ohh wolverine, you so funny

Didn't take mom into work, and dad has gone off to Washington D.C. for work, so I spent the day at the house. Worked on my macrame. Made some stuff. Drew a bunch more portraits. Ate toast and pasta and drank tea and stuff. A nice laid back day. Worked on packing for my weekend visit to Portland.

There are a few birthdays this weekend and I have to take down the art show, so I'll be there Thursday to Monday night. I'm not bringing my computer with me, so I'm not planning on blogging and the like. I just wanna hang with my friends. I'll keep a journal though, and write it up upon my return. I'll be staying with Rollyn, then Madeline, then Karen, and finally Robin. It will be a fun time that I am sure will pass by really fast. Hanging out, eating food, gabbing. All that good stuff. I have my clothes for the weekend packed but am still missing a few odds and ends. My train doesn't leave till 3, so I have time. No biggie.

Ma came home and we had corn dogs for dinner and watched some So You Think You Can Dance. New season!! We've missed quite a few episodes, but those are normally just the audition ones that have weird bad dancers. Now it is the top 20 or so.

I had to leave early because Chris and I had plans to see X-Men: First Class! Hurray! Went over and chilled for a bit before we left to see the 9:15 showing. Got their right on time. I really really enjoyed the film. Great actors, good action, effective use of effects. Really liked it, will totally rent it. Michael Fassbender is such a great actor.

Afterwards we went to Sharis for a late night pie and cocoa and milk shake. Chatted for an hour and then went home. Chris will always be a good friend. We will always be total nerds together.

Todays Portrait Is: Neil Cicierega.

macramania

Trying to keep a good sleeping schedule. Got up bright and early at 7:50am, showered, and drove mom to work. I wanted use of the car during the day, and taking mom in and then picking her up is the only way to do that. After that, I looked for a bead shop but the one in Bremerton had not opened yet. So I went to Michael's. My friend Mel had taught me how to macrame, so I felt like continuing and making a couple things. At Michael's I got some nice pendants and what seemed like easy beads to work with. I dabble in so many crafts. Swung by Walgreens for some other stuff and went home. Did a little craftwork task with dad in the garage.

I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with Chris Peeler, one of my longest friendships. We snacked and watched Doctor Who and caught up on the going ons of the past year. He is in Silverdale now for the next couple months, so we will probably be hanging out a bunch. Alas, all too soon I had to go and pick up mom from work.

It is a superb day here in Seabeck, WA. Sunny but not too hot just yet.

Dinner was a tasty salad with my favorite dressing from Trader Joe's. We watched some episodes of Tales from the City, but I think we are tired of the show. I worked on my macrame. Tomorrow I think I'll be staying in for most of the day. Gotta pack for Portland!

Todays Portrait Is: Nicolas Winding Refn.

da da duh duh DA DA duh duh DA DA DUH da daaa

I haven't quite had a long enough time to rest since school finished. It was packing and graduating and moving and then the motorhoming trip. This weekend I'll be down in Portland for some birthday parties and stuff. July will be the lull. Just gotta keep drawing.

Almost forgot about getting some portraits done today. I'm in such a bad habit!

I put my hair through another henna process today. Four hours of nourishment for just a slight, but lovely, change in tint. Dad kindly loaned me a work shirt of his, because the dye application is quite messy. Wrapped my hair up in plastic wrap and sat around watching television and catching up on all the internet that I missed. Dinner was served early and it was salmon, rice, corn on the cob, and this zucchini that I didn't touch. Tasty.

After dinner we went to the theater and caught a showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Mom and dad were given senior discounts without their ages being asked. Dad was given a senior discount at the museum in Baker City as well. Anyway, we all enjoyed the movie. It fit well with the first two (of the now four total Pirates movies). The new characters were good, the action was followable, and the story wasn't a mess like the third movies. No need for it to be in 3D.

Ma and pa tucked into bed when we got home, I obviously have stayed up later. Tomorrow I'm going to run some errands.

Todays Portrait Is: Kathryn Bigelow.

kolinsky and joe(s)

Last night I went to bed without writing my blog post, and I almost did the same this night. Bad habits are starting to form due to my trip!

Except I got up at about 10am, which is amazing. I'm on early time still, because waking up early is unavoidable in a motorhome, where at 6:30am you hear "shhhh be quiet". I've noticed that my writing gets ahead of me from time to time and that I put in wrong words because. So if I ever use a weird word that doesn't fit, it is a mistake I didn't catch.

Anyway, mom made waffles for breakfast and thus began Father's Day. I didn't have a gift. Or a card. I'll draw him something when I have the time (which is forever and forever now that I live with my parents once again and am unemployed).

After breakfast we soaked in the hot tub. That was nice.

Then it was off to Mats Mats for further Fathers celebration. We picked up some dinner on the way there. I drove! And did quite well. It's nice to let the parents, who drive everywhere, have a break. Plus it is good to be in driving practice. Hopefully Nathan gets a car soon, so I can have some wheels.

Anyway, Mats Mats! Visited grandma and grandpa. Told them tales of the road trip, and of graduation, and had our chicken dinner, and looked through a slide show of pictures from the trip. During the visit I inherited my great grandmother's furs! One is a fur collar that is so elegant and soft, the other is a link of Kolinsky's where the mouth is a clasp. They drape over ones shoulders in a magnificent manner. I want to make a nice display case for the pelts, though for now they are being safely placed in a chest. Such a wonderful gift, thank you grandma for trusting me with them!

It was a lovely little visit, I find it odd to go into a lot of detail about it because the main readers of my blog (my parents and grandparents) were all there with me today.

After the visit, we stopped by the marina because the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Dream (or breeze or fantasy, Hawaiian something) were docked there. The Lady Washington was a ship in the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It is a lovely recreation of a ye olde ship that you can ride on. We took a ride years ago, my family and I. It was fun. Before the ships, ma and pa looked at this other boat and found out it was built by their friend Donald "Donnie" Latimer. Funny how things end up coming together like that.

On the way home, we swung by the new Trader Joe's that opened in Silverdale. It was so comforting being there. The food was familiar and I knew how good some of it was. All the Portland treats that I love were there. And priced the same (except in Oregon there is no tax). Ahhh, such a beautiful store. Hope it lasts in Silverdale for ever and ever.

At home we watched another episode of Tales From the City. I did my laundry. Mom and dad went to bed, I watched Game of Thrones, which was AWESOME.

Todays Portrait Is: Danny Boyle.

Midwest Motorhoming Trip - June 14th to the 18th

June 14^th:

Uhg. Yosemite.

At 8am, we were out of bed for pancakes and bacon. Got everything packed into Nathan’s car, because Nathan would be driving us today. Dad gets a break, yay! It was to be a hot day.

There was some bickering about stopping at certain spots. And a long wait in the park due to road construction. And a long line of cars for pretty much anywhere close in the park. Anyhoo, our first major stop was Bridal Fall. We parked right at the entrance to the parking lot, on the shoulder. There was a steady crawl of cars going in trying to find spots. This was our first glimpse of the Yosemite crowds. Just hordes of tourists swarming the path. A stream of water was coming down the trail from the area of the fall. As we were fast approaching, the air became misty with vapor from the falls. Then it became a light rain. Mother and father stopped before they got too wet, but Nathan and I continued on. Our feet were totally soaked by the inch worth of running water that covered the lookout area. And by feet I mean sneakers. We were also fairly damp, but it was quite the misty site. Lovely.

Then we spent some time struggling through traffic.

We parked at the cathedral and walked about. I made a postcard. We walked to another waterfall, which was considerably less damp making.

Then a picnic was attempted, but we became bug bitten in less than a minute, so we ate in the car with the A/C running.

Then we became very frustrated in traffic trying to navigate through the “Yosemite Village” but we did grab a spot, which became where the car stayed for the rest of the day. We wandered through the crowds at the Village area. Yosemite is so much more a resort with crowds and hecticness, than a docile park. Some of us were becoming unnerved and stressed by it all. Still, we got our stamps and saw a video about the park, and went to some museums, and kept hydrating and eating ice cream and getting some souveniers. We did a lot of wandering around the paved area, and eventually were exasperated and decided to leave.

We drove to a couple hiking points and hiked at the first one for about fifteen minutes. Saw some deer. Totally frustrated with all the day and the crowds and poor access to hikes and views, we went back to the RV Park and had dinner.

Today’s Portrait Is: Eugene Mirman

June 15^th:

The dry heat of Utah is great because you are warm but not sweaty, the muggy heat sucks because you sweat and it doesn’t evaporate. It is much worse here, all though probably colder by 10-15 degrees.

We arose bright and early, had hash browns and bacon and eggs. Yum! Then we packed up our site, and went down the hill. Mom went down the narrow winding road in Nathan’s car (with Nathan) and waited at a historical marker in Chinese Camp. Dad and I descended in the motorhome, a journey which made mother too scared. It actually was a lot better going down than up. We kept a steady pace, and as we were near the cliff side and not the cliff edge, it was less frightening. There was a road construction stop and shortly after that, we pulled off to let people pass. Then for the rest of the journey down the hill, we had no pressure from the presence of people behind us. We ambled along at fifteen miles per hour and before we knew it, we were picking mom up and saying goodbye to Nathan.

And thus began another long day of driving. We are headed home through Northern California and Oregon now. First stop: Lake Shasta and the caverns. We tried to find the Hersey’s Plant, but it was closed. Got some groceries from a semi-open area grocery seller. I took a nap. I read the latest Ryu Murakami novel, which ended almost exactly like another one of his novels. Time creeped onwards, as did I-5. We stopped for sandwiches.

Soon we were going down another winding road and found ourselves in an RV Park next to Lake Shasta. We got popsicles and ice cream before dinner. I took a shower. Mom made a stew with lots of tidbits from the fridge. After dinner mom and dad went Kayaking. I am scratching at my numerous mousquito bites. Another reason why Yosemite isn’t all that great.

Today’s Portrait Is: David Lynch

June 16^th:

Woke up nice and early. Dad made me a fried egg with toast. Mmm! We didn’t set right in to driving. We moved from our RV Park to the Lake Shasta Cavern tour place. It’s a pretty cool tour system. You park, and they take you on a boat across the lake to a place where a bus picks you up. Then you go up a special one way road that is mostly inaccessible to everyone else. Up this narrow winding road, you get a tour guide and go through these really awesome caverns. You can get really close, but can’t touch, to all sorts of cool rock formations. And you wind through the mountain on these numerous steps. Hard to take pictures though. Oh well.

It was 80 steps up to one cavern part, and our tour guide pointed out lots of interpretive formations, like this saber tooth tiger looking cluster. It was fun. I wonder how many cave systems like these are hiding out waiting to be discovered.

From there we headed for Crater Lake National Park. We stopped at this middle of nowhere grocery store and picked up some provisions (and the ever present ice cream). As soon as we started climbing another mountain side, snow became present. Long fallen snow, and the roads were clear. However, it was well packed many feet deep. We stopped for a view point and I chased mom and dad with a snowball, and dad tripped over a log. He scraped his leg up but took the fall with good humor.

The Crater Lake Visitors Center was closed, due to still being stuck in snow. But the gift shop, with a snow entrance, was open. So we got our stamps and souveniers there. We walked around the snow and took pictures and had a light dinner. I made another post card.

At around 8pm we set out for a campground. Back down another mountain. We arrived at Silver Lake, Oregon a bit after 9pm. Tomorrow we head for the border, and camp there. Day after we might return home a day early.

Today’s Portrait Is: Werner Herzog

June 17^th:

Everyone woke up cold. Where did this chill come from? Boo! Poached egg on toast with melted cheese were served for everybody and we took off bright and early. Stopped for some propane and candy and post card drop off.

Just before Bend, Oregon we stopped at the High Desert Museum for a few hours. It is a combination museum with historical reenactors (which I’ve since found freak me out a bit) standard historical item recreations and exhibits, AND indoor and outdoor live animals. There were also a fair share of children, something that also freaks me out. Anyway. The ye olde exhibits were neat, though a bit repetitive by this point. I’ve seen some wagons on this trip. The bobcat and lynx were awesomely adorable. Big soft things behind glass that had once been pets and were neglected. We saw the special raptors of the sky performance thingy. They had several sizable birds come flying over head (outdoors). They came to perch at different trees and I got some good photos of the Harrison Hawk. There were some owls and eagles in closed in exhibits, and dad cooed at them. We ate lunch in the museum and picked out some things from the gift shop. We spent a good 3-4 hours there, which broke up the rhythm of all day driving that we have been accustomed to.

We headed to Timberline Lodge for a quick visit after that. The exterior of the lodge was used in The Shining. We saw some Buddhist Monks. I picked up a patch at the gift shop. It is a lovely place, I’d like to return and stay there for a weekend some time in the future. It smells fantastic.

We migrated onwards for another hour and a half, and have arrived at a campground near the train tracks, hurrah! Mom has reheated her soup and put some chicken in the oven. Yum.

Tomorrow we return to Seabeck.

Today’s Portrait Is: Wes Anderson

June 18^th:

We managed to sleep fairly well, even with the trains going by so near to us. It was a soggy pacific northwest day that greeted our return to home. It rained heavily on us all the way back through Oregon, but it let up when we stopped by the Mt Saint Helen’s Visitor Center. They have recently imposed a fee on the center, so we didn’t look at the exhibits (besides, we already have seen them in the past). So we took a loop walk to stretch our legs a bit and see the marshy land.

It is amazing how 4 hours on the road feels like a light driving day. The original plan was a late Sunday return (but we skipped Zion and didn’t do an extra day at Yosemite) and had a late afternoon Saturday return, which was lovely.

We unpacked the motorhome, started laundry, mom got Holly doggie, Dad ordered pizza from Seabeck Pizza and when the long day was over, we watched some tellie and enjoyed food. After all that time together, we don’t hate each other!

It’s been a wonderful trip, now to get back to life.

Today’s Portrait Is: Jean-Pierre Jeunet