"There are places I remember, Though some have changed."
We have lots of homes, many physical, many mental. Being at Liz's, like being at Erik's, certainly is a home for me. I feel comfortable here, and there, as if it were my home in Laramie. And its nice being here.
Getting here was not without its moments. Actually, everything went fine on Friday morning. I checked the parking situation on the Denver airport website to make sure that there were no problems with Christmas parking and everything was fine. I woke up with the alarm. I was 95% packed and ready to go. Got the last 5% into the bag and was off and driving right on time. Roads were clear and really surprising empty in my direction, great guns until I got to the parking lot at the Denver airport. The Pike's Peak lot was closed. It referred to a new lot that I had never heard of and was not mentioned in the DIA parking website. Signs pointed straight ahead to the lot. Well, if this is where the lot is, it should be a lot closer to the terminal. Only it wasn't. I ended up at the parking and traffic office within site of the terminal, but no lot around it. I saw three employees standing around and they were surprised when I asked them where the lot was. "Oh, go back to road where the rental cars are located and head south. Only to get there, I had to drive up to and through the terminal to head back to the rental road. When I finally got to the correct road, I was probably 1/2 mile south before there was a sign for it pointing straight ahead. It ends up, it's the old Moraine Park parking lot that they've given a new name because its supposed to be an employee lot now. If they had said it was the Moraine lot, I would have driven right to it. All of this took about 25 minutes to finally get situated and parked. And then, rather than drive up to arriving passenger level, it dropped us off at the level below the train station on the south side of the terminal. When I got to the ticket counter, it took a while before the agent found my ticket info, and then the printer wouldn't print out my luggage tag. I literally stood there for 10 minutes until another agent printed it out on her printer..... by the time I got to the gate, they were ready to start loading the plane. I don't mind coming to the airport early, and this is the reason why.
Luckily, all the rest of the flight went smoothly, Erik met me at the baggage claim and we Lyft'ed to Liz's. Home. We filled Liz's SUV with ours and her bags, filled in groceries, and took off to her AirBnB in Pacific City.
Mount Hood from the side of Mount Tabor between Liz's house and Nick's Landmark Saloon.
Pretty Spectacular!
Liz's place is so cute. She has a 5.0 rating with 47 guests. And believe me, she works hard to keep that rating. Some pictures:
Hot Tub, Pet Friendly + Fenced Yard, Walk to Beach
Front yard
Living Room
Kitchen Backyard and Chowder
Game Room and Laundry
It is cute and cozy! It has Liz's touch is all over it! A wonderful place! Highly recommended!
You can see it in the AirBnB site at
At this point, she has 50 5-Star Reviews!!!
To give an idea how hard she works at it, on Saturday (the 21st), she went to turn on the hot tub for us. And it wouldn't turn on. After doing some basic checks, she called her hot tub man. He came out and called on Sunday that the controlling switch wasn't working. She called four places on Monday morning and located one. We picked it up, drove the 2-1/2 hours to the coast, installed it and the tub still wouldn't turn on. So she called the hot tub man again, he came over, looked it over and said that it must be another part that he didn't have. Sooo, she ordered an inflatable hot tub on line, we drove home and it arrived too late today to get out again, so we will probably go out again on Christmas day to set up the inflatable hot tub for the current guests. She IS dedicated!
Saturday, the 21st.
Some of the places we visited (and ate, and drank....)!
Mo's in Lincoln City Rogue Brewery in Newport
The Sea Lion Pier on the water in Newport. One of the beautiful bridges on US 101
The beautiful Yaquina Bay Bridge -
Newport, OR to Boston, MA
Sally always said "They are BiCoastal,
which is better than being BiPolar!"
Newport Beach with Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Distance
Lincoln County Vietnam Memorial, Newport
Boiled Crab Dinner. There was a mixup between the waitress and the kitchen. This was only a half crab dinner, they didn't hear the first half of the order, which was a whole crab dinner. Between the three of us, there wasn't much left over.
While it was overcast and rainy along the coast (which was certainly no surprise!), it was a great day! We laughed and ate and drank and just had a great time together. I only wish Sally could have been part of it.,,,,but I think she was.
Sunday, the 22nd. Driving back to Portland.
I hated to leave, but Liz had guests coming in that day. Before we left, she had flowers out and a greeting on the table. And she called and told them about the hot tub and that she would be out as soon as possible.
Chief Kiawanda Rock and Cape Kiawanda
And then, the most direct route back to Portland took us through Tillamook, where we just Had to stop at the Tillamook factory.
The milking chute demo. The little kids hogged it the whole time, so I couldn't get my picture there.😦
The cheese processing line. Driving home after lunch.
I buy Tillamook cheese at home and their ice cream is the best there is. I can get both at the two grocery stores in Laramie.
Monday, the 23rd
Monday night we went to a light show exhibit called
Hopscotch. It was 12-15 rooms of light displays and activities. It was really fascinating, lots of movement and interactive rooms.
"Unknown Atmospheres"
Liz, Erik and Nick
Tuesday, the 24th - Christmas with Nick's Family
We celebrated Christmas with Nick's family at his mother's house. We met Nancy in 2019 when she came on our Classic Canadian and New England Princess cruise. When she heard that the cruise would stop at Prince Edward Island, the home of Ann of Green Gables, she wanted to go. She had so much fun, it was a joy to have her with us. She is sitting right behind my head. Sadly, Bill, her husband died earlier this year, so it was the first Christmas for the family without him.
There were twenty of us that evening. Nancy, her sister Tracy and me, Nick, brother Jesse, sisters Kaitlin and Sarah, their S.O./spouses, and nine children. And four dogs including a Great Dane whose shoulders were at my eye height when I was sitting in a chair.
Traditionally, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th so everyone can spend the 25th with their spouse's families. Everyone grew up in Corbett, OR, graduated from high school and the parents still live there.
One of the traditions they have is the kid's Christmas picture. They dress up in the same striped pajamas and it looks like they sit in the same positions. They have pictures going back about ten years.
Christmas 2024 Christmas 2023
After dinner, Nick's younger sisters took off for a while. While they were gone, two elves showed up. The Elves were Mixy and Tricksy and they came to play games with the grandkids. I think there were five different games that we played. They led games for over two hours.
One that I took a video of was "How many marshmallows can you put into a cup using a straw." Warning: the volutme is a little loud when it starts.
Interestingly enough, Kaitlin and Sarah showed up after the Elves left and so they missed seeing them I guess its happened in previous years also.
In all, it was a great celebration with a warm and happy family. I spent thanksgiving with them three years ago and I knew that it would be fun again this year. And it was!
Wednesday, the 25th - Christmas!
Christmas was celebrated at the Landmark Saloon. Although Nick owns it now, it was started about 10-12 years ago by a couple who were moving from the east coast to the west coast. As they were driving through Wyoming, they stopped at the Landmark Saloon in Torrington, WY and thought it as a great model. When they bought the bar, they named it the Landmark and adopted the laidback atmosphere. And that's what its known for now. I really enjoy going there.
They were going to have a potluck buffet for dinner, and Liz started cooking in the morning. She needed a bunch of ingredients which Erik and I were going to pick up. We ended up going to two Chinese grocery stores. Strangely, they were not anything like the grocery stores in Laramie. The wealth of foods, fish and spices was incredible. I told Erik it would be fun to just spend a couple of hours in here and see what all they really have. I don't think Erik was quite that enchanted.
Nor did we find everything that we went for. Which was alright also. Nick was up by 10:00 and over at the bar, and other than going shopping and me bothering Liz trying to help in her little kitchen, we just kind of lazed around until we went over at 5:00. Nick has a photo booth in the back of the bar and we three had to get some pictures.
Come on, how many 75 year old dad's can have this much fun with their kids!!!
We watched Christmas movies until 9:00, when Erik had to pick up a Lyft to the airport to fly the redeye back to Boston. I lasted until 10:00 and then drove Chowder and me home where I crashed....the bed, and not the car!
Wednesday, the 26th
My flight was scheduled for 12:45 and Liz needed to get back out to the coast, so we left the house about 10:00 and had breakfast, at Jack-In-The-Box. MY choice. I don't see them very often and, drumroll.... a great confession, I love their greasy tacos. This goes back to when we lived in Houston when I was in Junior and Senior High. There was a Jack 10 blocks north of our house that my friend Larry and I would walk to and get Super Tacos and slushy drink. Those were the best, and I can remember my sorrow when they dropped the Super Tacos from the menu. So, Liz and I each ordered two tacos and a burger. And I raved so rhapsodic that Liz gave me one of hers. (OK, I think she was really happy she didn't have to eat it.)
The from there to airport a little early so Liz could get off to Pacific City. Only, when I got to the gate, the plane was delayed an hour and a half. Once I was on the plane, things went smoothly until I got my bag and went out to get on the shuttle to go to the parking lot. Only, with the change in the parking lot location, the bus that I usually got on ended up going to the new lot, so, back to the terminal, finding the new loading/drop off location, I finally got to the pickup.
And, to my great disgust, I stopped on the way home (it was 7:00 by this time) and got some Popeye's Fried Chicken. It was not a day of gastronomic restraint, but it sure made me happy. And home was home, and empty, because Will is in Buffalo with Deanna, which is where he should be.
So the next day, I started first thing in the morning on my rowing machine. Call it penance.
Happy New Year, All!!!
YCGL - Nov 6, 2024 - Laramie - Don't Stop the World, I Don't Want To Get Off, But It Could Slow Down a Little
Newport Beach with Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Distance
What a great place! Awesome dedication!!
ReplyDeleteIt is incredibly cute. I mean, really, that is the word for it.
DeleteWonderful. Loraine
ReplyDeleteYep. I'm thinking of renting it for a few days without her knowing about it, but I'm afraid my email will give it away.
Delete