On Saturday I woke up in McMinnville. I did not have to let the dogs out or entertain questions about computer games at 6:00 am. In fact I didn’t even have to get up until right before check out time but I did because I wanted a cup of coffee. We ate an unremarkable but filling breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and then hit the road just about the time it started to rain.

Between McMinnville and the coast gully washers and freak hailstorms gave the windshield wipers a good workout. There was so much water on the road and visibility was so poor that it seemed a good time to stop at Spirit Mountain Casino for a little second hand smoke and gambling. Because I only like to win money not lose money I tried to make Bagpipe Man stick to my fool proof method of not losing your shirt. What you do is take $20 (or some such amount, but it doesn’t work well with less) and play quarter slots until you’ve won $20. Then you put those tickets in your pockets and gamble whatever you have left over from your original $20. Anything you win after that you can keep gambling except every 3rd time you win no matter how big or how small, you have to put that ticket in your pocket. I usually win a little bit of money this way and I never leave with less than I came with, but Bagpipe Man had a different idea which was to just lose all the money quickly. Since we were pooling our dough I had to insist that we leave while we were still up $1 and only halfway smelling like ashtrays.

Back on the road we became very hungry for cheese. Neither of us, it turned out had ever visited the Tillamook Cheese Factory, a staple of grade school field trips, so we swung by for a self-guided tour. From on high we watched giant blocks of cheese on conveyor belts become smaller and get packaged in plastic. It wasn’t really that interesting so we bought some cheese curds and left for the storm watching portion of our day.

Drinking ice tea and eating squeaky cheese while the rain beats on the roof of your car and 20 foot waves crash onto the beach in front of you is a nice way to pass the time. It’s hard to take a picture of though. I wanted to take a stroll but it was too cold and windy plus I was afraid a giant wave would wash us away. Here is Bagpipe Man’s I don’t want to go for a walk face:

Once we were good and wet from being out of the car for all of 30 seconds, we decided not to waste any more time lolly gagging and sped off down the road to Astoria and our hotel room with a jacuzzi tub. Astoria is my most favorite city in Oregon, after Portland. It is way up in the tippy top of the state at the mouth of the Columbia River. It’s full of crazy cool architecture from the late 1800’s, much of which is only now being renovated. Best of all, even though there are clear nods to the tourist industry like our fancy hotel, the place feels like a ghost town. We arrived just in time for a break in the weather.

Our crash pad for the night, Hotel Elliot smelled like scented candles and our room came with a great view as well as a freaky bird mask.

It did indeed have a jacuzzi tub, as well as lots of fluffy pillows, wifi , and a TV. Although it was tempting to hunker down in luxury we walked around town for a bit while it was still light out and stopped by Mary Todds Worker’s Bar & Grill because Bagpipe Man loves both bars and workers. It’s his new favorite place. The Pogues were playing on the jukebox, a couple of sauced Astorians were dancing, cheap beer was flowing, and Mary herself was trying to keep from stepping on a pair of pomeranians that had gotten tired of waiting in the car. It was just his kind of place. After a nice cold Busch we had to go though because I wanted to eat dinner at the Fort George Brewery.

The Fort George Brewery is in a big old building a mere 2 blocks from the hotel. We scarfed down their homemade sausage, drank some really good beer and then retired to our room with a mason jar of Quick Wit which they sell to go. Yay! Then I had a nice long soak while Bagpipe Man watched Outlaw Josey Wales. It was pretty much a perfect day.