The Pacific Northwest & Goodbye Bawdy Caste!

Hey everyone! I've been a little bit MIA lately with my posting, but we've had a lot going on. So much so that I can't even remember what we've done when I try to think about it. What I can remember is that we went to Disneyland a couple of weekends ago (which wasn't significant enough to post about since we go so often), we've been packing and prepping for our move, and we retired from the Bawdy Caste.

After five years of Patrick being on cast and almost two years of me being on cast, Patrick and I finished our last show as regular cast members on July 4th. We love our cast family so much and we appreciate their support in our decision. Our plan is to continue to "guest perform" (aka show up and help with tech) whenever we are in the area and are able to attend a show, but we will definitely be too far away to do regular shows once we move. We will miss doing shows (honestly, when we go too long without going to show we will start singing Rocky Horror songs when we're in the grocery store...) and we will miss our Rocky family dearly when we don't see them as regularly as we do right now. Thankfully we are leaving on good terms and everyone understands that it's simply time for us to focus on our lives and our relationship if we're going to accomplish any of our goals.

We left a bit early from the show that night and began driving north to our intended destination, Vancouver, WA. Our plan was to visit Portland. I've never been and Patrick loves going, and Vancouver was just a ten minute car ride across a bridge. It was a fantastic trip to say the least.

To say that I miss seeing green things is an understatement. In Michigan, you're never too far away from a forest full of green and a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, you'd be hard pressed to find that in California. My plan was just to soak up as much of the nature as I could and enjoy it before we had to go back to the hot, dry hell-desert that is California.

The trip up went pretty smoothly. For the first time ever in our relationship, Patrick let me drive, which turned out to be a really good thing because I'm so much better in traffic than he is, so he napped while I parked the car on the freeway for a good chunk of time because we got stuck in stand-still traffic waiting for an accident to clear up.

I believe this was Mt. Shasta, which is still in California.

The freeway was a parking lot for almost 45 minutes. 

The sights on the way up were awesome. Of course we had to stop in Weed, California for some photos and I spent a lot of time in awe of the mountains, rivers, and winding roads as we drove.

At some point we hit the Wildlife Safari in Winston, Oregon, so we took a break to have a drive through and look around. It was so cool! You actually stay in your vehicle and drive (slowly) through the huge park where you can see tons of animals (giraffes included!) and even feed some of them. 

This guy came right up to the car and wanted very much to get in. He even left a nose print on the window. 

I don't have any closer up photos of this one because if I did, I wouldn't have been able to close the window in time so that it didn't try to eat my face. There was a lot of yelling.

 Look at this big kitty! He was having a bath :D

BLEEEEHHHHH

When we finally arrived at the Hilton Vancouver, our room was amazing! I would honestly say that it was the absolute best room that we have ever stayed in. It was extremely spacious, it overlooked the river, and it was super quiet and isolated because it was a corner room and there was a stairwell on the one side of the room that could have potentially had a neighbor. It was quieter than living in our apartment (although that's not really saying much since our apartments are so loud).

The view from our room was pretty awesome! We loved watching the train go by at night.

Just a block or two away from our hotel was this amazing wall art.

On Sunday when we arrived we unpacked, went to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack (I was craving seafood pasta), and then I passed out around 10pm after running off of two hours of sleep.

On Monday, I got the pleasure of meeting one of Patrick's very best friends, Dennis. I've heard so many stories about Dennis that I was just thrilled to finally get the chance to meet him and his girlfriend, Gina. We had a fantastic dinner at a place called Southpark Seafood in Portland, which was surprisingly good being that it was a more upscale menu and I was really skeptical about the "weirdness" of the food. All four of us found something great to eat and really enjoyed ourselves. Afterwards, we checked out the area that all of the food trucks are in to see all of the different types of food they have over there and we popped into Powell's Books really quickly, more or less so that Patrick and I would know where these two places were so that we could make a return trip to the city.

On Tuesday we planned to go to Seattle for Patrick's birthday, but it ended up being a little bit of a bust. After a lot of annoying traffic and confusing construction, we finally made it to the EMP, which I wasn't super excited about to begin with. We were actually both really disappointed with the museum and found it to be much less interesting than we thought it was going to be. We made it through the museum in about two hours and then decided it was time to go. And no, I didn't go up in the Space Needle. I'm not even the least bit interested in going up in something that high up that spins. I mean, I got dizzy on the second floor balcony of the Star Wars exhibit at the EMP!

And now, please prepare yourselves for a lot of photos taken at the EMP. 

The following are Star Wars Exhibit Pictures:

I have tons of photos of this wedding dress from all angles because the detail is so incredible. But I still don't know who this character is/who they married. #StarWarsVirgin

The following are Fantasy World Pictures:

I really geeked out over Sirius Black's coat.

Cloak of Invisibility

Inigo Montoya, Buttercup, and Wesley's outfits from The Princess Bride

Tyrion Lannister's outfit! 

(Front)

(Back)

Cersei Lannister's outfit!

(Front)

(Back)

A Dalek, which I only include for the geeks out there, since I hate Doctor Who.

The rules concerning Wile E. Coyote

#SelfieWithAnAnvil

You, too, can wear your granddad's clothes at this Macklemore selfie exhibit.

Having been there before, Patrick was expecting that there would be more "new" stuff and was disappointed that most of the things there were things he had seen before. Though he enjoyed the Science Fiction exhibit and the Horror exhibit, he was actually really disappointed in the Star Wars exhibit, which we paid extra to see, because they featured more stuff from the new movies and not much from the old movies, which is not what he was expecting. 

Personally, since I'm not a musically-inclined person and I have a very random taste in music (instead of liking entire bands, I tend to just like certain songs), I thought the music portion of the museum was boring and the only thing I truly got into was the Fantasy exhibit. The one single thing I wanted to do was use the Scream Booth in the Horror exhibit, but of course that was broken. We left tired, hungry, and bored.

After we left Seattle we hit a whole ton of traffic while we were trying to get to our destination-- Patrick's sister's house. Being that this was the first time I would be meeting Patrick's sister, brother-in-law, and two nieces, I was actually a little bit nervous (but I was more excited than anything else). I ended up having a great time and I was reluctant to leave at the end of the night.

I went all the way to Washington to meet my sister in law and her family and all I got was a few pictures of their cats. Priorities, man. 

On Wednesday Patrick and I decided to have a re-do birthday for him because he was so disappointed about his birthday in Seattle. I went off to get a 90 minute massage (I've been having a lot of back problems and terrible shoulder problems lately) and I sent Patrick on his way to get the manicure and pedicure I've been begging him to get for months. Now, thankfully, I don't scream in terror when his feet touch me! We finished the day with a really yummy dinner at a place called Who-Song and Larry's, which serves Mexican food.

On Thursday we dedicated our time to Portland-- specifically, Powell's Books. It is the largest new and used bookstore in the world. Here are a few facts about Powell's, straight from their website.

A few store facts: 

• 68,000 square feet packed with books. 
• We buy 3,000 used books over the counter every day. 
• Approximately 3,000 people walk in and buy something every day. 
• Another 3,000 people just browse and drink coffee. 
• We stock 122 major subject areas and more than 3,500 subsections. 
• You'll find more than 1,000,000 volumes on our shelves. 
• Approximately 80,000 book lovers browse the City's shelves every day in Portland and via the Internet. 
(via http://www.powells.com/locations/powells-city-of-books/)

An "interesting" (or more likely "irritating" and "weird") fact about me is that lots of choices and big things give my anxiety, which means that you would think this store would render me catatonic the entire time we were in there-- but it didn't. Powell's is so amazing at making each of their nine color-coded rooms feel like a different area that the store isn't overwhelming. In fact, it's just the opposite. When I walk into a Barnes & Noble, I freak out and usually leave with nothing because there are too many choices looming at me and all of the books stare at me at once. The way Powell's is set up is so ingenious that nothing feels overwhelming or like there is too much to look at. When we first walked in on Monday, I had no idea that the store was as big as it is because we only went into one room. They even break up the space well with tables instead of having book case after book case and row after row like a library would. We left with seven books and a tote bag to carry them in and spent more on books in one trip than I have probably in the last year. I'm so excited to start reading.

After our bookstore adventure, we each found a food truck we wanted get food from (grilled cheese for me and a Monte Cristo on a waffle for Patrick) and we enjoyed walking through the city with our food. That night, Patrick took me to Jimmy John's for dinner, because apparently there are ample Jimmy John's locations in the Portland area and there is just one that I know of in California. If you know me, you know how much I love me some JJ's and how much I miss it since I don't live in the Mitten anymore.

The menu at the waffle place Patrick ordered from.

The Monte Cristo waffle and a strawberry lemonade with a coconut twist.

I sent this photo of my Jimmy John's sub to my best friend Zach, with the caption "When I eat the butt I'll be thinking of you", because the butt of the sandwich is my favorite and when I'm in Michigan and Zach has Jimmy John's, he always lets me eat that part of his sandwich. Because that's what best friends are for. 

The greatest thing I've found about that area has definitely got to be the friendly people. Everything is so relaxed in the Portland area-- even heavy traffic doesn't make people drive like maniacs, and the ones that do are from-- you guessed it-- California. I never once felt unsafe or like I couldn't go someplace by myself and every person we interacted with was just fabulous. I loved the state of mind up there. I loved the weather, too, even though we apparently picked the two hottest weeks of the year to go (not a single drop of rain, which made me sad). Even the two hottest weeks of the year were cooler than it is where we live.

On Friday morning we got up at the crack of dawn and drove home to our kitties and away from our wonderful vacation, which Patrick and I agree was the best trip we've probably ever taken together. I was really upset to leave-- I feel homesick about it! I can't wait to get back up to Oregon again!

A (belated) Monterey Valentine's Day!

In our most recent adventure, Patrick and I headed to Monterey!

Patrick had a business trip that lasted from February 8th, which is the day after my birthday, through February 14th, which is a holiday for everyone but is also extra special for me and Patrick. Two years ago on February 14th, Patrick landed in Michigan and we met in person for the first time. We consider this our anniversary!

The day we met, we went out to a fantastic dinner at the Westland Char House, which is sadly closed at this point.

For our first anniversary, we spent the day in Disneyland! The day after, on February 15th, Patrick proposed to me at Princess Breakfast in Ariel's Grotto in front of Ariel!

As you can see, February is a big month for us, and for him to have had to spend even any time focusing on work or away for work during those days was a bummer! Thankfully, we were able to get away for a couple of days to a place I've never been before-- Monterey!

We left on Sunday morning and drove home on Monday night, and we both had a blast! It was a really relaxing mini-vacation and it was great to be able to get away and spend some quality time together. Little did we know, the 2015 PGA Tour was in Pebble Beach this weekend, which made the tourism pretty heavy, and on top of that we completely forgot that President's Day is a thing and that a few random people get the day off, so it was a little busy EVERYWHERE!

On our first day, we hit up Cannery Row and the various shops there. Later, we headed to dinner at Whaling Station Steakhouse. Unfortunately, I was sick for this entire trip, so I joked with Patrick that my dinner "had a really great texture!" but in all reality, I couldn't taste any of it. Thankfully, I took leftovers back to the hotel and I was able to snack on them the next day when I could taste things, and even heated up they were delicious.

The beach view from Cannery Row

The next day was the one we were most excited for. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Patrick bought season passes for both of us, since it saves you money if you go just twice (which we're sure we can do!) and it supports a fantastic organization that really does great things for the environment.

One of the many beautiful pieces of art in the aquarium, many of which, like this one, are made of plastic materials to demonstrate how well plastic holds up and won't degrade in the environment.

First stop, the jellies! The jellies were the best part of the aquarium in our opinion. They had so many different varieties, and the way the exhibit was set up was fantastic. If we had had the time, I would have stayed there the entire day just sitting on the ground and staring them. They're so soothing to look at-- like a beautiful lava lamp created by nature. It is definitely the type of place that I could forget the time in.
Want to watch the Jelly-Cam? Click here!

These three jellyfish were knotted together-- I wonder if they ever untied themselves!

Each of the varieties of jellies were so unique and beautiful. Some didn't even look like jellies! Some seemed to have an electric current running down their "spines" (more like the white bits of a peeled orange, still squishy but definitely different from the rest of it), some looked like giant pillows, and some were so tiny that it felt like you could put them in your pocket and carry them home.

Next on our tour were the octopuses! There is an exhibit called Tentacles, and as interesting as they may be, they freaked me out a little bit. Honestly, I'm shocked that I didn't spend the trip in a constant state of panic, since the ocean (and really any body of water, even the giant tanks) terrifies me, but it was all just so fascinating that I couldn't help but find myself in awe.

Please don't flash the octopus.

We also saw tons of other various sea life, including otters, cuttlefish, tiger sharks, penguins, and a sea turtle! The otters were adorable. I nicknamed them "sea kitties" and decided that they all needed hugs. They were so funny showing off for the crowd by swimming in circles and playing with their toys. They really are just big babies that love attention!

Sea kitty! He's swimming laps, belly-up!

Playing with its toys!

The bubble aquarium! This is where the sea turtle was kept, among many other creatures. The sea turtle likes to ride the waves of bubbles!

I have no idea what this is, but it looks cool.

There were areas in the aquarium where you could exit and go outside to look at their pools and see the ocean.

The "Finding Nemo" tank, as we like to call it. We saw Nemo fish, Dory fish, Bubbles fish, and even Gill fish!

Seahorse!

We don't have very many good pictures of the penguins because we got there right at feeding time and we got pretty bad seats, but what we got to see was awesome!

A whole school of fish! It was so neat to see them travel like this.

The only shark that I found acceptable because it looked like it was smiling. 

I just love birds, especially this one. I love seagulls and pigeons. 

Mid-way through our visit, we stopped for lunch at the restaurant that they have in-house, and we got a table overlooking the bay. It even came with binoculars so you could look at everything that was going on. We saw tons of people standing up on surf boards and paddling around with a paddle, people in kayaks, seals, and sea otters!

Our view from our table at the restaurant!

At the end of our visit, we made our way to one of the bigger touch pools. Earlier in the day I'd touched a sea cucumber and two different starfish, but the really big exhibit had stingrays. They're actually not harmful to humans, especially since the aquarium clips their spikes so they can't poke or scratch you. Then, you just pull up your sleeve, put your arm in the water, and wait for one to swim under your hand so you can stroke it. So cool! I'm really surprised that I was brave enough to do it!

One of the starfish that I got to poke

!!!!!

The aquarium was fantastic, and I really recommend going (just not on President's day, which is a school holiday and therefore apparently the perfect day for every child in California to go to the aquarium). The pictures and my description do it no justice!

After we started to get tired of the crowds and had visited every possible exhibit, we did a bit of souvenir shopping and decided we were done with the aquarium for the day.

How could you not want this adorable pink penguin? And then how could you not take a selfie with it? I really try to abstain from buying stuffed animals since they take up so much room ad have very little use (especially for an adult) but I could not resist. It called to me. From three different stores.

We then made our way over to a wine tasting bar that was recommended to us by our upstairs neighbor (which, if you follow me on Twitter, you'll know that we have stopped resenting due to the noise and actually become friends with), who is in Monterey most weekends because his family runs wineries up there! I, of course, abstained from the wine and enjoyed my ice water (from my new water bottle that I got for my birthday!) but I did enjoy some of the fruit, nuts, and cheeses that Patrick got with his cheese platter-- even a cheese with lavender and espresso, how weird is that? We sat at a small table overlooking the bay and we saw a total of FIVE seals just laying on rocks and sun bathing! It started out with only one seal, and it was really amusing to watch the rest of them flop up on the rocks to nap in the sun. There was even a disagreement between the original seal and another one who wanted to share the rock he was resting on. They ended up sharing, but the original seal was not happy!

Our view from our seats at the wine bar!

❤

Can you spot them? There are four seals and a seagull in this picture!

Patrick was happy!

After the wine bar, Patrick and I headed back to the hotel so that I could nap (vacationing while sick is exhausting) and later we headed out to one of my absolute favorite restaurants, Bubba Gump's!

Man, that sure is a nice red jacket

My favorite is coconut shrimp. What's yours?

Patrick is the sole reason that adult bibs became a thing, and no one can convince me otherwise.

Though we had initially planned on staying another night and heading home in the morning, Patrick and I were by no means tired at 9:30pm, so we decided to skip the night at the hotel and opt for driving for a few hours so we could have a night at home, something that Patrick has very few chances to enjoy this month due to travel. We're really happy that we decided to get a head start on things so that we could relax on Tuesday and not have to worry about doing a bunch of rushing around to get everything ready for when he leaves on Wednesday.

Overall this is one of the best trips we've taken, even though I was sick! Everything was so relaxing and calm and nothing was set in stone, so we had no obligations and we did everything at a leisurely pace. I can't wait to go back, and since it's not even half as far away as Disneyland, I have a feeling we'll be able to take quite a few day trips up there in the future!