2019 – August
August is amongst us!
I know it won’t be long and I’ll be back at work unable to spend all of this time with the kids. With that in mind… I’m trying to find ways that we can spend more time together. If it is little things like playing with the Duckies that Grams got Elijah or just being silly with Arabella on the couch… maybe giving Elijah a bath in the sink?! he still likes those. Just really being mindful and making the most of this fleeting time.
With our impending move, we made one last trip to the Ocean. A pretty cool photo of Ara and myself taking on the waves. We also picked up a pint of “Scoops Ahoy” from Stranger Things. I think we will probably keep the container as a souvenir for the time being as we ate all of the ice cream inside.
We moved back up to the PNW with our job start date looming. We stayed in Medford at the Clarion Point (not the Hampton Inn). Side story: Why not the Hampton Inn? Well, on the way through town on a previous journey we checked in with them. They didn’t have our room and were incredibly rude to the wife and myself. They said they would call the cops on me and pre-emtivly said they canceled our stay. My parents were with us and they canceled their stay too. I ran the whole incident up the ladder at the corporate offices of Hilton. They offered us a few nights of free stays after confirming with the hotel what happened. Either way, I will not stay at that location again.
After getting to our house we zoomed off to Siletz, Oregon to go to the Pow wow with the family. Below you can see a picture of Gramps at the Pow wow.
After that we booked a night on Hotwire for some super low price, not knowing what we would get. We ended up getting the Salishan Spa & Golf resort! What a nice surprise. While that was already on the coast we went and took some sunset photos too.
Shortly before work started we went to Church (they had a free Chik-Fil-A night) which we happened to be present for. You can see a picture of two cups and the fire, one of the nice things about the place we are staying is that it has a fire pit in the back. Makes for some great evenings. We went to a shipwreck and also checked out the Trolleys in Astoria (as Lijah loves them). For historical purposes here is also how tall the kids are.
Work! I work for Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), also part of the Department of Energy. I never thought that I would work for the Government. So now I’ve worked for American Express, Intel, and even the Department of Energy! Crazy. Here are a few photos I captured of the new work location. The photo with the yellow background is the elevator control. Instead of using any buttons inside you select your level before entering. I’ve not seen anything like it before. The elevators are basically big mirrors (as seen below). Also, in my photo feed, I have this silly photo of the wife with the kids and a picture of the rising cost of fuel (now 2.41/gal).
Labor day weekend is here! Instead of sitting around not knowing what to do, we decided that we already have our passports (thank you London) and why not go to Canada!? We always wanted to explore the north more than we have. Let’s be honest, there is no better time than the present.
Of course, we went to McDonalds. I had a co-worker at American Express (Vince) who told me he could go to McDonalds any time he traveled because they always had new things that were specific to the country or area he was visiting. This was true for us. They had bakery items, porridge, and no cream for coffee (only milk) in the UK. They had special Hawaiian pies in Maui and now in Canada all sorts of things on the menu that they didn’t have just a few hours south. Poutine! Canada Angus Burgers and donuts. In the area was also a Canadian staple- Tim Hortons. We had to stop and get some Timbits and coffee/tea. While walking into Timmys we had a police officer stop and say hi to the kids, he posed for a photo with them and gave them teddy bears. Super cute.
Ever heard of Point Roberts? I had and was finally able to visit. You can see a picture of the gas station (shell) with the prices specified in USD even though most of the customers are Canadian. This will be the first time (that I can remember) that we will start a month in another country.
just Pray
note: this post was published on 08/29/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of August 2019 to keep chronological order.