Going Back to Oceanside

"We've been living in the city such a long time
You and I should live by the water
I'll shape up and you'll fill out
And we could buy a house
Maybe even have us a daughter..."

"Live by the Water" by Papas Fritas

    Neither Daphne nor I can remember exactly why we chose Oceanside in 2015 to be Charlotte's first out-of-state vacation spot. We think it had something to do with the price of the apartment we rented. Anyway, we have nothing but good memories about that trip, and we decided to go back this summer.

    It didn't hurt that both Daphne and Charlotte have discovered that they really enjoy vacationing by the water.

    On our first flight to Oceanside, all the screens in the back of the airplane's seats were showing scenes from the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" programing (more on that later). That imagery scared Char quite a bit.

    This time the screens were much more welcoming.

    I was pumped that they still sell novelty license plates at the souvenir shops. I had one of these when I was a kid. Char used it as a book mark for her beach book. 

    I didn't spot Daphne's name anywhere, but we stayed in condo "D", and I figured that was close.

    

    The view of the ocean from the patio was great, and we spent every morning getting caffeinated to the sounds of the waves. Our walk to the beach was only three minutes.

    Oceanside still offers their Farmers' Market from 9 pm-1pm on Thursday mornings. Here's Char about to enjoy the cookie she picked out. She was almost five years old.

    

    This year Char graciously agreed to recreate the photo for me. Now she's almost 16.

    

    The same goes for these sunset pictures.

    Hopefully we can go back to Oceanside in ten years or so, and I can retake these pictures again.

Don't Forget This New Travel Essential

I'm writing this post because we won't be traveling again for some time, and I want to remember something.

The first thing we did this summer when we crossed the border into Canada was to stop by a grocery store to buy supplies. It's our tradition to get a jar of peanut butter. Peanut butter toast sure takes the edge off in the morning before we leave for the day. It's the breakfast before breakfast and/or a great late night snack. Just don't expect to bring the jar back into the USA. 

This time we bought the generic brand, No Name, which is ironic because that is their name. 

It is good peanut butter, but it is also kind of strange. No matter how unevenly you spread it on your toast, in a minute or two it will have flowed on its own to the edges of the bread to create a beautiful, even layer. 

I'll look for another jar on next years' trip. But No Name peanut butter is not why I'm writing this. This is why I'm writing this:

We created a Google document with an itinerary for our Canada vacation. Here's part of the entry for our third day.

Day 3: St. Andrews - July 11 Tues

A.    Whale Watching – Fundy Tide Runners 10 am to noon – show up at 9:15 am

We went to sleep on the second night to the sounds of thunder, and the rain and fog had not subsided in the morning. We do not have cell phone service in Canada, so we drove to town to see if the whale watching tour was still on. We were told it was a go at 8:55. Then the weather changed and our tour was called off. We were moving on the next morning, so we couldn't reschedule. They gave us a full refund, but it was still a huge disappointment.

Most of the businesses in St. Andrews were not open, so we killed some time in the Canadian version of Dollar General. That's where I bought the 12' extension cord. Why? Well, the rain didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon, and there were only so many stores and restaurants in St. Andrews. We would be going "home" earlier than expected, and we'd be spending a lot of time inside this Camping Luxury Dome.

The place was really cool. There's a full kitchen, a 3/4 bathroom, a loft with a bed for Char, a bedroom for us, hanging hammock chairs, and a hot tub and a grill on the wraparound deck. 

What it didn't have was Wi-Fi or a TV. The doom's location was too secluded for reception for either. It also didn't have an outlet anywhere near the main room's couch. That's why I bought the extension cord.

(You can see the rain running down on the plastic window.) I pulled that round table between the white chairs in front of the couch. I set my MacBook Pro on the table, and ran the extension cord to the Mac's power cord. It wasn't long before Char was tucked into a blanket on the couch enjoying The Lego Movie. We played board games in-between movies, and eventually the rain stopped, and we were able to use the hot tub. Char watched a Scooby Doo movie after dinner.

In Moncton, Char's bedroom outlet wasn't easily accessible, so we ran the extension cord from outside of her room, under her door, and onto the bed so she could use and charge her phone at the same time. 

In Halifax, I was plugging in the cord for the same purpose when I said to Daphne, "I can't believe how handy it is to have one of these on vacation." Daphne agreed.

So, yeah, this is not a great story, but I don't think I will travel without an extension cord again. I can see using it at the airport when only one outlet is available, or in an AirB&B where you can't get the fan where you want it. Even if you didn't use the cord, it wouldn't take up much room. Mine is still in my backpack. I had forgotten about it until this morning.

See, that's why I'm writing this post. I don't want to forget about this handy cord.

Our Rick Steves Moment

Daphne and I became big fans of  Rick Steves somewhere between 2020 and 2021. The borders to most countries were closed at that time, but we could vicariously travel the world by watching Rick Steves's Europe. It was fun to watch him experience other cultures, and we picked up a lot of Rick's travel tips along the way. 

One of my favorite travel lessons from Rick is to always listen to the locals. We got our chance to do this on our summer vacation in Canada. 

Here's our itinerary for the day we drove from St. Andrew's to Moncton: 

We found the Reversing Falls Rapids first.

Here's my picture of the Reversing Falls Rapids in action.

The sun was really bright, and I couldn't see my phone's screen. I didn't know I was in "selfie" mode until later. The rapids weren't the only ones reversed. 

It took us a while, but eventually we found the St. John City Market where we shared a nice, but unphotogenic salmon burger. Char ate the fries.

Our leftover cash from a previous trip included two Canadian $100 bills. A lot the vendors would not accept bills that large, so we were having trouble using our cash. Daphne had the idea to try to break them at a local bank. The Abc Royal Bank wasn't very helpful, but a teller at the National Bank of Canada was great.

He asked Daphne what we were doing in St. John as he was counting out twenties. She explained that we were on vacation and told him where we were headed. 

"Might I offer an alternate route?" was his response. Daphne quickly agreed. He grabbed a voucher and flipped it over to write on it. 

As an alternative to driving to Fredericton, he suggested we visit the village of St. Martins where they have excellent ice cream and sea caves to explore. From there it is a short drive to the Funday Trail Parkway. He warned us that it would cost money to enter the Funday Trail, but the Parkway was worth it. He also offered the Funday National Park as a free alternative. Alma is a village that is on this route, and they have an excellent bakery. 

He also explained that he grew up in St. Martins, and he drives from there each day to work. I think Daphne wanted to hug him, but there was a counter in the way and her husband standing by. We all thanked him instead.  Daphne consulted Google maps while we walked to the car. We were rerouting.

The ice cream at Octopus was very good, but the waffle cones made from scratch were amazing. I've been in bakeries that didn't smell this good on the inside. We didn't have time for the sea caves.

We crossed a covered bridge and headed to the Funday Trail Parkway. This is from their website:

"The Fundy Trail is a 2,559 hectare/6,323 acre park featuring a 30 km/19 mile parkway hugging the southern coast of New Brunswick. With stunning views of the world-renowned Bay of Fundy, the park has been carved out of the Fundy escarpment, one of the last remaining coastal wilderness areas between Florida and Labrador.

Visitors can drive the paved parkway that hugs the 250 m (820 ft) coastal cliffs, explore trails that connect to paths or stairways leading to pristine beaches and river estuaries, cross an 84 m (275 ft) suspension footbridge, see tumbling waterfalls and Precambrian rocks or stop by the interpretive centre and discover the rich history of a once thriving lumber industry."

We were greeted with beautiful views.

These are the cable steps that take you down to the tumbling Fuller Falls. You have to be careful because some steps move a bit.

Fuller Falls comprises three different types of waterfalls: first there are Plunge Falls, followed by Chute Falls, and then Cascading Falls. Here's a short video: 

Our next stop took us to a path that lead to...

the suspension footbridge! These bridges make you think you have to watch your step because the bridge can move, but you're fine. 

After crossing the bridge, we walked to a beach covered with these rock formations.

Char had to create a small formation for herself.

We also walked a trail that finished at... 

a lookout platform!

I think we were pretty high up. I didn't lean over the railing to find out for sure.

There were several other stops we could have made on the Funday Trail, but we ran out of time. Still, look at all the unplanned things we did. 

I said to Daphne when we were back in the car, "I can't believe how lucky we were to have met that guy at the bank. He really knew what he was talking about. What a nice guy."

She replied, "I know! This was all very Rick Steves."

I laughed and agreed, "You're right. I hadn't thought of it, but yes, today was very Rick Steves."

(Wouldn't it be cool if your name becomes an adjective for having a good time?)

Back in the Saddle

 *The blogger pokes his head into the pocket and looks around. Hmmm. Looks like no one else is here. "Helllooo?" he mutters quietly and then pauses to listen. There is only silence and dust floating in the air. It feels safe, so he hesitantly begins to type for the first time in many months...*

I know I said I was done blogging about my daughter. But I had the idea that I could try to blog without putting the spotlight on Charlotte. 

Why not? When it comes to hobbies, the only rules you have to follow are your own. If you want to bend those rules, who's going call you on it? Yourself? Probably not. You're the one who grabbed the rule book and twisted it in the first place. 

So, here we go...

Our Summer Trip

This might be my favorite picture from the trip we took last June. I took the picture in our Portland, Oregon hotel room after we ran inside to escape the rain.

The reason I like this picture of beef shawarma so much is because it looks so bad. It just makes me laugh. I snapped this picture, reviewed it on my phone, and then showed my phone's screen to Daphne. She made a face, and I giggled, "That's just not very appetizing is it?"

"No, it's not," Daphne agreed with a smile.

"It just kinda looks like a picture of a food log. And I don't think 'food log' is actually a thing."

"Please put your phone down, and let's eat. I'm starving." 

I nodded in agreement, and we dug in by passing the shawarma back and forth to one another. Other than its picture, the beef shawarma was quite good. 

We got this afternoon snack from Abu Omar's Gyros & Shawarma food cart. 

In Portland, food carts are like food trucks that don't move. These carts gather in groups called pods, and you can find various food cart pods located all over the city. 

The Hawthorne Asylum food cart pod was a surprise. We were trying to get to Pine Street Biscuits, but our bus didn't arrive. We tried to walk there, but it became obvious we would be too late. We happened upon the Asylum while on our way to another bus stop. 

The early June weather was cool and rainy. So, it was neat that this food cart pod had fire pits to sit by while you enjoyed your lunch. Locals kept telling us, "This is the wettest spring we've had in 80 years." 

And yeah, it rained everyday, but the rain was more of a mist than a heavy shower. Still, the weather kept us from spending a day at Cannon Beach. We took a waterfall tour instead. Might as well. We were wet already.

Our tour guide was entertaining and informative. He drove us in a van to six different waterfalls and gave us about 30 minutes at each stop to enjoy the sights.

Do you see that bridge? You can walk across it.

It's just a .2 mile scenic walk to get there.

Here's a video of the waterfall from the view on the bridge.

Char did a nice job using the rule of thirds when taking this pic.

Our tour guide took us "off path" to get as close as we could to the last waterfall. This is not the best picture, but the people standing on the left provide scale to how big the waterfall is.

Waterfalls might not be unique to Portland, but this video store is. Movie Madness is a nonprofit video rental store that is known for its vast collection of films and film props. Here's a video clip that explains it better than I can -----> link

I had read that they were going to have a free screening of The Pagemaster on the Sunday, so I called ahead and reserved us three seats in their Miniplex. 

We arrived late because our new bus driver had accidentally driven "off route," but they let us in anyway. The Miniplex was really nice, and it was fun seeing one of Char's "childhood favorites" on a big screen. When we reminisce about that day, Charlotte mostly talks about the M&Ms Daphne bought her...

I got a kick out seeing the prop knife that was used in "Scream."

We did make it to Pine Street Biscuits, and we agreed it was worth the trek. I ordered "The Reggie" sandwich which consists of fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and gravy. This was as close to a sandwich served at Seattle's Serious Biscuit that we could hope for.

Another popular food stop for us was "Pip's Original Doughnuts and Chai." Yes, we knew that everyone is supposed to try Voodoo Doughnuts when they are in Portland, but lines there were long, and we had been to a Voodoo Doughnuts twice when we were in Florida.

Pip's small doughnuts are made fresh when you order, and their size make you feel a little better about yourself when you inhale three in about a minute.

Yes, you do.

As you might guess, it didn't stop raining until the afternoon of the day we were leaving. We did have a great lunch at PDX Sliders, though. 

Look, blue skies!

Charlotte agreed this was a great place to eat, "These sliders are sooo good!"

Daphne found a park nearby after lunch, and the highlight was the huge trees that Char enjoyed climbing. Then a couple of hours later we were in an airport waiting for a plane to arrive on time... which it did.

We did a lot of other things in Portland, but I'm leaving the pictures and videos of those events on my phone. Char is front and center in those. These events included a three-hour bike tour of the city, dinner in a haunted pizzeria, shopping at Powell's Books, touring a rose garden, hiking on a path in the woods, eating at a farmers' market, buying a designer dress, and riding the Aerial Tram. 

It was a weird trip, though. Things didn't really go as planned, but it all worked out in the end. 

For example, we thad planned to take a train from the airport to our hotel, but we had to get off mid-way because the train bridge was temporarily closed. We were directed onto a bus that was taking us to God knew where, and Daphne's phone wouldn't open Google Maps. But a nice teenager reassured us that we would be close to our hotel when we got off, and she was right. We only had to run three blocks in a downpour before we found our hotel. We were soaked, but we laughed as we ran through the hotel's entrance.

All-in-all, I'd say the Portland trip was like my shawarma picture. It wasn't what we expected, but it all made me laugh, and we still had a good time. 

Spring Training

We were making travel plans to Canada right before the pandemic hit. Plane ticket prices had plummeted, and we snagged three round-trip tickets for about $260 each. We didn’t get to use them of course, and those tickets turned into flight vouchers that were about to expire. 

Plane tickets cost much more now, and we couldn’t fly anywhere fun for our Spring Break with the vouchers unless we spent a lot more. I was wondering if it would be smarter to just stay home and let the voucher money go.

Daphne, my hero, had a better idea. We could still use the vouchers, go somewhere fun, and not break the bank. 

Daphne’s plan was to leave her car at the Des Moines Airport, drive my car to Osceola, and we'd ride Amtrak’s California Zephyr to Chicago. The train trip would take seven hours and only cost us $125 in total. We could then buy passes for the CTA buses and trains to get around the city. To get home, the voucher money matched the cost of the flight from Chicago to Des Moines. That sounded great!

None of this would have occurred to me, and that’s why I let Daphne plan our trips. 

You need to arrive 30 minutes before your departure time in case the train is early. Our train was running 20 minutes late, but that’s how it goes. The gals are on the left. Char's playing a game, and Daphne's checking the train's schedule.

The California Zephyr is pretty impressive. It’s a big train, and I didn't even film all of it arriving at the station:

The assigned, coach seats are also big when compared to what you get on an airplane.

I spent a lot of my trip in one of the observation cars. These seats are not assigned, so if you shuffle your feet, you could lose your seat. 

It was fun trying to take a decent photo through the glass window as the train whipped through the countryside. 

Flying can be really stressful for me. I know that turbulence is normal, but a shaking plane still scares me. When the trains shakes, however, I’m not afraid we’re going to crash into the ground like a lawn dart. 

This is what it looks like when you cross the Mississippi River. 

We arrived at the station just a little after our estimated seven hours. Not bad.  A 20 minute bus ride got us to our hotel at 4:00, and a 7-11 across the street helped us get supplies for our room. 

It was really cold on that Friday in Chicago, but we braved the frigid winds to eat at a Shake Shack. 

Char ordered a vanilla shake despite the low temps. 

The high on Saturday was 20, so we opted out of attending the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. 

It was cool to see the river dyed green. But I'll readily admit I was relieved that I didn't have to drive a car in the aftermath of the Paddy's Day Parade. There were people everywhere, and the streets were packed with honking vehicles and weaving pedestrians. 

During our three full days, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, The Navy Pier, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

The 60s 727 on display at the MSI was cool to walk around in.

The Swiss Jolly Ball machine at MSI was also really fun. 

Riding the Centennial Wheel at the Navy Pier was a fun experience, and a little bit scary for me.

I was glad to step out of the enclosed gondola when the ride was over. 

Daphne and I enjoyed seeing the famous paintings at the Art Institute, but Char... well, she put up with it.

I think it's a visitor requirement to visit Millennial Park and take pictures of yourself in the reflection of "The Bean" (aka "Cloud Gate").

With the help of Daphne’s navigation skills, we were able to visit a Goodwill store! I love that Charlotte is now excited to go thrift shopping, but Daphne... well, she puts up with it. 

This a great way to sell excess DVDs.

Char picked out two hoodies and a Squishmallow octopus named Veronica. 

But belive it or not, GoodWill was not my highlight from our vacation. My highlight was a fast-food lunch.

I've written about White Castle before on the blog, so I'll just quote myself:

    "My mom was excited to get Chinese takeout when we visited my Great Aunt Elnora (we called her Grandma) in Minneapolis. Mom always ordered chicken chow mein. I thought that was grossest looking stuff ever. Dad would bring back hamburgers from White Castle to make me (and him, I suspect) happy. These were memorable for multiple reasons. 1) There are no White Castle restaurants in Iowa. 2) These burgers are kid-sized, and I felt pretty grown up because I could eat more than one. 3) At 37 cents a piece, Dad would buy as many as I wanted" (Plus, they taste good!).

I was a little worried about what Charlotte would think when she tried her first White Castle slider. She's been eating some of the plain hamburgers served at school lunch, so I had a hope she wouldn't hate White Castle. We placed an order for 10 sliders, and I mentally crossed my fingers. 

After removing the pickles from her sliders, we all dug in. Pretty soon Char looked at the pile of empty slider boxes and asked, "They're gone? How could we have already eaten ten? Daphne pointed out who ate what (I ate the most), and it added up to ten.

I asked, "Wait. Are you saying you want more?" Char nodded her head, and I couldn't have been happier! I popped up and hurried to the counter. It is such a great feeling when your kid appreciates something that you do, too. 

"White Castle is the best!" - Charlotte Monson

The flight home was uneventful. We were only in the air for 50 minutes. (I will be so happy when I can take indoor pictures of my family's full faces...)

I'm glad we were able to fly home and use our voucher money, but next time I think we'll just take the train to Chicago and back. It's easier, cheaper, and there's a lot less stress. 

“Trains are wonderful.... To travel by train is to see nature and human beings, towns and churches, and rivers, in fact, to see life.” - Agatha Christie.

The Urbandale School District's spring break is ten days long. We spent five days traveling, and five days hanging out around home. We agreed that it felt like having two separate vacations. I'll have to try and remember that for next year.

Nah, I don't have to remember that. 

Daphne will.