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.