over's over; down is now.

greetings, internet!

i'm writing to you from scenic bellingham, washington. since we last posted, we've wandered around a bit: first to astoria on the oregon coast with kevin, then up to vancouver to watch an ultimate (frisbee) tournament. we're glad to be back in the states if for no other reason than that our phones (and money) work here. we'll be moving slowly southward along the west coast from now until probably late october.

we set out from new orleans about two months ago now, with the general plan to go "up, over, down, and back." it's basically a rectangle with the corners in new orleans, michigan's upper peninsula, vancouver, and los angeles. so even though we aren't quite halfway through the trip in terms of time, we've turned the second corner. abbie told me she was thinking about this as she first stepped into the pacific on the oregon coast.


but i'm getting ahead of myself. we had a few more toothsome, succulent days with kevin. time does not permit my dwelling on each savory moment. but, as usual, abbie took lots of pictures of our madcap adventures. here we are having some fun at the lovely condo:


similar fun, different day:


if it seems like we spent a lot of time in the condo, don't be deceived. we wandered and explored. but it's also true that kevin introduced us to a word game called "word twist." i am purposely not linking to it because this game is extremely dangerous. many people very close to me are completely addicted. please monitor your children and spouses closely when they use the internet. anyone can become a victim. pay special attention to anyone who is experiencing symptoms of ASW (acute scrabulous withdrawal).

[note: if the preceding paragraph was mostly lost on you, do not feel ashamed. all this means is that you are not a huge nerd who spends too much time on the internet.]

anyway, here's another variation on the sam-and-kevin-have-fun theme, this time in a restaurant:


but we did more than just embody gluttony and sloth. we also visited a distillery! here i am, um, inspecting the dimensions of a beautiful copper still.


and here i am, victoriously clutching one of the last bottles of mccarthy's whiskey.


we continued to pursue self-improvement and ennoblement of our spirits by going to an arcade. abbie found it: it's called ground kontrol, and it has all the classics. plus they serve beer.



abbie has promised that a video of our flailing attempts at dance dance revolution is forthcoming. unfortunately i did not take any video of abbie's performance on the game q-bert. i cannot explain how good abbie is at q-bert. without obvious effort, she got a high score two factors of ten over her nearest competitor. she's like a different person... or a machine. never play her for money.

after all that asceticism, we decided to head for the beach. cannon beach is maybe pretty famous, but i had never heard of it. so imagine my shock and surprise when it turned out to be the beach from the goonies.

notice the distinctive rocks from the medallion part behind my goofy face. the big rock is called, i think, haystack rock.


it was also just a nice beach in general. the sand was soft and warm, and the water not as horrifyingly cold as it looked. there were cool wind-gnarled trees and more rocks and stuff.







by a magical coincidence, the house from the goonies was just a few miles up the road in astoria. we couldn't get too close because it's someone's house and everything. but it looked just like in the movie!

we were sad to leave the coast since it meant our time with kevin had drawn to a close. he has to go to law school.

we dropped him off at the airport in portland and then drove on up to vancouver. it was an unremarkable drive except for when abbie failed the customs interview at the canadian border. they asked her if she had pepper spray, and instead of just saying, "yes i do! we had no idea that pepper spray was considered a weapon and prohibited in canada! otherwise i certainly would have left it behind. how can i properly dispose of it, officer?" she panicked and just stepped on the gas and went right through the little gate thingy. can you believe it?

okay, so i embellished a little. she managed to resist the urge to floor it, and the canadian police people were very nice. probably as close as we'll ever get to feeling like bonnie and clyde.

then it was off to vancouver, where abbie's very talented cousin anna was playing on the u. s. team in the world championships of ultimate. if you've never heard of ultimate, it's worth checking out. this video is a good four-minute introduction if you're interested--although it doesn't fully convey how incredibly exciting a sport it is to watch. it's got all the athleticism and grace of soccer at about twice the speed - and with lots more diving and big plays. anna was a standout player and really fun to watch - and the u. s. team came back from four points down to take the bronze.


(anna's second from the left.)

we had a great visit with bobbie, steve, michael and nick, who very kindly let us crash in their hotel suite for two nights. we're looking forward to seeing them again when we go back through seattle.

one last thing: as we came back through the border (i was driving this time, and we were pretty sure we didn't have any more contraband, but we took some cleansing breaths anyway), the car next to us was stopped and surrounded by seven or eight customs officers, pistols drawn, who then cuffed the passenger and led him inside. we have no idea what happened and presumably never will but it was pretty wild.

what will happen next? will abbie lose her fear of animal attacks but develop a new fear of electrocution by small appliances? will sam finally lose it after abbie beats him at boggle for the tenth time in a row? or will they continue to putter peacefully along? tune in next week for the thrilling conclusion.