dismal coast, should have stayed inland

Came home a day early so better get cracking on the writing.

Thursday

As it was a shorter trip, I left my computer at home. Just wanted to enjoy camping. Motorhome was packed up and off we went to Tacoma to pick up Nate and Rubie! We were headed to the coast and towards what we hoped would be sun and beaches. Once we hit Aberdeen, the sky turned gray and would not let up. We stopped for ice cream.

Dismal is a good of word as any to describe Westport, Washington. We drove through on our way to a campground. Just a nothing city. None of the store fronts were appealing.

We stayed at..uhm....a camp ground. Walkable to the beach. We rode our bikes around a bit. Dinner was..food. I'm forgetting a lot. Obviously. Oh! It was hot dogs. I slept in the converted table area, Nate and Rubie slept in the above area that I'm not fond of due to spider and bug reasons.

Friday

Pancakes and bacon for breakfast! And then some kite flying. Or rather attempts at kite flying. Mine stayed up for a couple minutes, before giving up totally. Oh well. We checked out and headed to Westport for some biking along the waterfront. It was a nice mild ride, despite some minor falls and a dropping of a camera (cameras can get fixed though, still it sucked). There were some surfers not surfing.

After a crab, tuna, and sardine filled lunch we road out east ward a few miles to Schafer Park. It was on a river and was pleasant enough. Walked around a bit. Sat around the fire. Read. Rubie was feeling ill and Nathan wasn't too hot to trot either so they called it an early night. I listened to my audio book and kept warm. S'mores were had. Dinner was shish kabobs and steak and potatoes. I failed at making jiffypop.

Saturday

It was sunny for a moment and after bacon and cheesy eggs, we took a hike loop. It was a nice green hike. Since it was obvious the only way to escape the gloom was to head east, we decided to just call it early on the camping. We stopped by the Allyn property. Soooo over grown. We stopped at Seabeck, because it made more sense to drive Nate and Rubie back in the Prius. It was a light unloading, because I think we will go camping again next weekend. Ma took Nathan and Rubie back to Tacoma. I caught up on computer stuff.

Just a little relaxing trip. Not much sun. Oh well.

back in bed

Ohh precious sleep. I was missing a lot by being anxious from packing and all that. Starting to get caught up.

The power was out for a bit. I used the new shampoo I got from Lush. My hair smells great and is oh so soft. Whoo!

Sat on the lawn and read a few chapters from Bonk and soaked up the sun. My thighs are a little pink now.

Dad made me a little sandwich.

Then I took a nap in my bed for a few hours. Then mom was home! Yay!

Chicken and potato dinner followed by So You Think You Can Dance. I voted for Robert. He did really well.

Tomorrow we are going camping for the rest of the week. Yaaay!

goodbye goose hollow

Whooey I had two long days full of packing and errands and stuff. Lets get started.

Monday

Got a haircut! My ends were looking ragged so I got a trim and more layers and blunter bangs. Looks good.

This guy, Kevin nicknamed Gritty for reasons I don't know, asked me out at the end of the year party (he is a friend of a friend) and I sort of forgot about calling him because I got so absorbed with moving and all that. So I called him and said that I'm leaving soon but if he wanted to hang out tonight, that would be cool. And just my luck, he had an extra ticket to see Ariel Pink at Doug Fir tonight! So we would meet for dinner and go to the show and all that. Hurray!

So I did another trip to the storage unit. More stuff in there. Borrowed the vacuum cleaner from the RA and used that. Gave her my Ikea shelf as well, which will be good for storage. She also has claim to my mirror and stand. The time went by really fast, and before I knew it I was ready for dinner.

Gritty/Kevin and I walked to Thai Chili Jam for dinner. I had the larb, he had massuman curry. Both were quite good. It was a nice meal with good chat. We drove over to the other side for the show. Doug Fir is this bar/venue that has Jupiter Hotel attached. It is decorated like a log cabin and has lots of antler motifs. We had a drink and sat outside waiting for his friends Kellan and Paris to show up and join us. They were super cool and into weird facts about pigs. It was a really fun night. We went down right as the first opening act started. They looked like Mormon siblings, the first band I mean. The second band was a little more hip. When Ariel Pink started setting up, we made our way to the front. Actually, we were right at the stage so that was cool. It didn't get too hot with the crowd also. I don't know how to describe the music, but it was an entertaining show. I'm down for new experiences, probably not everyone would be. The lead crowd surfed and I helped. There was one moment when this tall angry girl put another girl in a sort of choke hold, so we helped pry her off. Yikes. But aside from that, yeah! Great evening. I've had a lot of fun in Portland.

Even though I stay up late on regular basis, I was exhausted and just crawled into bed and fell asleep.

Tuesday

Woke up early and got to work. Showered. Put the stuff I needed to take home into the bags and looked at all the other stuff that needed to go to the unit. Rigged up my drawing board and two bags and backpack. Put the in the locker. We to get some July birthday gifts for the girls in the family. Went to Trader Joe's. Had lunch. Did another trip. It is hard travelling with heavy bags. Really got worn down. Got back. Contacted the RA. Gave her my keys. Packed up.

Said goodbye to the apartment. And left.

Got to the train station at the perfect time. I'm taking my bike home with me. It is so pretty. Cidney was on the same train, but I took the chance to nap. Mmm.

Dad picked me up in the truck. Even at nine, the sun was still out.

I picked up this really cool shampoo in bar form at Lush. Kind of got it for myself, but dad gave it a whirl. If he digs it, I'll have to pick him up his own.

Sooo tired. My legs hurt.

for the first time in three years

95% of my stuff is now resting in a 4x7 area in the Pearl District. The other 5% is bedding, and some miscellaneous stuff that is still here. Tomorrow I'll make a couple trips back and forth with the rest of it. The mirror and stand got left behind (I didn't make it obvious enough to be moved) and the three bulb lamp as well. The lamp isn't that important, but I think I have a good spot for the mirror. Well, actually it takes up a lot of space and the stand is quite heavy and there are a few mirrors in the new place. Maybe I should just leave it. Quit fussing.

Went to bed at 4:30, woke up at 9:30 to Katie playing loud music (also: she leaves for a week and the energy bill drops significantly, I'm gone a month and the bill is the highest it has ever been. Wasteful!). Got up, had some oatmeal and tea, went to Safeway to get some beverages for after moving and picked up an energy drink. Which ended up being WAY too much energy. I was bouncing off the walls and had a hard time focusing.

BT and Karen came at noon. We went to the Uhaul place. I said the wrong type of truck and for a second worried when he said they didn't have it, but a quick review of the registration number and all was righted! I was too anxious about driving in the city so BT drove the truck. Phil was waiting for us upon our return, and Daniel W. showed up not short after. BT and I hauled stuff down, the rest hauled stuff into the hallway outside the elevator. Book shelves, dresser, cabinet...it went in. Boxes, boxes, boxes...the truck filled up and there was more to go. So we started the process of going from Goose to storage. BT, Phil, and I went to the storage place. I signed in and we got some flatbed rolling thingies, and started loaning.

I just want to say that Phil is the master at the game of 3D tetris that is storage organization. He was amazing and putting this and that here and there. Things stacked high as could be, against the wall, and even though it kept coming it didn't seem as overwhelming as my room. Of course, I couldn't stack stuff braced against the wall here, like I could in the unit.

Anyway, the truck unloaded fast and that went back to the Goose and Karen's car backed in and unloaded fast. The truck returned not soon after. Truly the longest part was getting it out of the apartment and into the truck.

BT, Karen, and I went to return the truck. Had I known that all I had to do was leave the keys and dolly in the office because the guy had left (the gas station attendant was watching it) then I could have just left Karen and BT to do the drop off and helped Daniel and Phil.

The storage unit was full up at 3:15. We returned at 3:30. I locked it up. Got back to the Goose at 3:45. BT left for his shift at IPRC, Daniel went to order a large pizza, Karen, Phil and I brought down refreshments to the courtyard at the Goose. I went and picked up and paid for the pizza. Then we all sad about relaxing in the shade, eating pizza. WHOO!!!! I can't believe that moving itself took two and a half hours. I was worried we would be pressed for time because the storage place closes at 4 on Sunday.

Mel, Melissa, and Cidney even stopped by the courtyard for some brief chilling and chatting. Daniel left, Karen drove away, MM&C left, Phil left. I relaxed, and then remembered I still owed BT some snackums for today's efforts. I even made a stop at Cupcake Jones, because he deserved a special treat for driving. So we sat at IPRC (Independent Publishing Resource Center) and ate cupcakes and he had the last slice of pizza, and it was really nice. We parted ways after that.

Went back to the apartment. Contacted Mel to see what was shaking. Met the three of them at Mazatlan, but that place is wicked expensive so I didn't order. Played some video games at their place. Cidney, Mel and I caught the Max downtown and went to Ground Kontrol. On the way there we ran into BT as he was entering his studio. We three played some pinball, drank some beer, played Simpsons, and practiced flipping our hair about. Walked back to their apartment, grabbed my bike.

And now after a long day, I am back in my mostly empty room that has a filthy, filthy floor. Need to transport stuff to the storage unit. Borrow a vacuum. Clean the bejeezus out of the apartment.

Katie has gone camping so I guess I won't be seeing her again.

the girl who put boxes away

4:21am. The apartment is pretty much all packed up. I'll be using my 4'x7' space to its full capacity. Wish I could have gotten a little more sleep. And a larger space, but that is what they had at the storage unit. There are not many others close in.

Went downtown and got my storage unit. The guy was really nice. It cost a little less than expected, but I'm not renting a whole month. Like I said, it will be a tight squeeze but I measure the size out on my floor and it appears to fit. It will be stacked really high and impossible to get anything out from the back. I have a plastic contained reserved for the things I put in the unit right before I get on the train. Shampoo. Bedding. That stuff. Also I have a load on laundry to do. Not sure if I'll get the train ticket for Monday or Tuesday. Tuesday seems more likely. Run errands on Monday. Laundry. Storage runs. Clean up my raggedy dirty apartment. Contact the RA. Once I know when I'll be signing out the apartment, that will be the day I get on a train and go home, never to return to this apartment again (most likely, as I won't be in Portland again till after Katie moves out).

After storage, I dropped off clothes at Goodwill. I picked up a pair of shorts as well. Mmm shorts. I swung by the Dollar Store as well. No where near as good a selection as the one in Silverdale, but it still provided me plastic bags, something to drink, googly eyes assortment pack, and some small tubs for small items. Later I realized I grabbed a wrong lid for one of them.

There is a lot of room for small things storage within my shelves and the wooden short cabinet that Cece left behind. I'm not sure if my red shelf will fit. Maybe Karen could take care of it? It is pretty compact.

As motivation, I told myself that if I could get all my boxes into the 4x7 space, all my art in portfolios or cardboard, and get all that remains of my stuff in a pile in the living room, then I could go see The Girl Who Played With Fire, the second film in the Millennium Trilogy based after these books. The first is The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I got my assignment done and caught the 10:15 showing. My arms were wearing and couldn't take any more lifting as it was. It was a really good movie. More character development, not as brutal as the first movie, and a different mystery. Really good. I can't wait to watch the next one. I'm not sure if I should read the books or not. I already know how they end, but you get a different vibe from words over pictures. It was a good break.

But at 12:30 I had to return. And I worked hard getting the rest of my stuff in boxes. There are small things here and there, but I'm not worried.

Noon is when it begins tomorrow. My alarm is set. I'm not sure if I should move the boxes again, or leave them like this. Because like this, the top items will get loaded first and then pulled out last, which would mean they would be put in the unit last. But it will take many, many loads. Well more loads from my apartment to the cars. At the storage place, they have trucks. So we can just unload it all and bring them up. Unloading and putting away will probably be easiest.

I'm tired.