We are here, we are here, we are here!

Portland is awesome! Our apartment is cool, but the area we live in (Orenco Station) is fantastic! There are several restaurants in the area. There's also a wine store that carries our honeymoon dessert wine that's always been hard to find (Robert Mondavi's Moscato). And there's a great pet store that carries the cat's food and other good quality foods and a grocery store that's kind of a mix of a Whole Foods type store and your normal Shaw's/Star Market/Hy-Vee/Food Lion/Fareway/Schnuck's whatever else they call it type of store.

We made it here early Wednesday afternoon. The truck was unloaded and returned by supper time. Grandma and I unpacked the kitchen while Mom & Jeff took the truck back and then we went to eat at the Orenco Station Grill. We thought it was good, but I just saw some reviews on yelp and nobody else agrees with us. I stayed up late unpacking our clothes and organizing our new, pretty, beautiful, wonderful walk in closet.

Thursday we did some shopping and got most everything else unpacked. We still can't find a shower curtain/bath rugs/etc that we like, but we've got the other necessities. I've been craving pancakes, so we ate at IHOP - yum!

Friday we went to the beach! We went to Cape Meares to the lighthouse. Jeff and I walked up to the Octopus Tree. I saw a big scary beetle and a big scary spider web. But I also got to meet the prettiest red nosed pittie. He was a big sweetie and didn't even bother to sniff Jeff before he started giving him kisses. It made me really sad when the owners said "Thanks for petting our dog - most people think he's some ferocious killer or something and back away."

We drove to Oceanside spent some time on the actual beach. We noticed signs all over saying "Boycott the Anchor!" and bumper stickers saying "You won't see me at the Anchor!" Mom googled when she got home, and it seems The Anchor ticked some people off by expanding and then bringing in strippers.

We ate lunch at The Schooner, which was OK. Then we went to the Blue Heron Cheese shop. They had some amazing cheeses there. We came home, and Mom, Grandma & I went to eat at The Merchant of Venice. Grandma had an amazing tomato soup. Dessert was Sweet Cream, which I need to find a recipe for.

Saturday morning we dropped Mom & Grandma off at the airport. Then Jeff and I went exploring and grocery shopping. We napped, watched Sahara, made carbonara for supper then went to bed.