AND the elusive black jacketed beach squirrel. Not to mention two large scale photog gigs.
I spent eleven days Back West with Marjorie. The weather was inconsistent but at least reliably so. The Christie/Brad wedding was a perfect intimate affair, with just the right balance of elegance and laid-back…ed…ness. Very good people! There are hundreds of pics, but they get to see them before you do. So just wait, dammit. And the Integrative Healing Arts shoot went smoothly and successfully. M was brilliant help at both events! Then I turned 39 at The Keg in the company of M, Christie, Brad, and Jayme, whom I haven’t seen since before he got married. Marriage has been very good to him.
All that would have been a whirlwind of adventure worthy of the telling. But then we loaded up a car and rolled down the coast for five days of camping, beaching, hotelling and seeing stuff. M would have liked a lot more sun to go with those endless miles of beach, but at least… at least… hmm. Well, at least we didn’t get rained out. Mostly. And we most certainly undeniably and factuarily had beaucoup de quality time together.
The Red Lion Inn, Olympia (via Priceline.com) – surprising. Comfy king bed. Good breakfast. Don’t trust Google Maps to get you there – a mistake or two near the end.
Tillamook Cheese – a must stop for M. Some delectable fromage, fo sho. And the ice cream is super shazam. If the rain catches you, there are worse places to hang for an hour or two.
Beverly Beach State Park, Oregon – great. Big campground. Family oriented. Miles of beach.
Newport, Oregon – Bigger than the other charming seaside towns in the area. Probably the best place to re-supply. Also, home of Rogue. Oh, and the aquarium with sharks.
The Overleaf Lodge, Yachats, Oregon – superdeluxury after a couple days camping! Deep jet tub overlooking the ocean almost at your feet. Very nice. Adequate breakfast.
Luna Sea Fish House, Yachats, Oregon – A tiny room with top shelf sea food mostly caught fresh by the owner operator his own self. Best halibut & chips ever.
Yachats throws a hell of a July 4 celebration, including a pie festival followed by the La De Da parade. Just awesome.
Seaquest State Park, Washington – good. Quiet. Pay showers. Still an hour’s drive to the best view of Mt St Helens.
In the end we didn’t make it to the volcano. We set out with a mission, but the fog got so bad at 3000 feet we didn’t see much point in climbing another 5 to see more of the inside of a cloud. Instead we rolled on out and, after a scenic drive through Castle Rock just for funsies, consoled ourselves at the outlet mall.
Twelve hours later I was on my way back to New York. And twelve hours after that we were loading in for the next shoot. No dust on these shoes.
PS – M is going to start spending significantly more time in New York in September. If I filled the next seven pages with exclamation marks, I would have made a good start in expressing my pleasure at this news.