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So I think that I’ve mentioned before that I’m addicted to bubble tea, which is essentially flavored (usually with fruit) milk, tea, and tapioca pearls shaken together with milk. Well Jon and I were at Uwajimaya (an asian grocery store) today and I found a kit for making bubble tea at home. I know, I’m easily amused, but it was exciting, because its kind of a pain to drive to the places around here that sell it. So I cooked the tapioca pearls (about an hour and a half process, although most of it was just waiting) and it was kinda funny; they looked almost exactly like Cocoa Puffs while they were cooking. When they were done, I made a drink (green tea flavored) and it was actually pretty good. I plan on getting the coconut flavored drink mix to use next time, but I have to order it over the internet, so I have to wait a week or so. Anyways, I was pretty pleased overall and it was definitely worth the effort.

So Jon and I got back from our trip to the coast yesterday, and I must say that it was pretty relaxing. Since Jon had to do school and we didn’t have a phone in our hotel room, we went to this little coffee and tea house with internet access for a couple of hours each day. It was called the Cyber Garden and if it wasn’t an hour and a half drive from the apt, I would seriously consider going there every day. The people there were really nice and the tea (they had like 40 different kinds) was great, as was the coffee, according to Jon. It was a nice place to sit and read. Speaking of which, I read two really good books on the trip, Heavy Weather by Bruce Sterling, and The Celtic Riddle by Lyn Hamilton.
Heavy Weather is about this group of people that chase tornadoes in the near future, once the greenhouse effect has made the weather all crazy. I know, it didn’t sound all that interesting to me either, but I really liked the author’s other books and this one was really good as well. The Celtic Riddle is a mystery, which I don’t generally read, but this author’s books have a lot of archaelogy in them, which I find interesting, and I really like the main character.
In addition to reading, Jon and I went tidepooling in Yaquina Bay, which was really cool. There were all kinds of crabs, sea urchins, starfish, etc, as well as about 50 harbor seals sitting on the rocks about 100 yards out in the water. I think Jon has some pictures posted on his site. We also went to the Newport Aquarium, which was pretty awesome, although kind of expensive. We took the behind the scenes tour as well, and it was interesting to see the baby jellyfish and some of the other things that aren’t usually on display.
The other main thing that I did on vacation was get another tattoo. It’s a kind of a cross between a triskele and a celtic knot…it’s just black and it’s on my upper arm. I got it done in Newport at this place called Graven Image, which was really cool. The guy who did it really seemed like he knew what he was doing and if (when) I decide to get another tattoo, I think it’ll be worth the trip to go back there.
Whew! I think that’s the most I’ve written in a while; I guess I’ll stop for now. Tomorrow we’re going to go look at the house, and I might write again tomorrow night.

So Jon and I went to Fort Vancouver, which is an historical fort/landmark to see the fireworks for the Fourth of July last night. It was a really great show, although I did hear some people say it wasn’t as good this year as it had been in the past. We got there at like 6:30 and the show wasn’t until 10:10, but there were vendors selling snacks, knicknacks, etc. so there was stuff to do. Anyways, we ended up sitting next to this family of about 10 people, who had been there since noon. There was grandma all the way down to a one year old little girl who seemed really enamoured with Jon; she kept coming over and sitting on our blanket, playing with his hat, and generally having a good time. One of the guys with them was around 18, had just gotten married, and was a pretty nice guy, although rather loud and obnoxious. The thing that was wierd though, was that although they had been there since noon, they left midway through the fireworks so they could beat the traffic. They also made loud comments during the fireworks such as “this year sucks compared to last year” and “that one was better, but I don’t really like orange.” Needless to say it was rather annoying and we weren’t too upset to see them leave. Overall though, it was a good night. I even got to get a glowstick necklace, which appealed to my really active inner child.