Author Archives: Marci

A Loverly Weekend in Waldport

Posted in Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Travel, Vacations by

I know it’s getting to be a little late, but I wanted to tell you about the splendid weekend that Chris and I had together in the beginning of September. My friend Julie, from grad school, invited us to her wedding so we took the opportunity to make a weekend of it and enjoy another little town on the Oregon coast.

Saturday, September 4, we wished Abbey a very happy first birthday (ok, Jesse only grudgingly wished her a happy birthday, but he got some wet food out of the deal so he wasn’t entirely unhappy about it) and headed west. We drove through Newburg, Dundee, and Newport, reminiscing about the excellent times we had there during previous long weekends and spring break. Ahhh, the memories! We arrived at the Cliff House B&B in Waldport and found it most remarkable…a fantastic view of the ocean and bay, along with friendly dogs and an incredible assortment of lace doilies covering most horizontal surfaces. Chris reserved the suite for us, which included vaulted ceilings, a private balcony overlooking the ocean, and a ginormous bathroom (complete with hot tub) that had mirrors covering EVERY surface except for the toilet seat cover. You might not believe it, but there are some angles that you might not prefer to view yourself from, and I discovered several of them that weekend!

We ate dinner at the Drift Inn in Yachats, under a ceiling of decorative umbrellas while listening to the modern Hawaiian-polka fusion stylings of two men armed with a Casio keyboard and a microphone. After dinner we went back to the B&B and practiced our putting skills (yes, for real, not a metaphor) while the sun set over the ocean. But that’s where I’ll stop for now…

On Sunday, Chris and I enjoyed an amazing breakfast (cooked by Sharon, the prioprietress of the Cliff House) consisting of smoked salmon quiche and home-fries, home-made muffins and scones. In the early afternoon we drove east out to Tidewater Falls Resort where Julie and Perry had their wedding – it looked like many people camped, and that the party had been going for at least a couple of days. I met up with several other friends from grad school whom I hadn’t seen in many years, including Jill, Audrey, and Andie, who came with her partner Rob. He cracked our shit up, and definitely sufficed for the evening’s entertainment in my book. And, if I can say so, I think that he became Chris’ new idol of sorts. Even Julie’s old dog Metzli was there – skulking in her familiar border collie way that I recognized from Colorado. The wedding was a simple and beautiful ceremony that took place under paper lanterns and a mirrored disco ball (I would expect nothing less), and was followed by hula hooping (how does Jill manage to defy gravity in such a nonchalant kind of way???), salmon, and wine wine wine by the bonfire. Congrats, Julie and Perry – we had an awesome time at your wedding!

Monday was Labor Day, so we had the day off. We enjoyed another delicious Cliff House breakfast, this time of cheese blintzes and more baked goods (at 8:30 sharp! don’t be late!). After packing up and waiting until the last possible moment to leave (there might have been another quick soak in the hot tub), we said our goodbyes and commenced our drive north. We stopped for lunch at Pelican Brew Pub on Cape Kiwanda, sharing fish tacos and humongous onion rings by the sea.

For an added bonus to our trip, as we drove north we stopped in Tillamook and toured the World Famous Tillamook Cheese Factory! I milked a plastic cow, and Chris bought me a magnet that said “Easy Rider”.

Which I guess just about sums up my role as the passenger on our weekend adventure!

I think my hands *still* hurt!

Posted in Home Life, Me Me Me! by

Chris and I have been taking advantage of deals in Portland and Vancouver through Groupon and Living Social, which in my opinion, are Awe-Some. First of all, you get ideas for fun things to do or places to visit that you might not’ve otherwise known about. Second, you get to do/buy these things at a pretty good price. So yippee! If you haven’t checked them out, I highly recommend Groupon and Living Social.

And yes, I’m still working for the Fish and Wildlife Service – I’ve not (yet) decided to change careers and enter into the social media advertising realm, in case you were wondering.

Anyway, I bought a Living Social deal good for four passes at a local bouldering gym. It has been easily over a year (maybe 2?) since I last put on my climbing shoes and tied a chalk bag around my waist. Bouldering was fun, but I still enjoy being tied into a rope and climbing up up up instead of climbing sideways, up until you realize it’s no longer safe without a rope, and then down again. The kids wall was the best because when you got to the top you could take the slide down. The only bad part about the kids wall was all the kids that were in our way. Dang kids!

I’ve got my concentration face on…


And I think I can still smell the rental shoes there. The whole place smelled like someone tried to smoke a cigar that contained rolled up sweaty feet.

What’s next, you ask? This Sunday, Chris and I will be taking a 5.5 hour scenic wine-tasting tour of Willamette Valley via limousine with a couple of friends. Only $40 per person, through Living Social!

A few more bellydance pics for you…

Posted in Entertainment, Music and Dance by

About a week ago I did another photo shoot for Darcy, for her henna business. Here are a few of the better pictures…who’d have thought that it’s actually quite fun getting all painted up with sparkles and henna and then fluttering about in jingly costumes?!

In case you’re wondering, the Photoshop skills are all mine, baby! Darcy’s going to blow up the photos to poster-size for her booth, which she brings to festivals and fairs. Neato, huh?

San Antonio A-Go-Go!

Posted in Travel, Vacations by

Question: Given the unreasonably hot temperatures in San Antonio, why don’t we see more spontaneous human combustions among San Antonians?

Answer: Because the humidity is so damn high that the combustion process is pretty much stifled upon ignition. However, we do observe frequent cases of humans literally melting in the area…

Let’s face it – 100+ F temperatures are dumb. Which makes me super happy that I live in the very smart Pacific Northwest, where temperatures are usually not that high (except for this coming weekend…dang it!!!). However, when your excellent boyfriend, whom you miss very much, is in San Antonio for two weeks on active duty, your urge to visit him for the weekend might suppress any common sense you have to avoid super hot climates. If you can believe it, I was struck by such an affliction this past weekend when I visited Chris, who has to spend two weeks filling in for the Fort Sam Houston army band, which went on annual leave (clever band – they picked the hottest two weeks to get out of town!).

We visited the River Walk:

And went to Sea World:

And visited the River Walk again:

And then the Alamo:

And then I returned home in search of my sanity, which probably melted away at some point during the weekend. But in all honesty, I’m glad I got to go visit Chris – I will be even happier when he returns home! You can view more of my fabulous San Antonio pictures by clicking here.

Want to support a great cause?

Posted in Day Trips, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Travel by

Sure you do! My friend, Rebecca, is celebrating five years of being cancer-free by climbing to the top of Mt. Adams. During the past five years she has been supported by (and in-turn supports) an organization called Casting for Recovery, which is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports breast cancer survivors through a program that combines fly-fishing, counseling, and medical information to build a focus on wellness instead of illness.

Rebecca is planning her climb this September, and the donations she receives from climb sponsors (she’s hoping to get $2000) will be given to Casting for Recovery to support other cancer survivors. Please visit Rebecca’s Hike-n-Fish blog to find out more about her climb, or click HERE to donate. Thanks!

Mt. Adams, by Rebecca Young

An Evening with the Freak Mountain Ramblers!

Posted in Entertainment, Friends and Family, Me Me Me!, Music and Dance by

And, by Freak Mountain Ramblers, I don’t mean my family…although my family was there with me. Anne and Paul invited me to join them at an outdoor concert just a few blocks from where I live, so I took them up on it. Anne and Paul brought a picnic dinner and my niece, I brought warm chocolate chip cookies (to win over my niece), and the Freak Mountain Ramblers brought the Grateful Dead cover music and washed up hippie dancing with juggle sticks. It was a nice change for an evening – the weather was perfect, and it was so close to my house! Ahhhh…I love northwest Portland…



Yup, he’s still going!

OMG, It’s been too long…

Posted in Travel, Vacations by

I can’t believe how long it had been since I’d been camping, or sleeping outside in some manner. I think I was with Cecily the last time that happened…remember that, girl? It seems so long ago! Consequently, I finally decided it was time to get back out there. Chris and I picked a special weekend (his birthday, which was July 26) and a picturesque place (recommended to me from my supervisor), packed up, and hit the road.

Our destination was the Upper Lewis River in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We started out by driving up the Columbia River Gorge, where we had incredible views of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River.

The overlook at Cape Horn

Next, we turned north and followed the Wind River up through the national forest. We stopped at the Carson National Fish Hatchery for a quick peek (they were closed for maintenance) and then continued up further into the basin where we had a spectacular view of Mt. St. Helens. This year is the 30th anniversary of the eruption, so it was pretty dang cool seeing pictures of what it looked like before, during and after, and then the view during our trip.

Mt. St. Helens from Gifford Pinchot National Forest

We eventually picked up the Lewis River, which we followed in a general north-east direction. We stopped at Lower Falls, which was spectacular. There were signs all over the place educating people about threatened bull trout, which are in the Lewis River, and happen to be a fish I work with quite a lot in my job. It was really interesting seeing the habitat they live in – that water is cold. Brrrr!!! Anyway, the Lower Falls marks the historic end of the line for salmon returning up to spawning grounds since they couldn’t get up past the waterfall. Native Americans used to fish there when the salmon returned, but fish passage issues and depleted stocks have resulted in the absence of salmon returns there now.

View of Lower Falls on the Lewis River, Washington

We continued up the Lewis River, and after driving around for a while we finally found our targeted campground, at Twin Falls. Someone had removed the sign from the main road, so it was difficult to find. I was worried that we wouldn’t get a site (there were only 5 or so), and since the campground was free, I was sure that we’d be out of luck in the middle of camping season. But it was no problem – we got a fantastic site right on the river. Our site was down an embankment so we didn’t hear noise from any of the other campers, who appeared to be a small group of under-aged kids celebrating a birthday (Tankimus Prime, apparently) the best way they knew how – by sitting in lawn chairs in the river, drinking vast quantities of beer, and smoking lots of pot out of a hookah pipe. They were friendly though, and the river was so loud we didn’t really hear much from them.

Our campsite on the Lewis River at the Twin Falls campground.

We cooked up “better with cheddar” pork sausages, drank a bottle of wine (what were we thinking when we bought that ultra-sweet blackberry wine???), and then moved on to s’mores over the camp fire. We slept in my tent, but I don’t think either of us got very much sleep (get your minds out of the gutter people, the ground was really hard and the river was very loud!). The morning light was beautiful on the river, and we were packed up and out of there by 9:30 (the Tankimus Prime group was still passed out).

Mmmmm…pork sausage with cheese inside! Nice and crispy…

We skipped over to the White Salmon River (amazing views of Mt. Adams!), following it down through the town of White Salmon, then crossed the Columbia River to Hood River where we had lunch at Big Horse Brewery. Because it was Chris’ birthday, he had two beers and I let him eat most of my corn on the cob!

Lovely Mt. Adams
Cheers!

Our camping trip ended much too quickly, but next time I’m hoping that we’ll get to spend more than one night out in the woods. Chris has proven to be a very worthy camping partner…maybe next time we’ll try a short backpacking trip! In case you didn’t get enough, you can view more pictures by clicking here. I think that Chris had a good birthday weekend – I know I did!

M is for…wait for it…

Posted in Animals, Career, Me Me Me!, Non-cats, Travel by

…Montana! Ha – I’ll bet you thought I was going to say M is for Marci! But I didn’t – I know, shocking, right? Well, it still is for Marci, but as I initially stated, M is also for Montana. Which is where I went just a couple of days after Chris and I returned from Alaska (July 13-15). I flew out to Kalispell, which is just outside of Glacier National Park. I’d only driven through Montana once, several years ago, so the whole place was pretty much new to me and I will say that I quickly learned that M is also for Magnificent. Yes, Montana is indeed Magnificent, Majestic, Marvelous, and M-pressive!

My trip was only Tuesday through Thursday, and much of the time was spent in a meeting room in Whitefish, just a stone’s throw from Kalispell. I was there for a bull trout recovery planning meeting and while it was slightly dry (as opposed to wet, which fish tend to need), our group did get outside one afternoon for a drive up Grave Creek in the Kootenai watershed. We were only a few miles from the Canadian border, which you can see in this picture – there’s a line cut through the trees to mark the interface of our countries. How’d you like that job, trekking through some of the most rugged land in our continent to cut down and maintain a tree-free line?

The Canadian border from the headwaters of the Wigwam Basin.

The following day I was able to spend a couple of hours driving around the south end of Glacier National Park. I found Lake McDonald and the views of the mountains particularly stunning, but the drive through the forest was interesting too.

Lake McDonald, with several peaks in the background (from left to right, Mt. Vaught, Mt. Cannon, Mt. Brown, Little Matterhorn, and Edwards Mountain).

Large portions of the forest had burned in wildfires which made the trees look like skeletal toothpicks – you might think this would be not so picturesque, but you could see the topography of the landscape really well instead of just driving down a thickly wooded corridor. Additionally, seeing the forest regenerating with new growth and baby trees was a reminder that forest fires are a natural part of ecosystem processes, and that they benefit the native species that have evolved to survive with fire as a part of their environment.

One of the burn areas. Note the burned, branchless trees in the background; the vibrant green groundcover is nearly a monoculture of lodgepole pine treelings that are about 2-3 feet high.

Anyway, the water there was incredible – aqua blue from the glacial till – and we took advantage of a shady spot next to the Flathead River to enjoy lunch (I accidentally left my prescription glasses there and had to return for them after realizing they were missing a half hour down the road…oops!). I’m glad I got to see the area, and now I understand why bull trout like to live there!

McDonald Creek – note the beaver lodge on the right that has been there for decades! I’d like to live there too if I were a beaver…

A is for Alaska!

Posted in Travel, Vacations by

Ah, a free evening to catch up on my blog! I’ve done a bit of traveling in the past few weeks, so I’ll start with Alaska. Hey – I went to Alaska! Chris and I took a cruise on Holland America’s MS Rotterdam for a well-deserved vacation. It even had elements of adventure! We had a fantastic time – the weather was mostly craptastic, but it was still completely beautiful and we were prepared with the proper attire, so no big deal. We saw amazing scenery and lots of wildlife including whales (from our stateroom window!), sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals, puffins, bald eagles, jellyfish, and even a bear. Woo hoo! Chris and I took a ton of pictures, which you can view here. I’ll include a few pics in this post, but they’re just the highlights, of which there were too many to describe in detail here. Chris and I can’t wait for our next trip together…which we’re already thinking about. The Galapagos Islands, perhaps???

July 3: leave Seattle
July 4: at sea, formal night

July 5: Juneau (float plane trip to Taku Lodge and Mt. Roberts Tramway)

July 6: Hubbard Glacier

July 7: Sitka (coast tour via ocean raft), 2nd formal night

July 8: Ketchikan


July 9: day at sea, stop in Victoria, B.C.


July 10: back in Seattle!

Really? For *this* Dress? Really.

Posted in Complainments, Me Me Me! by

Tell me this is not the most hideous dress you have ever seen. And I will tell you that, in fact, it was purchased from Bloomingdales.com for nearly $300. The dress is not mine, nor could you pay me $300 to wear it. Nor would I pass it along to any of you fine folks for free.

The reason you, dear readers, are subjected to looking upon this eyesore is because some *ass monkey* took it upon themselves to steal my debit card number (I still don’t know exactly how that happened, since I still have the card) and make several online purchases. Two from Bloomingdales, and one from the Apple Online Store. The purchases overdrew my checking account and I received an overdraft protection notice shortly after the second Bloomingdales purchase was made, so I was on the phone with my bank immediately. They actually were great – they refunded the money to my account, canceled my debit card, issued me a temporary debit card, and opened up a fraud investigation.

I also called the police about the matter, since it was unlikely that the bank would actually ever pursue a criminal investigation because the amount of money was so small (just under $500 for bloomies and I don’t know how much from Apple, since the charge was pending for $1.00 when I canceled my account). I wanted to know how people could get away with ordering something online, having it delivered, and *not* get caught. It turns out that they can give a fake address and when the order is returned to the shipping warehouse, they get an email letting them know that the delivery address was incorrect but that they can come to the shipping facility to pick up the package. Or, they can have things delivered to a P.O. box. And, it’s fairly easy to get credit card numbers to sell or give away – at restaurants when you give your credit card away to be run, sometimes an employee will just make a copy of it to keep. Or at a gas station. Or anywhere, really. So keep an eye on your card!

The detective called Bloomingdales to get information on the purchases, which had billing addresses in Kentucky and Texas (i.e., fake addresses), and a delivery address in Alameda, CA. But apparently, someone got nervous because they did a little research to find my work address, and changed the billing address to my work address. And for the second Bloomingdales purchase, they also changed the delivery address to my work address. Which is how I got the dress (which I plan to return, since it is not mine and I didn’t pay for it). Maybe they saw how quickly I caught the fraudulent activity and got scared; maybe they decided they didn’t want the dress after all – I don’t know. But it really pisses me off that Bloomingdales let the purchase go through even though the billing address didn’t match the one on my check card account…if they don’t need to match, why do we even provide that information when we place an online order???

So this begs the question…why would anyone risk prosecution, commit identity theft, screw up someone’s finances, all for such an ugly, hideous dress? The answer, I think, is that there are people out there who have horrible taste, not only in fashion, but in the way they choose to live their lives, with little regard for others and no concept of being accountable for one’s own actions. These are the leeches on our society, and they try to disguise themselves as normal humans with fancy clothes and expensive toys. It’s difficult to tell them apart from hard-working responsible decent folk, but evidently they often wear excessively ugly dresses.

So good luck with the whole karma thing, buddy – let me know how that works out for you. You apparently know where to contact me.