// newmodernscience

This last weekend, Carey and I got a chance to reconnect a bit; Carey’s parents we’re awesome and took Maren for Friday night and Saturday while we went to the beach. I had sold some gear a month or so ago, and I had saved the money to get her something nice for her birthday. We had talked about getting away for a bit, and after doing some research, we booked at room at the Sea Gypsy, a place that my family had rented from many times in the past. It was a a great time really; you forget how hard it is to connect with someone when you’ve got an almost-2-year-old literally grabbing everything she can get her hands on.

The drive up was gorgeous, through the mountains, and up and over into Lincoln City. We hit the hotel, and then started looking for food. At the suggestion of the Executive Pastor’s wife, we checked out this place called the Blackfish Grill, and it was fantastic. It was fairly expensive mind you, $20 a plate minimum, but the food was amazing. We got a grilled halibut and blackfish special; it was over a bed of potato gnocchi, with sautéed arugula and a ragout of sun dried and strawberry tomatoes, olive oil and spices. And for dessert we had the "Blackfish Dingdongs", which was a recreation of the classic Hostess Dingdong, made with a black chocolate cake, fresh whipped cream covered in ganache.

We talked about hitting a movie, but that last bit just about tanked me, and we ended up watching a movie in the hotel room.

Next day, we chilled out for a couple of hours, just doing email or whatever while we looked out over the ocean, and then we went to breakfast. After breakfast, we hit the outlet malls to browse around a bit. I ended up picking up a book of graphic design examples from some big hitting firms, and Carey picked up some new outfits. I also hit a total steal from Columbia Sportswear; I’ve been looking for some real thin breathable materials for when we go to Panama, and they had these pants that were the bomb! We’re going to be there for a week, but you can’t take a weeks worth of clothes, in fact the less you take the better. if think last time, if took 3 changes, this time I’m taking 2. These pants are just what I needed.They’re so thin, they roll up in the size of a size 11 shoe. And I’ll be able to hand wash them the night before, and have them dry by the next day. PERFECT. I picked up a couple of pairs of those and a couple of button up shirts of the same material before heading out.

Next, we drive to the Tillamook Cheese Factory, to pick up a supply of squeaky cheese. The visitor center sells something that’s pretty hard to find: cheese curds. Think really big cottage cheese, minus the runny stuff, and quite a bit firmer. They’re super yummy, but the expire quickly enough that they’d spoil by the time they get them to retail, so the visitor center is about the only place you can get them. We also picked up some vintage extra sharp white cheddar and some white cheddar pepper cheese.

And lastly, we took the long back road home. I wished that I had stopped to take some pictures of the drive home, we took some back roads that I didn’t even know existed, some little hidden valleys and comm unites that were tucked away in the pockets of the mountains. And we almost ran out of gas, but that’s another story.