And the award goes to...

Nominations for vacation MVP:

1. The ashtray - yes, really!
2. The convertible (what would Thelma & Louise be without the convertible)
3. The golden orb of vacation happiness
4. Kirstin's mom (she got us the great room in sunriver at the last minute)
5. Branden (bartender at the sunriver pool)
6. Vodka - yes, everything does taste better with vodka.
7. Kirstin's digital camera - what would a vacation blog be without pics?
8. The iPod docking station
9. The incense package that could be placed just right to bypass the short in the ipod docking station (which worked great as long as Kirstin didn't touch it!)
10. The bar at the hotel in Hood River

And the winner is....

Kirstin's Mom!

Kirstin's mom got us an awesome room, in a perfect location, in Sunriver on 1 day's notice. She even made sure we had the golden orb of vacation happiness available for our entire stay.

I must admit I was hoping to get some good (embarassing) stories about Kirstin's childhood. Unfortunately, all I got was "Kirstin was an angel... until she turned 14..." and then her mom just got really quiet. I think she has post traumatic stress disorder from whatever "Kirstin the angel" turned into at the magical age of 14. ;)

Bad, bad Kirstin!

Headin home :-)

Here we sit in Hood River, starting the packing/showering/getting ready thing. Nearly time to hit the road and head west home.

This has truly been one of the best vacations ever! We relaxed, had no schedule and no itinerary...and it just rocked!!!!

I'm sure there will be more pics posted later - we took lots and posted mostly when in a slightly hazed state...we may find some gems that must be shared :-)

The Lighter Fairy shines upon us!

Over the past week we have found our supply of lighters steadily dwindling. By Friday morning when we left Sunriver, we had exactly one remaining lighter. We kept careful watch over this lone survivor as we did not want to find ourselves in the middle of the mountains without a lighter - for safety reasons of course.

After settling in to our room in Hood River, they began randomly reappearing. By the end of the evening every lighter had reappeared and we found ourselves with quite an impressive collection. Life is good :-)

Terri should go pro!!

Check out these amazing night shots of the Hood River bridge at night!!! This was the view from our deck...just stunning!!!

Funner...

it may be cromulent, but it is still grammatically incorrect. Homer Simpson doesn't quite make Webster's either...but I like the word Cromulent...it has a nice ring ;-)

Things Kirstin now knows.

• "Funner" is a perfectly cromulent word.
• Terri can totally kick her ass at Tetris.
• A sunburn causes heat to radiate from the skin.

Observations from Terri & Kirstin

Picture 1: It's windy in the Gorge.

Picture 2: It's very funny in the Gorge.

Picture 3: Sometimes, even though it's really windy in the Gorge, you just need a smoke.

Picture 4: It's very purty in the Gorge.

Roadtripppin again!

Today was the day we said goodbye to Sunriver and set off in a mostly Northwesterly direction...the Gorge sounded like a great place to spend the last evening of our vacation, so we went across Central Oregon, then up Hwy 35 to Hood River. The pics below are along Hwy 35 next to a beautiful river...there were no signs to tell us what river it was - maybe we'll look it up later :-) Seemed like a great time for some fun pics!!!! Next pics will be from the Gorgeous Gorge :-D

Terri...shore!

This is the view I spent much of the day on the river looking at...and trying to turn the boat from. Terri learned that with the right actions, or lack thereof, she could cause the boat to repeatedly head for the shoreline...and on the Deschutes, that shoreline is most interesting :-) We found ourselves again and again pushing off of fallen trees, or headed toward swampy brush...all the while Terri cackling in the bow of the boat. At first, I believed this to be some level of newbiness with oars...then I learned...it was just another fun way to play games with the rower in the back of the boat ;-)
And I should add, at this particular moment when the pic was taken, we were pushing against the current upstream as we turned the boat around...again.
I think Terri is laughing harder now about it as I type this then she did when we did it. Sometimes she's just mean ;-)

Sunny Deschutes Days!!!

We canoed. It was awesome.

Sunriver webcam :-)

So you can all see the sunny beautiful central Oregon weather we are enjoying!!

http://www.sunriver-resort.com/sunriver-webcam.php

The bar :-)

Had to post an actual pic of the bar...I thought I had posted it in the first post, but apparently I missed it :-)

There's a bar at the pool...we have reached Nirvana!!!

We decided to go spend some serious time doing nothing but soaking in what we now call the "Glowing orb of vacation happiness" :-) Imagine our elation when we realized that there was what looked to be a bar in the pool area...Kirstin set off on a mission to find out what this tiki looking area really was...lo and behold, we found a full bar and our new best friend Brandon the bartender!!! Bliss!!!! They even bring you food! What a great day!!! Today holds canoeing, a little biking, and most likely a trip to visit Brandon...cause hey we are on vacation, and the nice people here gave us a room that is a mere 10 feet from the pool entrance - it would be a shame to not take advantage of this locale :-) Everyone have a great day...we will!

Why the hell do you leave the beach anyway??

Well, this was actually a kind of clear moment this morning...most of the time, we were in a thick marine layer that was just crazy!!! 108 in Brookings just a week ago and the high there was to be 64 today! We clearly needed to head east...high desert and hot sun!!! Called Mom and had a great room at Sunriver booked within an hour - thanks Mom!!!

We had trouble with a title, so how about a top 10 list?

OK, so we'll tell you about the day later, but this picture was just freaking incredible and spurred much discussion of what the hell to title the post...so here's the top ten or so...we've had a few drinks, so they are no particular order at all


10...And then there was light (yes, cliched and nearly cheesy, but really...
9...Well, we've reached our destination...was that heaven or hell we were headed to?...Ahhhhh....wise sunchasers, you have found me
7....Shit, I hope the archangel Peter isn't around the corner waiting
6....Kirstin, I think you took a wrong turn!!
5...Oh sweet, the rapture!! That means all the idiots will be gone!
4...Do they have vodka in heaven?
3...Do they have vodka in hell?
2...I don't give a damn whether it's heaven or hell, it's warmer than the Oregon Coast was!!!
1...I can has sunshine? (Terri swears some of you will get this...I have no f'in idea what she's laughing about!!!)

Please feel free to add a comment with your suggested title.

Oh ya, this pic was taken at the entrance to Sunriver after a four hour drive in search of the glowing orb of vacation happiness...we will post a pic in a moment of the lovely misty foggy chilly weather that we left this morning!

And...Honey, if you're reading this on Wednesday morning, please check with Carl and see if he has internet up and running again...if not, please go help him...he is missing out on....well, internet "stuff". Quick before he starts heading out Californi way. :D

A nice afternoon at the bar!!

Monday was a lovely afternoon in the chilly fog of the Oregon Coast. Faced with a not perfect day to be outside sightseeing, we quickly turned lemons into lemon drops...and vodka tonics!!! Weather just didn't seem to matter much after that :-)

No quitting the day jobs yet :-)

But we had a ball donating to the Oregon Lottery (that's the one that makes the kickass roads we've been driving on right?? ;-)

it's loupe not a melon!

terri has been trying to convince me the melon hater that they are good - here she is explaining that cantaloupe is not a melon, but rather, a lope ;-)
I still don't like melon...or lope ;-)

Double Dog Dare time :-)

Kirstin kindly volunteered to go out into the cold to retrieve sodas for our breakfast and was heading in to put her jeans on. At this time, seeing an opportunity, I dared Kirstin to go in her purple heart covered pajamas. She did not seem fazed and continued toward her room. Knowing that she is a die-hard fan of "A Christmas Story" I decided to pull out all the stops - that's right, the dreaded "Double Dog Dare". I knew she would not be able to refuse such a challenge, and true to form, here she is returning with the sodas in her purple heart covered pajama pants.

Potty in Waldport!!

Kirstin proudly showing off the gigantic bathroom key in Waldport!
Mission accomplished!!! I feel soooo much better now!!!

Views on the Road!

Pics taken on the gorgeous Hwy 20 drive from Corvallis to Newport!!!

At the coast...we're sure of it ;-)

Got to the Oregon Coast last night, and promptly got chased down the coast by the lovely fog - we knew the ocean was on our right, but damned if we could see it!!

Found a great place in Yachats where we are hanging for the day and planning the next leg of the trip...it is not as warm as we would like here, so who knows what will be next :-)

Topics under discussion at the moment:
Bend
Kahneeta
Brookings
Vegas (cause it's freaking hot there!)
Tijuana (cause we like to leave all options open - habla espanol??)

Kirstin and Terri's present mood...happy and safe...and we have kickass coffee!!!!

terri is enjoying morning coffee and singing to billy joel :-)
life is good!!

Nearly ready to rolllll :-)

Terri just dropped little dude off at camp, I'm pretty much packed, and we are almost ready to go!! Brian and I just need to pick up the rental car, then I will pack everything in and head to Ms. Terri's house for the start of Road Trip!!!!

just playin with this mobile stuff :-)

Samson the cute :-)

Just playing with the mobile uploads :-) What a Cute Cat!!

Almost time!!!

Kirstin here :-) Saturday evening and I am almost done packing and now hanging on the couch with Brian. Tomorrow this time, we'll be on the road in our ragtop!!!!!