they let anyone that wants to take the wheel and have fun. They both got turns, but I like this one of the both of them…

We used the nice hotel pool, it had a great hot tub, that the kids got to use, too.

We went down to the hotel’s Sweet Shoppe both nights for ice cream/smoothies/coffee/sweets. The fireman and I bought these dinner plate sized cinnamon rolls and sticky buns and milk and let the kids take them to the hotel room and went to the library lounge for a glass of wine by the fireplace. They had a pianist playing Billy Joel songs. I felt like I was in Pretty Woman. Except for the whole hooker thing….

This is a cool photo….of a rock…..and a coupla cute kids.

It’s pretty! Are you sick of photos yet? I just loved it. I took a lot of photos. Can you tell? This one is from the parking lot at the hotel. It’s on a big hill. Makes it look more statuesque, too. Totally works.

We ate at fun diner places and had a big breakfast buffet at Shoney’s, which we don’t have at home. One place was an old farmhouse in the historical district, converted to a restaurant. The fireman got the all you can eat catfish….and ate 6 filets. I’m super serious. I got the best country fried steak I’ve ever had, hand dipped.

On the way home, we stopped at a lot of antique stores and gift shops and had fun rummaging around.

OMG, is he cute or what?

And the arch, on the way home. I got a better photo on my other camera, but I’m being lazy tonight and not downloading that photo. It’s the only one on that camera…

Sorry, we got home at 8:45pm last night and only had time to unpack, shower and go to bed. So, I got my laundry done tonight and am tired! If it turns out as good as I thought it was I’ll bore you with it tomorrow.

I’m good at that…..

So, that was our fun time. The highlight of the trip?

According to the boy, shopping on the Landing (historical district downtown), according to the girl, the candy store, according to the fireman, seeing the MASH vehicle on Ride The Ducks, the real one from the show, according to me, the hotel and the sweet shop’s dinner plate sized rolls. OMG

Road Trip

I’m heading back out to Branson, folks. I know, we were just there in July.

Well, the hubby and I were just there in July. This time, we’re taking the kiddos. Well, the girl and the youngest boy. The middle boy has to work and I honestly don’t think he’s interested.

I know, what’s up with the no recipe, no pictures?

I have given my blog a lot of thought lately. I just am too busy right at the moment to blog like I was. I’m not saying I’ll never post recipes or photos, but I really enjoyed it more when I just talked. So, that’s what I am going to do. I will add what I want, when I want. Even if it’s small.

Hopefully, it’ll still be enjoyable. It’ll certainly be more enjoyable to me, than to have pressure to do this. It was turning into work. Yuck.

Obviously, it took the enthusiasm out of it for me. So, I’m not sure how long the change will last, but you know how life is.

It changes. It’s one of my absolutely favorite things about life.

By the way, have you noticed how it’s gone and turned fall? I LOVE FALL! I could scream I’m so happy about it.

My driveway is full of crunchy leaves and I may be one of the few people I know that decidedly does NOT rake my yard. I LOVE THE LEAVES! They smell wonderful and they look beautiful. And anytime I have my windows open, even when it’s chilly at night, it makes me happy. The smell and breeze from outside just elicits a happy response in me. Dunno why. I can’t explain it and don’t need to!

So, tomorrow morning, we’re getting up early. The kids aren’t going to school. It’s a half day anyway, homecoming parade and all. Then, we’re packing the jeep up and heading out. It’s gonna be great! It’s only about 6 hours away, so a nice road trip and two nights at the Chateau. It’s a big fancy shmanchy hotel in Branson. It’s not that pricy, but it is big and fun. There are boats for rent, which we may do, or maybe just canoes/kayaks. I just want to be outside and enjoy this fall!

ALso, I want to enjoy the beautiful lake and walk and drink coffee and eat lovely food. I want to take lots of fall photos and post them here and bore all of you with them.

I want to be silly and have fun and not think about work, which is a lot easier now with my new lovely job! Which I still love by the way.

Oh yeah, I also want to see the kiddos have fun. That’s one of the best things as well. How great is it that we can do this with/for them? So, I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I intend to enjoy mine.

I also intend to come back and chat more, now that the pressures off yanno? 😉 Yes, Jana, that’s your phrase. I totes stole it….

P.s. I gotta remember to tell you all about my new book club. It’s so much fun! I just finished reading my first book. Next week is our next meeting. I’ll come back and tell you all about it.

Oh, and I’m working on another painting. I’ll have to take pics soon….