Polaroid Photo

Uncle Markie out and about.

Refresh for a different picture!

UMTravels

Choose a Topic:

Search Results:

Thu
19
Sep '13

Damn, Seaside Boy Cancelled.

Well, today was supposed to be date day with the Seaside boy – alas – he had to cancel. Seems it’s the last day to get his xBox360 out of hock in Everett.

Insert sad face.

Instead it was just running errands around town – like picking up a package at the shop as well as a stack of “feed stock” for the still.

This time I splurged — $2 a bottle for some 2007 red wine. We opened it at the shop – sold a couple of bottles for $6 (hopefully as cooking wine). Not vinegar, just all the fruit is gone. Suze didn’t mind it and is getting a case, but I tried it again the day after we opened it and just said no to drinking it.

Starting to make a pile for my birthday ramble – not even close to packing yet.

Some chicken/apple sausages and salad for dinner – kinda boring.

[205.4]

Mon
3
Mar '08

Seaside On The Seaside.

After a lovely drive down to Seaside yesterday on Highway 30 from Longview, even had the top down from Longview to Astoria, we actually got into our unit half an hour early.

Here is the lovely Dwight on the viewpoint across the river from Longview.

P1050240

The other two boys didn’t get to the condo until almost six. The dinner meal was a couple of racks of lamb, a marinated cucumber and red pepper salad, some of my fresh baked bread from a couple of nights ago, and some grilled asparagus. And these are the other two boys…

P1050255

Signed up for the “owner re-education” session for tomorrow morning — the early bird $75 version. I’ll give you the report tomorrow.

In the mean-time, here are the pictures: http://www.twango.com/channel/markso.seaside2008

Fri
7
Jun '13

Dead Day At The Print Shop.

Two orders in the queue when I showed up for work. And nothing else had come in before I got off at 2pm. I got caught up on a 2″ thick stack of magazines I’d been behind on.

Got this far to the trailer this afternoon before I got the call to pick up Seaside Boy (now Everett boy) at the Nordstroms in South Center Mall:

Only thing left is to mount the axle, put on the head unit, and run the wiring.

The boy is up for the night – and I’m paying him to mow the lawn as well, though by the time we got to it, he had to finish with a flashlight. While he was mowing I mounted the axle.

Late dinner. Pork loins and salad. The boy isn’t much of a wine drinker… trying to teach him. Not getting far.

I’ll take him back to Everett in the morning on the way to work.

[? ? ?]

Thu
16
Sep '10

Date Night In Seaside.

Conference call this morning at 9:30… good news is that it looks like it will be some work in the October timeframe – some nice billable hours (before I leave for Thailand).

The call ran a bit long (more billable hours) so I didn’t get out of the house until about 10:30 for the drive down I-5 and across US30 to US101 south and Seaside. Grabbed a sandwich in Kelso and ate it while finishing the Wall Street Journal for today.

Found my date patiently waiting along the highway in Warrenton (between Seaside and Astoria) and managed to get the last little bits of shopping done and get into the room by 2pm. It was your basic handicapped one-bedroom. I had a three bedroom penthouse reserved for next week for a repeat date, but cancelled when I found out there was no spa on the deck. Well, that and Tuesday nights don’t fit with dates schedule.

I’m afraid none of the pictures taken in Seaside would be appropriate for a “family” site… but let me tell you I got quite a workout – and the steaks were good, too.

Instead, I’ll just pop in a publicity photo for the resort:


 Off to Olympia tomorrow.

[227.5]

Tue
26
Jun '12

If It’s Tuesday,

It Must Be Seaside.

By the time I was done fiddling around with blog stuff, uploading a video and breakfast it was 1pm before I left for Seaside.

On and off weather (sun punctuated by showers) all the way to the coast.

I was amazed that the room was ready at a little before three – usually the Seaside WorldMark is 4pm straight up since they have so many rooms to turn over and clean. I got the room all set up and then headed out to pick up SeasideBoy. Won’t have much time to spend with him as he has a BBQ to go to tonight. Hopefully he will come back in the morning before I have to leave for Coos Bay.

The weather has stabilized here in Seaside. The view from my deck:

After I dropped him home it was time for a Safeway run to get stuff for dinner. Cruising the bargain meat bin I found a filet mignon wrapped in bacon for 50% off, and other scores were the BBQ sauce (also 50% off) and a bunch of other goodies. The only thing that wasn’t 50% off was the salad. It made a damn tasty dinner.

Since the condos don’t have ice buckets – the blender body will have to do.

Owner reeducation in the morning. If it didn’t include breakfast and $100 I wouldn’t put myself through the shark tank (I mean sales presentation).

[? ? ?]

Thu
10
Mar '11

Hello Seaside.

Another early morning out of bed — maybe I’m turning into my long dead grandmother who only slept 4 hours a night at the end of her 102 years.

Round two of ice machine ant cleaning (this time I just going to leave the machine on and freeze the bastards), a little work in the morning combined with packing for a quickie overnight in Seaside, Oregon on the way to poker in Olympia, Washington — yeah, I know, it’s not really on the way, but I figured that it was an excuse to get laid.

Left a little before noon (check-in at 4) with stops in Lacey for groceries and gas, Olympia to drop off food for tomorrow night (and some 30% meat in the freezer), Swenson for a little chicken and onto Seaside to exactly hit check-in time.

Nice room — I think this is the first time I’ve stayed on the north side of the condo. Big deck!

Had a nice afternoon roll on the sheets before making a BBQ pork dinner with salad and mashed potatoes for the boy and I.

Unfortunately he needed to be back home (his) tonight so it was a 9pm run north to Walgreens (for photos he had waiting) and then back to his place.

Better than nothing.

[239.6]

Wed
23
Jan '13

Rain, Rain, Rain

All The Way To Seaside.

It was raining when I left Forks, it was raining when I discovered that my beloved Dog House restaurant in Aberdeen had turned into a Thai Takeout place, it was raining as I gassed up at Safeway, it was raining when I picked the boy up, it was raining as we ran errands, and it was raining as we walked to dinner. After the last couple of weeks of sunshine and weather, it was a bit of a change, and not much fun to drive on winding roads in.

Room was ready, but considering it was a little before 4, it should have been. Update on the Seaside WorldMark, they had gone wireless for their Internet, which screwed over the boy as he needs a wired connection for his xBox360 for which he doesn’t have a wireless card (guessing he will want me to buy one of those for him as well).

Same room location as a couple of weeks ago, just two floors higher:

Good straight on view of the ocean, and close to parking. Not so close to the pools, but I haven’t been in those pools in at least 5 years.

Had dinner at Norma’s Seafood and Steak. I had some Washington Coast oysters on the half shell – a little large for my taste, he had the crab cakes for his starter, then it was onto the fish and chip sampler (1 piece each of cod, albacore tuna, halibut and salmon) which was quite tasty – he opted for the BBQ Hamburger being in a meat mood. Bud light for him, a couple of Manhattans for me. $66 was the total after the 10% off coupon from the WorldMark. Definitely cheaper to cook in the room!

Nice to be off the road for a couple of days.

[? ? ?]

Wed
11
Feb '09

Paging Seaside.

Oh, the pain of an early morning after entertaining.

Alarm at 7am — the theory is out of the house at 8am to drop off the computer for MB’s son in Tacoma, then to pick up friends at the airport — the Portland Airport.

The reality of this morning was more like 8:30am with the windshield wipers frozen to the front window of the mommy van. It would have been more fun in the Jag, but with snow possible in the mountains, not the best move. Years ago I rented a Jag from Budget and went for a ride in the Colorado mountains and came VERY close to getting stuck — tires spinning for MILES to get back over the pass from the first turn around.

The boy’s (Mark and Onyx) flight was early, and I was late. Still slightly addled from the night before I missed the correct turnoff and headed us up the gorge instead of the the coast — bonus was a beautiful view of Mt. Hood without clouds.

Got to the WorldMark Seaside at around 1:30 — to find our room READY — amazing.  My guess (from the amount of ice in the freezer) was that the room was vacant last night as well.

Lunch at Girdles. We all ended up with variations on a theme… French Onion soup and a crab laced salad for Mark, Clam Chowder and a crab laced salad for Onyx, and Shrimp Bisque and a crab laced salad for me.

Dinner tonight is yet another rack of ribs (this time with Arthur Bryant’s sauce rather than last night vinegar based wash), salad, grilled asparagus, and a loaf of sourdough bread (from last night’s dough). Wine, of course (red for the Marks, white for Onyx.

Dessert – yes, courtesy of the other Mark. Chocolate… maybe we should open one of the bottles of port tonight.

Tonight’s free movie (courtesy of WorldMark) is Burn After Reading. I understand it’s a comedy.

[217.8]

Wed
2
May '12

Not So Sunny Seaside.

As you can see from the picture below, it’s not too sunny in Seaside for my visit:

Which is OK since I’m mostly in the condo and not out sightseeing.

The boy returned this morning at 9 to spend the day before heading back to his Uncles for the evening. His Uncle, not this Uncle. A swing by Safeway for some bargain meats after running him home.

Steak on the grill (see picture above) and the remaining ½ bottle of wine from last night – still good.

Quiet evening.

[? ? ?]

Wed
14
Mar '07

Former Boy’s School.

How appropriate that I’m staying in a former Boy’s School (amongst other things). I’ll post pictures when I get a real connection rather than the dial-up in the lobby which is valium slow.

The grounds are stunning, the rooms amazing, and I can’t wait to see the chapel on the grounds (which isn’t WorldMark controlled).

Breakfast was eggs and bacon. Lunch will be melon and herring (not together), and dinner witll be a roasted chicken (which I can also use for lunch tomorrow).

Today’s goal is to find a broadband connection and a newspaper. Life is hard when those are your goals.

FOUND IT! I found the mother of all internet connections at the local branch of Chariot which is an ISP that has two computers in their front office for public use at $1 for 15 minutes. It feels like a T-1, and their small form factor Dell’s (Optiplex SX270) have two USB ports on the front so I can get those pictures uploaded — hey, maybe I’ll even add the ones I took this morning of all the old Boy’s School pictures I found in a back hallway.

So — the rental car, a Hyundia something, and in red, which I don’t like — but this isn’t a tin box — it has a great CD player with controls on the steering wheel — even the speakers sound good. Add power windows and door locks (and A/C) this isn’t some cheap car.

The town of Ballarat is an old gold mining town. I’ll have to get some pictures of the old downtown area on the next round of updates. Does remind me of the old west except for all that driving on the other side of the road business.

Well, here is the link to all the latest pictures.

That’s it for now. Can’t wait until I get to a computer with the Google spell checker on it since the WordPress add-on doesn’t work.

A little nap on the couch between sections of the paper. Chicken in at 5:30, ready by 7pm — could have followed the microwave instructions for 36 minutes, but prefer toasty brown. I’ve never seen this sort of “cook in a bag” whole chicken, but having just read an article on seal a meal cooking (there is a fancy French term for it which I’ve forgotten). It will also work better for tomorrows lunch in the gold field towns that surround Ballarat.

Strangely enough, I’m sitting here listening to the Lehrer Report off of PBS — which considering that they only have half a dozen channels, I find it amazing they picked up this one for their “international” channel. This is the channel that offers news in Polish at 8:30am, followed by Chinese at 8:50am, followed by Russian at 9:10am. Of course, on Channel 10 (which is odd since there are only four of them) we have the Simpsons.

Sun
10
Aug '08

Wild Goose Chase Ends In Boy’s Night.

Don’t you just love a titillating teaser tag-line?

Well — the wild goose chase was our run one of my brother Jon’s Coos Watershed Association site on the 250,000 acre Weyerhaeuser timber farm near here. We got within about 15 miles of the project when we found the security guard telling us that they rest of the gates were locked for the weekend. We had an Access Tag, but not the keys to the gates. A nice drive up the south fork of the Coos River — made me want to get out and swim, which was my plan had we reached the new bridges and culverts Jon wanted to look at before taking tourists up there later this week.

That’s the goose. Boy’s Night is a reference to Norma (sis-in-law) heading to Salem for a meeting tomorrow. So it’s just the boy’s at home tonight. She did, however, leave me a nice note on my computer…

P1060082

The one on the left is my Subway reward that I got on the way down. I think the one on the left (done by Norma) is an invitation to work weekends around the farm. I love the “Collect 5 Coupons and Win a 2-week Work Vacation”.

Here is the scrolling bar of photos so far — which will change when there are more photos. Mostly of flowers in the gardens and us working on the gate to keep the meth-crazed neighbors from running off with large pieces of aluminum equipment that belong to the Coos Watershed Association, but are too valuable to leave in the dock area where there offices are.

 

Probably the last of the blogging since tomorrow I’m without Internet connection unless I glom onto Jamshaid’s at his cabin at Breitenbush.

Tomorrow I was thinking of visiting the Monaco Coach Factory in Junction City on the way to “The Bush” just to see what’s new in a very stressed market.

[? ? ?]

Wed
13
Oct '10

Seaside And Camera Phone Self-Portraits.

Got out of the house at 11:30 after Jimmy and Suze picked up the chop saw for art projects (Suze, not Jimmy). Destination: Seaside for date number two.

It was a lovely drive down – top down part of the way until it got a little too cold, but no rain.

This shot was outside Longview, Washington on US30 on the Oregon side of the Columbia River.

This shot was actually from last night coming home from dinner with Swanda and Fluffernutter – again, another cell phone self-portrait. No too bad considering the various lighting situations.

Got into the condo at 3:30 – half an hour early, which is something that this resort isn’t well known for. They even offer people $15 in restaurant coupons to get people to check out before 10am.

In between a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine) and romantic activities, managed to get dinner on the table at 8pm – veal chops on grill, baked potatoes, cole slaw and a nice bottle of rose.

Needless to say, it was a late night.

[228.6]

Wed
16
Nov '11

On The Road To Seaside.

Well, Hugo finall showed up at 11:30 — I left him to finish up the rest of the insulation work in the attic.

Headed to Seaside today — ETA is to be checked in with the BagBoy by 4pm. Stopped in Olympia for gas and to hit the markdown meat rack — scored big time:

  • Spiral cut ham half
  • Couple of packs of lamb chops
  • Bacon
  • Bratwurst
  • T-bone steak
  • Rolled skirt steak with spinach and cheese
  • Smoked ham hocks
  • 2# of ground bison

And some salad stuff, but basically it was a meat run. Spent $75, saved $45. Not bad.

Actually manages to pick up the BagBoy, dealt with the front desk, signed up for “owner re-eduation” for $75 (more than I paid for the two nights) and we were in the room by four. Since he had dinner planned with his Uncle (no, not this Uncle) I had to get him back to the house by 7.

A funny thing happened on the way home. Backing out of the parking space, I heard this crunch, like running over a can. Didn’t think much about it — did the round-trip before realizing I couldn’t find my glasses. Retraced my steps and found this by my previous parking space.

Yes, that would be my reading glasses crushed by my car. I now have one lens left, and no back-up pair in the suitcase (rare).

Had a steak for dinner (should have fired up the grill), watched a little TV, and crashed early, tired from the drive.

[212.0]

Fri
10
Dec '10

Destination: Seaside.

Out of the house at a little before 11 and sitting in Rich’s driveway in Olympia at noon – trying to stuff to large guys and their stuff for the weekend into a really tiny little car. And we both packed light, but I had the fur coat to get the zipper put it in when I’m in Forks, Washington on Monday.

By 3:30 or so we were checking in at the WorldMark Seaside, seen of so many visits this fall.


 

Our three-bedroom (standard, not deluxe) is on the second floor on the right hand side of this picture. Now all you need to add is a sort of winter grey motif and you have it.

My sorta BF didn’t go out of down as planned so he came over after work at 7:30 for a little bed time and dinner. An unexpected treat. Hopefully I ‘ll get to see more of him over the weekend. He seems excited about meeting the poker boys, but then again, he does like older chunky mean – for which we all (well, maybe not Curt) qualify.

Dinner was bockwurst on the grill – probably not the best way to do them as they split and charred up a bit, but still tasty. Warm kraut and buns, mustard, a side salad, and lots of good conversation. All is well in the world.

[231.5]

Thu
3
Jan '13

Seaside Here I Come!

Had a late lunch at the Elderberry Restaurant outside Seaside by 15 miles are so and saw this lovely on display:

Bigger than mine… a recent picture with its new setup:

Drilled a hole in the lid of the catch bucket to keep the fumes in, and grabbed a wine box from the garage as a stand – takes up less space than the dining chair it used to be on.

Got to the condo around 2:30, not that it was ready, but they did call me half way to pick up SeasideBoy that it was ready… nice timing.

Too bad he isn’t staying the night; he’s got something going with his uncle early in the morning. Oh well, got to hang for a couple of hours before returning him home.

Next stop = Safeway for dinner, imagine, a marked down steak (on the grill) and a pre-prepared salad. Forgot to grab a bottle of wine. Oh well, I hate paying retail.

Just a quiet night in front of the fire while the wind whipped up the waves in the distance.

[? ? ?]

Fri
17
Dec '10

Seaside.

For Better Or Worse.

My view:

The place I drive by in Astoria that I would love to buy and restore:

It was the Finnish Sauna from 1928… with a diesel fired furnace, which I’m assuming is dead. Anyone up for a $249.000 sauna in Astoria. Apartments upstairs. Tempting.

http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/14865967/285-W-Marine-Drive-Astoria-OR/

I’ll swing by in the morning to do an outside inspection before I put out the call for investors…. At least I have a good history in real estate.

No time with the boy today… but lots of billable hours. Funny how my billing goes up when I’m in heat. And how much more productive I am. It doesn’t help that there are like two soccer teams staying here. I can hear the cheerleaders at 7:30 at night shouting Christmas carols by the pool – and I’m at the far end of the resort.

A quick trip to the Safeway for a steak (and about twelve others that were in the 30% off rack). Looks like I’m packing meat (as opposed to heat) on the way home.

However, the grill did work now that the winds have calmed down.

[? ? ?]

Wed
13
Feb '13

Off To The Bush.

Apparently I needed sleep, like 11 or 12 hours of sleep because I didn’t get out of bed until noon. Another good reason to just go buy some chains today and drive to the Bush (Breitenbush Hot Springs) rather than carpooling with Mark and Onyx. Means I’ll miss Seth’s company on the return ride back to Portland on Monday, but it also means that I’ll get to Seaside at 4pm rather than closer to 7pm which wouldn’t work since both the Seaside Boy and CaddyDaddy are meeting me at the condo.

A lovely Heavos Ranchero breakfast from the talented Julian, a little computer time, a quick shower and shave and it was out the door by 2pm… in search of chains for the Miata.

No updates until Monday – I’ll still be writing it just that there is no internet in the woods, or cell phone coverage, but there will be ice since I packed the ice machine.

[? ? ?]

Sat
3
Sep '16

Trip Report: ROAD TRIP!

What happens when there are no cheap flights during the summer? ROAD TRIP!

Though I didn’t realize it at the time, it turns out to be a parade of visits to friends that I’ve known for years:

  • Cathy = 46 years (stop 2)
  • Dwight = 31 years (stop 3)
  • Peppermint = 22 years (stop 6)
  • Yusaf = 19 years (stop 6)
  • Rache = 21 years (stop 7)
  • Bliss = 24 years (stop 8)

And the weather was stunning – probably got more sun than I should have.

First stop was to see Cathy – and drop off some cookware from my mother’s estate. She had many dinners at my parent’s table and reveled in the fact that my mother had nice things – and used them everyday. I passed on a Dansk 60’s turquoise double boiler and a Le Creuset orange saucepan with lid.

It was good to catch up in person with here rather than email/Facebook.

Next up – Dwight. My overnight stop. The photo from Dwights:

He does stock the bar for me! There was also a “handle” of Evan Williams Black. Dinner tonight was lovely Steak Fajitas delivered in (by a cute delivery guy). I got the “blow-up” queen-size bed in the spare room. We don’t get to see enough of each other – one of the reasons is that he has cats. I just doubled up on the antihistamines!

Morning found me early out of the house – Portland bound. I’ve got to hook up with Peppermint at his shop and head to a food show in SE Portland. Somehow I didn’t get a picture of Sunnyside Espresso.

I did get a couple of pictures from the food show – spread over two floors:

And this is a serious “cold press” coffee machine – using ice water:

On the way to my evenings lodging I passed the corner that was a block from where Jimmy and I lived in Northwest Portland – which was a corner market/butcher shop – now it’s a Mcmenamins Bottle Shop.

Tonight’s lodging is with Yusaf and Peppermint – who have also rolled out the red carpet! Here is the “Love Shack” that is my home for the night:

Complete with turquoise appliances!

And power!

They sacrificed an animal for the grill in my honor:

I brought a couple of bottles of a 2005 Bordeaux that we have at the shop – was $25, now $14 – and drinking GREAT!

There where even vintage “gay” magazines in the “love shack”!

They are from 1974 – when I was a senior in high school. I had to borrow them to scan and return. The T-Shirt Princess will love the images.

Slept in late, knowing that “breakfast” will be at Burgerville – my weakness in burger places – and the St. John’s one had a full parking lot and a drive through line that stretched onto the street:

After the “Devil’s Burger” it’s on the road to Long Beach (Washington, not California!) for an overnight with Rache.

It’s odd to pass through Seaside and not visit Seaside Boy – who actually is in Blaine these days:

Tried to find some new cargo shorts – after four stops, found some Ralph Lauren “not cargo” shorts, but they had a nice feel and were new at $10.

Stunning lamb dinner of the grill with Rache:

Again, my host is out of the house before me – and I’m on the road for the longest leg of the trip. But the top is down, and all is fine in my world.

Until I hit a backup – only 15 minutes:

And a blog update stop in a roadside rest stop:

The last stop of the trip is an overnight with Bliss. And the Cowboy Bed!

And the view isn’t bad:

Little did I know what was planned for my visit – a whirlwind of cocktails, boating, oysters and dinner! Bliss making scratch thermos’ full of Piña Coladas for the boat.

Bliss’ contractor has a boat and friends…I have a Speedo!

And even I went swimming in Hood Canal:

We did a little motoring around before heading to Union for beer, and as it turns out, oyster samples:

After a little ass-grabbing (NOT on my part, well, the ass was, not the grabbing) it was time for a sunset dinner with the guys – what a lovely end to the evening!

Not a bad road trip. Got stuck in a little traffic around Tacoma on the way home, but it was nice to sleep in my own bed.

[216.4]

Tue
23
Sep '08

Boy Scout Motto In Action.

A leisurely start to the day after too much partying last night. I ended up sleeping half way back to Tampa. Luckily my flight wasn’t until 1:41pm, so that made it an easy morning.

No upgrades for anyone on the Tampa/DC flight because we are on Ted — which I refer to as the “back end of UniTED. Fortunately they are phasing out these one-service-class airplanes this fall. At least with their (United) Shuttle failure they had two-classes. Ted services “leisure” markets, Tampa/St. Pete, Orlando, Las Vegas, New Orleans where they think there is no demand for first-class seats. Fools.

Now for the Boy Scout part — best way to get a coveted upgrade on the DC/SEA flight? Have a snack, and buy another snack for the 6 hour flight. Make sure you get plenty on small bills for by-on-board drinks. By being prepared, you don’t need it (though it did make a nice 10pm snack). I got the upgrade (Seat 1A), and dinner was the last piece of chicken breast (as opposed to the ravioli with a marinara sauce which would give me gas) served with polenta and vegetables (and bread and salad). Much scotch, much red wine, more scotch.

Was home by 9pm, and spent the rest of the evening catching up on mail, email, and junk television.

[? ? ?]

Thu
20
Aug '09

What Does A Dumped Boy Do?

Book A Trip To Mexico.

I guess I knew it was coming. Putting in lots of energy, getting less back.

But know it’s official — he’s got someone he is hot for a LTR (long term relationship) but has promised me a new pink hairdo and pork chops. Better than nothing.

So Gilly and I are off to Mexico on the 2ndof September for 5 days/4 nights. First class each way, 2 bedroom condo, airport transfers, all for under $1500 total. OK — I’m on a cheap rebound!

Sweet man — would like him in my life. Oh well.

How else to recover? Rent-boy Sunday morning, Bangladeshi hottie on Thursday night (and maybe Friday and Saturday nights).

It did ruin my work day — all I wanted to do was, well, work with my hands. Why did I pick the hottest day of the week to do the dump run and clean out the trailer?

Of course now that the trailer is clean, and their might be a buyer for SOB, maybe I should start working on my concept tear-drop camping trailer project. Apparently I can’t NOT have a project.

Dinner tonight was a ridiculously huge pan-fried steak with a split of the Bonney Doon and a side salad of the tomatoes and cucumbers.

[218.0]