Weekend 101

Every time I arrive in the US I feel like I automatically put on 10 kilos without eating a single thing. This time I think I actually did put on 10 kilos but I can explain… and it’s not pretty, but my goodness it was delicious.

So last weekend Steve and I ventured to Oregon for our mini Easter break. We had four days off so we took the opportunity to fly to Portland and drive the north & central Oregon coast before spending our final day and night exploring Portland city itself. It had been a while since our last trip so we were getting itchy feet and we were both keen to get away from what has been a very slow start to spring in Vancouver.

Rather amusing was the fact that prior to our trip when Steven and I both mentioned our weekend Portland trip to separate Canadians (me to a colleague and Steve to a lady at the bank), we were met with the same confused stares and inevitable question -

Crazy Canadian: “Really? Just for the weekend? That’s such a long way to go just for the weekend…”

Our individual responses were similar –

Steve/Me: “Yeah – is that weird? It’s only an hour and a half on the plane – what’s so strange about that?”

Through further questioning we eventually discovered it was yet another ‘lost in translation’ moment –

Crazy Canadian: “Um, what? Poland is more than an hour and a half away” Steve/Me: “No you Crazy Canadian, we’re going to Portland, not Poland”.

If you’re anything like Steven himself (or anyone we had previously mentioned Portland to), you’re probably asking yourself why on Earth we’d want to go to Portland. Mostly, I guess, because it’s one of the lesser-known US cities. Portland, however, is significant (to me, at least) for three reasons – it’s the birthplace of Nike (formerly Blue Ribbon Sports for all you trivia buffs), the current base for one of my favourite indie bands ‘The Shins’ and you can shop here sales-tax free! If those were not already enough reasons for us both to want to visit, the Oregon coast is one of the most scenic coastlines, consistently featuring on the to-do lists of travelers everywhere. Also, we both figured we’d never have visited Portland, or anywhere in Oregon, if we weren’t living an hour and a half plane flight away, so, "when in Rome Vancouver"… as they say! Driving along Highway 101, even for three short days, was an amazing experience, made even more amazing (and a hell of a lot less stressful) with the assistance of a GPS.

To briefly afford GPS the credit it deserves – I can shamefully confirm that within the first 15 minutes of our car trip GPS proved to be worth its weight in gold when we got lost trying to get ourselves from the car rental station to the highway and ended up taking a mini tour through Portland city. “Recalculating” is not a word you ever want your GPS to announce.  Not once, let alone three times in a row.  Needless to say GPS was a welcomed third participant on our road trip and after I came to embrace her, she certainly saved my butt more than once.

Once we’d made it to Highway 101 relatively unscathed, our road trip began. Our first stop was for snacks at a local convenience store boasting over 60 varieties of jerky. Well, we couldn’t say no. Following recent road trips of late, jerky has proved itself to be an essential travel item. Tell me, what is more appetizing than shriveled, dried meat in a bag?

We also stumbled across this little gem ...

Cooterville - Rob's local hangout.

Other than this, the initial morning of driving was fairly uneventful, minus our 20 minute argument over lichen and whether it is the green fuzz that grows on trees in areas of particularly clean air or whether it’s another name for a werewolf (actually spelled 'Liken'). I’ll leave it up to the imagination as to whose guess was whose.

Our first ‘official’ stop along the coast was at a town by the name of Seaside. Seaside was an interesting place to say the least. A breeding ground for US white trash. Too harsh? A mini-novelty town (bumper cars, arcade games, 7 trillion ice cream and fudge stores) more suitable for pre-teens than road-tripping 20 something’s. Nevertheless it was nice to finally see the Pacific Ocean again, even though we were both in considerably more clothing at the beach than ever before.

With the GPS thankfully doing the navigating and Steven doing the driving, I was relegated to the role of radio coordinator. I can’t say I was supremely awesome at this job either but fortunately the local radio stations handled the pressure quite well and in the end, I can’t say I could’ve prepared a better US road trip compilation myself – the Eagles, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John, Creedence, U2 (before they were annoying), Steppenwolf, Fleetwood Mac, the Beach Boys, the Doors … I was in heaven. Steven enjoyed it for the most part but just to be sure I threw in a little Matchbox 20 and Beyoncé every now and then! Sadly towards the end of our road trip Steve worked out he could also change the radio using a control on the steering wheel, so my job was eventually made redundant. I had fun while it lasted.

Our first night stop was at a small town called Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach was absolutely gorgeous and we really enjoyed the short time we had here. It was very tiny and laid back. On Friday afternoon we walked along the beach, took a million photos of the famous Haystack Rock (protected as a marine sanctuary) and were officially reunited with the Pacific Ocean. I can’t say the circumstances were particularly familiar – we were rugged up and wearing sneakers (I can’t quite believe it myself – yes, we’re the dorks who wear sneakers on the beach!).  The afternoon was made complete by a momentous event – I saw my first wild sea otter! Thankfully, my Cannon camera laden companion made sure we had enough photos to make an entire album dedicated to the unassuming otter. Our accommodation was at a place called “Inn at Cannon Beach” – a gorgeous little inn just outside the main “town” area, and they reeled us in with freshly baked cookies and sealed the deal with homemade saltwater taffy. Sadly, our first attempt to locate delicious, fresh seafood (you wouldn’t think this would be hard – along the coast, after all) ended in ultimate failure with dinner at the local pub (drenched in sauces and fried to the nines).

Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach.

This is Steven. My "special" fiance...

This seagul totally posed for the camera ... we have quite a few shots of him (or her).

Sea otter - posing for the camera.

Reuniting with the Pacific Ocean. Yes, it was FREEZING!

Inn at Cannon Beach - our gorgeous accommodation.

More of 'Inn at Cannon Beach'.

Chilling out at the local pub with a local beer after a hard afternoon of beachcombing (we actually found $75!)

Cannon Beach sunset.

On Saturday morning we woke and made our way to Ecola State Park. Here we took some really beautiful photos of the coastline (like good little tourists) and then embarked on a “treacherous” 2.5 mile trail to Indian Beach  - perhaps I’m slightly exaggerating the treacherousness of the hike, but it was definitely mud-pits galore! We spent some time beach combing and then made our way back – this time we followed the road through the forest and decided never to do that again!

Views of the Pacific Ocean from Ecola State Park.

More views.

Steven "Bear Grylls" Wehlow navigates the treacherous mud pits!

Indian Beach.

Angry ocean.

Calm, beautiful ocean. (Indian Beach).

Canadian sun-baking.

After our morning hike we headed off down the 101 on our way to our next night stop – Yachats. Along the way we made several stops – none more eventful than our trip to Tillamook cheese factory where we indulged in super creamy ice-cream and shared a grilled cheese sandwich. Now, this may not seem so interesting, but when you have a five-minute argument with the lady at the counter over wanting to JUST BUY THE SANDWICH – NO SIDES!! – she simply couldn’t get her head around the fact that we just wanted to purchase one grilled cheese sandwich - no tater tots, no fries, no chips …

We also stopped off at Depoe Bay (supposedly great for whale watching but sadly we saw none) and Newport (nothing much here but a considerably larger town than many others along the coast) before finally arriving at Yachats (pronounced “Yah-hots”). Unfortunately I hadn’t noticed this in my little guide book earlier so before we left Vancouver Steven was telling people at his work he was going to “Yack-cats” to which some replied with blank stares, and others with eyes full of pity.

Our stay in Yachats was very low-key – it’s a very tiny, laid back, small beach-side community. There was a beautiful little trail along the coastline, which we walked on Saturday afternoon (following the unfortunate incident of me locking myself out of our unit while Steven was in the bathroom which resulted in a very freezing half an hour outside on the porch). Saturday night we again attempted to locate some impressive coast seafood and yet again we were left disappointed. It was then we decided to leave the fresh seafood to Vancouver. On Sunday after a morning run along the seaside trail I dragged a reluctant Steven to breakfast at a local café called The Green Salmon. He was reluctant because it was what some may describe as a hippie/organic breakfast café also offering vegan options (he sulked even more when we arrived and he read the words “tofu veggie breakfast burrito” on the chalkboard). Although he was reluctant at first, he found an egg and turkey breakfast sandwich to satisfy himself and I was in my little hippie element. There was even a local guy playing old tunes on his steel guitar – the place had character and charm and I embraced it. Although he won’t admit it I think Steve came around in the end.

Please, quit stalking me... okay, don't .. I love it. (At Yachats).

Pondering the meaning of life...

After breakfast we made our way to Cape Perpetua for more hiking, great views and a plethora of photo opportunities. All in all we were so lucky with the weather for our entire trip – not one rainy day, just beautiful, clear blue skies.

Posing on rocks at 'Devil's Churn'.

Brave photographer, Devil's Churn.

A sample of many white wash shots!

Made it to the top! Cape Perpetua.

A view from the Cape Perpetua trail over Highway 101.

Sunday afternoon was spent driving back to Portland and we arrived at about 4pm. Once we’d checked in to our hotel in the central downtown area we headed out to wander around the city. Unfortunately because it was Easter Sunday many of the shops were closed and the city was very scarce (tumbleweed would not have been out of place here!) - I guess this was good and bad. While we weren’t initially able to do some things, it did give us a good opportunity to take in the character and charm of the city (including a visit to the famous Powell’s Books – the largest independent new and used book store in the world). Portland is a very tiny city with a very cool, unassuming, “hipster” vibe. While it reminds me of Seattle in some respects, I wouldn’t do it the injustice of lumping the flaws of Seattle on it. If Seattle is the angry, brooding, grungy teenager full of angst, Portland is the funky, effortless, sweet, alternative younger sibling. It’s very trendy, but not in a pretentious way.  And if it had an official song it’d totally be a Shins song. I must say I felt like a bit of a “Real Housewife” when I was there – the majority of Portland-ites we encountered were quite alternative and there I was in my most "alternative" get-up – jeans and converse sneakers! I really loved the simplicity and character of the city – it certainly doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Portland - a little city scape.

Portland scenery - along the river (to the right).

More Portland city scenery.

On Sunday night we treated ourselves to Easter dinner at a local restaurant (recommended by Kristen & Alex – thanks guys!) called Clyde Common (http://www.clydecommon.com/) . At first we were both a little dubious about this idea of “common eating” – we were both not feeling particularly social – but we decided to give it a go and I am so glad we did. Just when we’d almost lost faith in American food, we were lucky enough to stumble upon this gem and it ended up being quite a big night full of delicious (fresh) food and tasty proper cocktails (not the “fairy” cruise kind).  Steve made sure he tested the skills of the bartender and I made sure I stuck to my two-drink limit or else I wouldn’t have made it home.  I don’t think Steven was too sure about Portland at first but I’m pretty sure Clyde Common (and more specifically, the impressive cocktails supplied) really sealed the deal for him. The fact that they played Nirvana: Unplugged as background dinner music really sealed the deal for me. 

Inside Clyde Common - a view from the top! (we ate upstairs ;-)

Monday morning we woke with slim to no hangovers – win! After a quick (but delicious) breakfast at Kenny & Zeke’s deli (NY style!) and some coffee at Stumptown Coffee (Portland based coffee roasters - really great coffee – and I don’t even like coffee!), we spent the day doing some brief tax free shopping which included visits to Sephora and Nike Town (for the obligatory purchases) and also to Oregon’s university stores – the Beavers and the Ducks – in which Steven took approximately 7 billion hours to decide on which memorabilia to buy, or, more specifically, which cap looked best. Seriously, it was worse than shopping with a girl!

The winning choice! Go Ducks! (P.S it's FRESH Teddy! Just for you!!)

We then headed to Washington State Park and the Japanese Garden which was beautiful and very serene. 

Richard, if you are reading this, look away NOW. 

To top it all off we finished with a mini food tour which included a visit to Voodoo Doughnut (http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php)(as featured on Man vs. Food!) to sample their famous Maple-Bacon doughnut (!!) and a return to Kenny & Zeke’s (http://www.kennyandzukes.com/) to taste test their NY style deli sandwiches – I have no doubt we ate our respective weights in food during this day. 

Gorgeous Japanese Garden.

I think this was called 'The Zen Garden'.

Japanese Garden scenery.

Waterfall in the Japanese Garden.

Inside the amazing Voodoo Doughnut!

3 donuts ... 2 people... Yeahhh Maths isn't my strong point. Being decisive when it comes to donuts isn't either.

Maple-Bacon Donut ... GET IN MAH BELLY!

So with that we returned the car and I made my sad goodbyes to the GPS. I truly believe she saved my life and probably our engagement!! ;-) We flew in to Vancouver on the Monday evening at about 8pm and were back to the work grind on Tuesday morning. A short, but sweet, scenic and delicious trip!

And then, within 48 hours of returning to BC, I clicked my heels three times, uttered Dorothy’s famous words and boarded a Qantas jet filled with bratty little dance studio kids and their bogan parents (you know, the kind that sport Twilight memorabilia t-shirts, go to Disneyland and end up with carry-on luggage consisting of adult-sized Mickey Mouse ears and giant, novelty sized Chuppa Chups and Mentos tubes) for a fun-filled 17 hour flight … but that’s another story for another day! 

x

From Seattle to Whistler and everything in between

I'll admit it has been a while but better late than never, right?

The weather in Vancouver has been amazing lately. And by 'amazing', I actually mean amaaaaaazing - blue skies and temperatures in the double figures, not just temperatures above zero and a few breaks in the constant rain. I can tell you it was really getting to me there for a while. I scoffed when I first heard this (admittedly at the time I was yet to experience a Vancouver winter) but apparently Vitamin D deficiency is highly common in Vancouverites. I totally get it now. I believe my lowest point was when I forced myself to leave the house for a Sunday run two weeks ago. For seventy minutes I struggled against cyclonic winds and horizontal rain pelting down across as I ran along the seawall (almost sideways in order to keep my cap from flying off my head), continually questioning my own sanity. Thankfully, just when it couldn't get any worse, my efforts were rewarded as a family of ducks (including six ducklings) happily waddled past me ... at least they appreciated the weather (they were super cute too).

Unfortunately we haven't been able to spend too much time enjoying the recent sunshine in the city because wonderful, spontaneous holidays call for cash and cash calls for work. So the vicious cycle continues. Work is being a little frustrating at the moment. I keep trying to remind myself I'm on a working holiday, the whole point of which is to at least enjoy a work-life balance but sometimes it feels like it'd be easier if I just lived in my cubicle. 

And some of these people? Oh, they're painful. Honestly, so many of these physicians expect the world to wipe their bum because they spent half their lives doing exams! I appreciate what they do but that doesn't mean it's my responsibility to tell them where they've misplaced their license or solve their professional development dilemmas. Not to mention they're the biggest tight-arses I've ever had the displeasure of encountering. But that's another story! Who’d of thought I’d ever get myself a job where 70% of my day consists of answering phone inquiries. Yep. I was once the girl who wouldn’t even pick up the phone to order a pizza. In fact, I can remember having numerous fights with my brother over that very fact growing up, which resulted in me going to bed extremely hungry more than once. C'est la vie, eh?

Despite my protests I am thankful that I get to work in a great team and every now and then an application or two comes across our desks to make us smile. I like to think of it as God's little pick-me-up. For instance, my colleague Mark came across a gem on Thursday - an application for registration for Dr. Anis - a gastroenterologist (I kid you not!) - and I've also recently witnessed an application for a Dr. Nimrod. This one's just funny in itself.

Fortunately we've had the chance to get away from the city a couple of times in the last month - to Seattle and Whistler respectively. Seattle was our first stop on Missy's Farewell Tour (see previous post) and a fun weekend was had by all. Most of us had been there before so we didn't go all-out touristy but we spent some time wandering around the famous Pike Place Markets and, come to think of it, spent our first day there on our own little food tour. That doesn't sound at all like us! (HA!). Our food tour on the Saturday consisted of mini donuts at Pike Place Markets, grilled cheese sandwiches at Beecher's Handmade Cheese shop and a stop by the old Seattle brewery for some sampling. This was topped off by dinner at the Crab Pot restaurant where we shared massive seafood dinners - delish! To give our digestive systems a breather we managed to split up the food touring with a trip to the Seattle Central Library which was pretty cool. I know nothing about architecture but its just as interesting inside as it looks on the outside that's for sure! Well worth a look if you ever find yourself in The Emerald City.

I believe I am in awe of the cheese selection.

Fresh fish throwing at the Pike Place Markets

Mmm chillies!

Pike Place Markets

Laura & I waiting for our beers... no idea why I look so happy. I hate beer!

Pretty tree-trunk warmers?

Seattle Central Library

Dave: really excited about his dinner (I think it can be attributed to the mallet!).

Teddy & Sharah about to attack their dinner

Missy & Dave - so much fun can be had with a wooden mallet!

Team Conlow seafood dinner spectacular!

The result.

So two weekends later we found ourselves back in Whistler on the final leg of Missy's Farewell Tour which also coincided with Steven's 29th birthday. The Irish girls picked us up from work on the Friday afternoon and the four of us headed up to Creekside in Lola (their lovingly named car). As a side note, Lola prefers not to function beyond about 60km/hr so you can imagine the fun we had trying to get her up hills along the Sea to Sky Highway! I can also only imagine the dirty looks (and words) we were getting from those people who were stuck behind us. Suckers.

After everyone had arrived and checked in (back to our stomping ground at Legends, Creekside), we made our way to the second room for Steve's surprise Captain America themed birthday cake (thanks to Addey) and group present, as well as his special birthday card. And as he willingly posed along side his special birthday cake and card, I couldn't help but look on with just an ounce of satisfaction that it didn't take our newly-found Canadian friends long to understand why I often refer to him "Princess". Clearly, the strategically chosen cake and card was a true and accurate reflection of their acknowledgement of Steven's tendency for diva-esque behaviour!

Princess Steven posing with his cake & card - Addey handmade him a Captain America cake. He seems pleased!

Once Steve had finished posing it was off to Dusty's for a late birthday dinner. Shortly after we sat down the boys thought all their Christmases had come at once as two scantily-clad girls in gold and silver sequined dresses carrying tequila approached the table. Apparently it was free tequila night so we were all offered shots. And with that, the table let out a collective groan as we'd all endured the wrath of tequila at some point in our lives, but in the end we couldn't resist the fantastic pimp-style beaded shot glass necklaces they were handing out - we were all secretly thinking how perfect they would be for Rapstar: Round 2, later in the evening. 

The team - Steve's late (and post-cake) birthday dinner at Dusty's

Dave's shirt matches the ribs bucket paper - it's an omen - the ribs are all his! Dave's reaction? "Alriiiiiiight!

We all enjoyed a delicious late night feast at Dusty's, made complete with their "famous" butt-rub mayo. I am happy to report that butt-rub mayo does not at all taste like butt. what I can only imagine a butt-flavoured something or other would taste like. Following dinner we made our way back to Legends where Teddy started to set up his PS3 in preparation for a long night of Rapstar, only to find (much to everyone's devastation but, in hindsight, probably much to the delight of our fellow hotel guests) that Sharah had forgotten to pack the microphone. Sadly, we all headed off to bed, sans pimp shot-glass necklaces.

Saturday morning we woke up to the most beautiful blue sky and the longest gondola line in the history of the universe. Longer than anything we experienced at Christmas! We eventually found out it was because the famous Peak to Valley race was on - approximately 700 skiers took part over the course of the weekend. You can imagine the atmosphere (especially at Dusty's on Saturday and Sunday afternoon!). 

I am happy to report that my Saturday of skiing was highly successful. The blues skies helped I'm sure - it was honestly the most beautiful day I have seen since I have been in Canada - absolutely perfect conditions. After a few green runs, a run from the peak and one, rather unfortunate and utterly terrifying wrong turn onto a blue, moguls run (thanks to Steve's strategic miscalculations) I was finally ready to attempt my first official blue runs down Whistler mountain which would, eventually, lead me straight to Dusty's. Unfortunately no green runs take you down that far, so this one was a milestone for me. While the others decided to finish the day with the Peak to Creek run (approximately 11km), my goal was simply to make it down the mountain without taking the gondola for the final (and steepest portion!). Thankfully Teddy was happy to come with me so together we made our way down the blue runs and straight home. I can tell you the only way I made it was to keep looking across the slope while a voice in my head screamed "DON'T LOOK DOWN". While my confidence is improving let's just say the joy to terror ratio is yet to reach equilibrium. 

Once we'd all made it down the mountain and pruned up in the hot tub we finished off the perfect day of skiing with drinks and teppenyaki at TeppenVillage in Whistler Village. On Sunday we then completed the weekend with a snowmobiling expedition which was a lot of fun for me (when Steve was driving) and probably the most terrifying 15 minutes of Steven's entire life (when I was driving).

About to head off on our first run of the day!

Chilling. I thought it would be worth posting since you only ever see the 'beach version' of this shot!

Drinks & snacks break

A gorgeous view!

Us looking so bad-ass on our snowmobile!

You can check out some footage of our skiing here:

Whistler Mountain 1

Whistler Mountain 2

Whistler - Dave & Steve stack it

Run from the peak

More run from the peak

And some extra footage (as promised) from our Banff road trip & hockey antics earlier in the year at the Fairmont, Lake Louise here:

Us vs. Hockey 

Banff Road Trip - Banff to Vancouver

Banff Road Trip - Banff to Vancouver 2

In other Vancouver goings-on, we were lucky enough to make it to two Canucks games in one week in January- funnily enough we watched the first match from the nosebleed section of Rogers Area and thought it was pretty impressive nonetheless (i.e. not a bad seat in the house) and then four days later scored Steve's boss's tickets in the members section ($300 per seat for one match - and they're not even the most expensive) where we were so close to the rink you could almost feel the impact of the players slamming each other against the glass reverberate though your entire body.

Canucks game - the view from our $300 per-ticket seats.

Action shot.

And another!

Post-match we decided on the way home we'd stop by Costco (Steve had never been) - Costco is the biggest membership warehouse chain in North America. They pretty much sell everything you could imagine, in one handy (massive) warehouse... in bulk. It's the only place I've been where you can buy King Crab next to a dining table and chairs set next to a diamond ring next to oranges the size of softballs. Oh, and this is what I mean by 'bulk' ...

Bulk: 6 x 3kg frozen meat lasagne dinners ... all kinds of eew!

Shortly after viewing the above (and feeling compelled to take a photo) Steven publicly declared his love for Costco and stated with unparalleled certainty: "I want to live here".

So as I finally complete this latest, mammoth blog entry (thanks for playing everyone!) I thought I'd end by sharing a video recently released by Tourism Vancouver. For those Facebook friends of mine I know you've already seen it but as the blog's primarily for my parents and they're "far too busy being retired" to have Facebook, you'll have to bear with me.

A video of our beautiful city and temporary home  - Tourism Vancouver video

While I love the video and the (albeit dry - oh what a lie!) image of Vancouver it paints, our friend Dave made a legitimate observation when he mused about the lack of hobo footage. Clearly this video does not accurately reflect the city, as Dave correctly pointed out he can't even walk 10 metres from his apartment in Gastown without being accosted for money. And while we're on the topic of accurately reflecting the city - 3 whole minutes of sunshine? It must've taken them a year to shoot this thing!

Oh, Vancouver. We kid, but really, we ♥ you.