Tea Garden

I realize the last handful of posts are about me eating out. Keep checking though, they'll get a lot more exciting next week when we start driving up to Seattle.

Had dinner tonight with my mom and my dad! Probably the first time in 20 years we've been to dinner together. It was really cool. Went to a restaurant we frequented when I was a little kid...

Dinner with Travis & Shelly

Travis and Michelle had me over for dinner tonght. Here's a quick breakdown...


Partying in the backyard

Shelly freaking out in the kitchen

Look at that beautiful bird. They were game hens cooked on beer cans filled with succulent juices.


This is their new dog named Bailey

Look at that beautiful spread

Tasha and I about to dig in

Bailey just lays in Travis's lap like a baby...

This is Andy and Tasha's dog Precious. She was very sweet and licked my face...


Andy! Better late than never!

Thanks guys, sorry about the mess...

Dad's visit

I'm back in Long Beach and my dad came down to visit. We've been eating out alot...



Here's my dad, his car and a building he used to own in the background.

Portland & Lunch in Vancouver

I extended my trip until Sunday, so Friday night I picked Melissa up from work and we went to stay the night with Jeff and Natalie in Portland. They have the coolest house and it was an amazing trip.


Behold the majesty of Jeff's workshop. He built that amazing workbench to the right and the dinner table to the left.
Natalie had just flown in from a business trip and was sick, but was in high spirits anyhow.

The garage became the smoking/hangout room because it was too cold to be outside.


The next day was sunny and warm, so after breakfast we headed to the coast. We went to a place called Cannon Beach - it's where the movie Goonies was filmed. The beach is about 20 miles from the town of Astoria, so there's no way the Goonies could have ridden their bikes. Damn Hollywood magic.

If there's anyway you can view this picture full-size, please do so. I caught this photo when the little gray dog had all it's feet in the air and it's really stressed out.
Melissa where everything lined up in Chester Copperpot's dubloon.

Us in front of the Goonies rock (Haystack rock).


This is the town of Cannon Beach. It's really cool.

I highly recommend the drive up the Oregon coast. It's in my top 3 drives of all time (with Hwy 1 up the California coast and the road to Whistler, BC). Look at that crazy bridge! Melissa had a panic attack driving across it.
This was much earlier in the week, but I drove up to Vancouver, BC and had lunch with Mark and Meghan. I forgot my camera during lunch, but this is their house and the view from the front porch! Vancouver is amazing.

Portland Pt. 1 A.

Okay . . . one more, real quick.


We took a very long, but very scenic way back home. More to follow. I swear.

Portland Pt. 1

Dean couldn't bring himself to leave on Friday, so we changed his flight and went to Portland for the weekend. Here's a small taste. More to come.

Melissa's birthday

I came into Seattle for Melissa's birthday. Here's a quick rundown of the first 2 days...

She got a rain bonnet for her birthday!

We met for lunch at a cool pub down the street from her work.



This park is in our new neighborhood. It's right on the water with amazing views and has lots of bbq pits and tables.

Then I wandered around downtown. Went to the Pike market and some wierd curious shop with tons of mummified animals, human remains and a whale penis...

This is our new landlord, Hank. He's really cool and took us for drinks after we signed the lease.

This marina is walking distance from our new place. There's a little center that has a bar, resturant, and barber shop. Hank says there's a great brunch.

Then we had a really nice birthday dinner and overlooked the Elliot Bay Marina. Thats all for now...