my weekend adventure
Let me begin by explaining that the photos in this post will be completely random and interspersed throughout the story of the weekend. There will be no explanation other than this: these photos are pretty and were taken during our paddle today on the Salmon River. Enjoy the photos and the thrilling story I will weave in between them.
This weekend was "Reach the Beach" -- which is when crazy people (like some of my kayaking friends) hop on bicycles and ride all the way from Portland to Pacific City, which is about 100 miles away and through some mountains. My kayaking friends decided this would be the perfect opportunity to blend cycling (for some) and kayaking (for all). My job was to learn to drive a stick shift so I could take some of the boats and a bike rack down on Kara's truck. I said "OK!"
The drive down on Saturday went pretty well considering I've only driven a stick shift three times. The only hitch was when I backed into a brand new, shiny red, convertible Mustang in a K-Mart parking lot in Tualatin. The parking lot was practically empty and this jack-hole decided to tuck his tiny little sportscar right up behind my big, giant truck when he could've chosen five-hundred other spaces, all in the five minutes it took me to run into the store to pee. It only left a little scratch on his bumper, but I left a note anyway and we'll see if he calls and makes me pay for it.
The rest of the drive was fine and we ended up safe and happy in Neskowin where Wendy's brother has a gorgeous beach house which we were lucky enough to use. We settled everything in and headed off to Pacific City (not so far away) to wait for the cyclists to cross the finish line. It was a crazy big party, but serendipity has it's way and in all that huge crowd, we ended up sitting right in front of two of Mahavira's closest friends. Big party, small world.
After the cyclists arrived and drank beer and rested, we headed back to the beach house to make a big dinner and celebrate Dye's fortieth birthday. The ladies also engaged in a "make your favorite cocktail" party, but I stuck to beer just to make sure I didn't over do it. Cocktails have a way of sneaking up on me, and I didn't really want to wind up hungover during the big paddle. Beer makes me feel heavy and bloated, which works as a self-regulator on my intake. It's rare that I drink too much beer in one night, I'm usually only in danger when liquor is involved...
Because I was responsible, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed by the time we hit the water this morning. It was so fucking gorgeous, I can't even tell you. Hopefully the pictures capture at least a little of the magic. We paddled the mouth of the Salmon River, which dumps right into the ocean. We weren't really in the right kind of boats for surf riding, but we did paddle out towards the sea out of sheer curiosity. We even saw seals in the bay, which was awesome. They popped their cute little heads out of the water here and there to check us out. Oh, right, and we also saw a naked photo shoot (see previous post). That was unexpected. And pleasant. :-)
It all passed so fast and before I even knew what was happening we were heading back to Portland. A few of us stopped off at Spirit Mountain on the way home, just for the heck of it. My brief but harrowing trip to Vegas definitely killed any interest I ever had in casinos, but I did have fun watching my friends pop dollars into the slots. Holly kept winning six bucks here and four bucks there, all on dollar bets. In the end I think she left with a fourteen dollar profit, which is way more than I can say for myself in Vegas. I was lucky to get out of Vegas with my soul intact, much less with extra money...
We finally got back to Portland and I realized I couldn't find my car keys. Somewhere in the shuffle they went missing. I bet they're locked in the trunk, but for reasons too boring to go into, I can't get it all sorted out until tomorrow. No worries, though, my keys to Mahavira's apartment were still in my bag, so I'm here now, chilling out with Ginger on the awesome new couch, in front of a blasting fan, working on this post and waiting for my girlfriend to get off work. My life is good.
This weekend was "Reach the Beach" -- which is when crazy people (like some of my kayaking friends) hop on bicycles and ride all the way from Portland to Pacific City, which is about 100 miles away and through some mountains. My kayaking friends decided this would be the perfect opportunity to blend cycling (for some) and kayaking (for all). My job was to learn to drive a stick shift so I could take some of the boats and a bike rack down on Kara's truck. I said "OK!"
The drive down on Saturday went pretty well considering I've only driven a stick shift three times. The only hitch was when I backed into a brand new, shiny red, convertible Mustang in a K-Mart parking lot in Tualatin. The parking lot was practically empty and this jack-hole decided to tuck his tiny little sportscar right up behind my big, giant truck when he could've chosen five-hundred other spaces, all in the five minutes it took me to run into the store to pee. It only left a little scratch on his bumper, but I left a note anyway and we'll see if he calls and makes me pay for it. 
The rest of the drive was fine and we ended up safe and happy in Neskowin where Wendy's brother has a gorgeous beach house which we were lucky enough to use. We settled everything in and headed off to Pacific City (not so far away) to wait for the cyclists to cross the finish line. It was a crazy big party, but serendipity has it's way and in all that huge crowd, we ended up sitting right in front of two of Mahavira's closest friends. Big party, small world. 
After the cyclists arrived and drank beer and rested, we headed back to the beach house to make a big dinner and celebrate Dye's fortieth birthday. The ladies also engaged in a "make your favorite cocktail" party, but I stuck to beer just to make sure I didn't over do it. Cocktails have a way of sneaking up on me, and I didn't really want to wind up hungover during the big paddle. Beer makes me feel heavy and bloated, which works as a self-regulator on my intake. It's rare that I drink too much beer in one night, I'm usually only in danger when liquor is involved...
Because I was responsible, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed by the time we hit the water this morning. It was so fucking gorgeous, I can't even tell you. Hopefully the pictures capture at least a little of the magic. We paddled the mouth of the Salmon River, which dumps right into the ocean. We weren't really in the right kind of boats for surf riding, but we did paddle out towards the sea out of sheer curiosity. We even saw seals in the bay, which was awesome. They popped their cute little heads out of the water here and there to check us out. Oh, right, and we also saw a naked photo shoot (see previous post). That was unexpected. And pleasant. :-) 
It all passed so fast and before I even knew what was happening we were heading back to Portland. A few of us stopped off at Spirit Mountain on the way home, just for the heck of it. My brief but harrowing trip to Vegas definitely killed any interest I ever had in casinos, but I did have fun watching my friends pop dollars into the slots. Holly kept winning six bucks here and four bucks there, all on dollar bets. In the end I think she left with a fourteen dollar profit, which is way more than I can say for myself in Vegas. I was lucky to get out of Vegas with my soul intact, much less with extra money...We finally got back to Portland and I realized I couldn't find my car keys. Somewhere in the shuffle they went missing. I bet they're locked in the trunk, but for reasons too boring to go into, I can't get it all sorted out until tomorrow. No worries, though, my keys to Mahavira's apartment were still in my bag, so I'm here now, chilling out with Ginger on the awesome new couch, in front of a blasting fan, working on this post and waiting for my girlfriend to get off work. My life is good.
posted by reasonably prudent poet at 9:10 PM
2 Comments:
so good to see that Oregon coastline, the water, the yellow kayak and your story.
thanks for the post.
and the naked beach girl, gorgeous too:-)) a perfect weekend. hope you find your car keys.
very nice! except for the keys, which hopefully will turn up shortly.
Post a Comment
<< Home