Author: rich

I was able to convince Claire that we should go to the beach by proposing the alternative of staying home and painting the kitchen. There was a big annual shindig happening at Seaside where we went last year, so we opted to follow our neighbors to Cannon Beach. We were lucky to finagle a parking spot almost immediately, which turned out to be pure luck. I heard some people grumbling about how the beach was never this full, but it didn’t bother us. Weston and Julia especially enjoyed the outing asking if we could go again tomorrow? No. The next day? We may have to turn this into a family tradition of sorts. If so, we will have to incorporate a trip to the Tillamook ice cream factory.

When we went to pick up the moving truck, Claire and I were both shocked. I told her something to the effect of, “I don’t think I can drive that.” It looked like an eighteen-wheeler, and I was sure I needed special training on how to avoid driving over all the midget cars on the road. I asked what size move the truck was suited for and the lady recommended it for a 5-8 bedroom house. We looked at a size smaller, but concluded that all of our stuff from two moves would not fit. I got in and put my foot on the brake. It made a bizarre sound as though I were squishing the last breath out of some poor animal. Apparently, this is normal? Maybe the three carless years in New York had more of an effect on me than I realized. I started it up and had to resist the urge not to drive over rather than around the other cars in the parking lot. I narrowly avoided a few accidents on the way back to the in-laws’ and took out just about every corner.

As it turns out, the truck was full when we got through with it. The drive wasn’t bad at all because we drove during the day (It’s much harder on me once it gets dark). There was no wife to read Freddie and Fredericka to me, no CD player, no mP3 player, no Julia asking me what my favorite sea creature is, no Weston monologues, and no Conrad requesting that Claire constantly look at him……..just lots and lots of NPR to keep me company.

Claire seems to like the house so far — probably because we’ve heard a lot of good things about Julia’s school. Parts of the house are decorated in Classic Old Lady, so I had to do some painting before I could bear to hang up my precious “Think Different” posters. We have a lot of ideas, but most of them are lower on the priority totem pole than finding a commuter car for me (Any suggestions?) and getting the rest of our stuff out of boxes.

Our neighbors are super nice; however, we seem to be one of the younger couples in the hood. My list of reasons for moving to Oregon has expanded to include Tillamook Ice Cream. So the complete list is as follows:

1) Goonies was filmed here.

2) My best falafel experience happened in Portland.

3) Ice cream that rivals real gelato in Italy.