Cape Disappointment

A few weeks ago, I had asked a friend if there was anything worth visiting on the Washington side of the Bay.  His reply was something referencing that the Washington side had nothing and wasn't worth the ten minute drive.  Amanda and I decided to check it out anyway.

We headed to Cape Disappointment.  How it got it's name, I will never know.  There was absolutely nothing disappointing about it.  It's probably my favorite spot yet.

There were a couple of little girls that decided to make a teeter-totter with the wood that was sitting around the beach.  It was absolutely adorable!

Goonies

Karl took my by the Goonies house today.  I guess I can say I'm an official Astorian now.

Adventures of Kara & Serena

Serena came up for a couple of nights.  I gave her the 20 min city tour.  We climbed to the top of the Astoria Column and soaked in the beauty.

My next big weekend hike will be the Saddle Mountain Trail.  This is a view of the mountain from the top of Astoria Column

http://www.nwhiker.com/SaddleMtHikes.html

Love Hate Relationship

It's been two and a half weeks since I moved into my new place.  About a week after living here, I started questioning all my reasons for spending a year out here.  What exactly was the point of all this?

One night, I thought my apartment felt more like a trailer than an apartment.  It's long and narrow.  There are only windows on one side and there is only one window that opens.  Ish!  Sounds terrible huh?

I gave up an apartment that I absolutely loved - not to mention the fireplace, balcony and bathtub - for a trailer?  There hasn't been a time in my life where I lived somewhere I wasn't able to take a bath.  It now takes me about 20 min to do a half shave job on my legs in my tiny shower. 

Transition time.  That is what I'm going through.  I may not absolutely love my apartment, but I do absolutely love the serenity and peace I have already found here.  It is so incredibly dark and quiet at night, that I find myself getting a little scared.  At 29 years old, I am considering a night light. I may get a little scared, but I find when I actually get to sleep, I am sleeping like a rock. 

Finally this week I started to feel like I was at home.  I'm certain it has a lot to do with the amount of work I've been putting into painting.  If I hadn't painted, I wouldn't have been able to stay here.  The original color was this terrible yellowish beige.  The entire apartment was that color.  The bedroom is at the back of the apartment and dark enough as it is - add yellow beige, and it's not a bedroom.  It was more like a room you don't want to spend any time in.  I'll post some before and after pictures as soon as I get all my furniture in place.  Paint can do wonders for any space!

All this change may not seem perfect, but it is forcing me outside of my comfort zone and deep into my mind. I think it's all really healthy. Not only is it healthy, but I think it's probably a time in my life that will be remembered as one of the best times ever.


This is a wonderful life!

Shark!

Wilbur and I spent the day napping and walking the beach.  Wilbur ran ahead of me and was about to start rolling on what I thought was a large beached fish.  Nope, not a fish. 

Here's Wilbur posing later that day

My New Sea Green Bathroom

I still need to put a few finishing touches on this project - like reposition the frame above the toilet (I think it's a little low) and I need to finish painting the shelf behind the door.  The color is perfect and does wonders for the bathroom!

After

Lunch Date with the Beach

So far this is my favorite spot!  The beach was almost empty and it was a gorgeous day.  I look forward to spending many Saturdays here.

Day 1 Lunch Guest

Almost gave me a heart attack!

I love my friends.

Amanda, Dan and Shane are awesome!  They came over Friday night and loaded up the good ol' Budget truck and we headed towards my new coastal life.  Dan and I rode in the truck and Amanda and Shane followed in the Honda.  We arrived at my new place at around 9:30 PM and unloaded the truck.  I couldn't have picked a hotter day to move.  The guys were sweating bullets from running up and down my 25 stairs with all the furniture and boxes.  My new place looked like a tornado hit it for a few hours.  We did good at clearing a walking path.  Everyone was starving by the time we were done.  I had picked up some crap hot dogs earlier in the day thinking that we were going to eat at my old place without any dishes.  However, given we were at my new place, I felt pretty bad serving crap dogs and mustard.  The buns were left behind in Portland.  I promised them a nicer meal for Saturday night.

When we finally got to sleep, I woke up wondering what the terrible sewer smell was.  It hit me that I was blocks from the bay and that was the lovely smell of saltwater.  Suddenly the sewer smell wasn't so terrible.  Not only was I smelling the ocean, I was also hearing sounds of seagulls and the trees blowing in the wind.  Sleeping wasn't really an option because I was so full of anxiety.  I laid there thinking about what a wonderful year it was going to be.  At 7:30 I jumped out of bed and headed to the grocery store.

I came home to fresh brewed coffee and my friends at my table.  It made me so happy.  There can't possibly be a better way to transition into a new home. We made breakfast. They sat outside enjoying breakfast in the sunshine with a little view of the bay.   I was stuck with the Internet guy hooking up my work station. 

After breakfast we headed to the beach.  There was about a fifteen degree temperature drop from my house to the beach.  We still managed to enjoy ourselves.  I walked around and took pictures of all the people enjoying themselves.  Wilbur and Anheiser ran around and played in the water.  Simply blissful!

We headed back to my place and all napped in the living room for a bit.  I had another "awe, this is amazing" moment  when I woke up to see everyone sleeping in my new living room.  Life doesn't get much better.

That evening, two of Amanda's friends came by and visited.  I made a huge pasta dinner.  There were six of us sitting around my table in the candlelight.   It felt like a holiday.  Everyone was in great spirits.  Amanda and I enjoyed some wine and more wine and then a little more.  We all played Cranium and laughed some more.  I think we went to bed around 2:30 am and I woke up with a mad wine hangover; it was well worth it.

We got back to Portland around 3pm today.  I dropped Dan and Shane off and felt a bit of sadness thinking it may be a few weeks before I see them again.  They are such wonderful people and I will miss having them around on a regular basis.   Amanda and I enjoyed a girls night at her place with her roomy Rachel.  We dyed our hair, made tacos (great hangover food) and ate huge bowls of ice cream.   I am one lucky lady that had one amazing weekend.

Thank you friends for all of your help and for starting my one year off at the coast perfectly.  I love you guys!