July 24, 2002 |
The Adventures of Paisley
Blue
At last - a vacation! Last Saturday Mechanic, Michael, Rainbow and I went on a trip to the coast and had a really good time. We were planning to stay at Ocean Shores on Saturday and Sunday, coming home on Monday morning. I had permission from my supervisor to come in at noon on Monday so it was all set.
Saturday morning we went to the car auction again and ended up buying two cars - a Beretta and a Lumina. Everyone thought the Beretta would be the one to start right up and that we might have problems with the Lumina. It turned out to be the exact opposite. We drove the Lumina off the lot and the Beretta got towed to the shop.
By the time we got tags and tabs for the Lumina, picked up our luggage and left town, it was already 8 pm. That's okay, we said. We'll get there, get a room, and enjoy the beach and everything all day Sunday.
We arrived in Ocean Shores after dark and started searching for a room. Well, it's the height of tourist season in July and we did not have reservations. Every single hotel, motel and anything else was full. We ended up driving back to Aberdeen and finally finding two nice rooms for a very reasonable rate.
The next morning we woke up and drove back to Ocean Shores. One of our big goals for this vacation was to go crabbing. We bought two traps and other paraphenalia, then went down to a dock. Michael's father had contributed an ice cooler with salmon to use as bait. We set about baiting the traps and dropped them over the side of the pier, and waiting.
While we were doing that, the captain of a little boat walked up to us and asked if we had bought both traps at a certain little nearby store. We said we had. He said that Monday he would have to order more traps, because they had come from his wife's store. This started a conversation that ended with him offering to take us out on his boat to get some real crabs for an hour for just fifty dollars.
We jumped on that offer and loaded all our gear on his little boat. Once we got out to the place he said would be best, he asked us where our buoys were. We didn't know we needed buoys. Well, he was being really nice and let us attach our little traps to his larger, commercial sized ones. We ended up being on the water for an hour and a half, barely making it back to the docks before the low tide would have trapped us out in the deep for several hours.
We caught about half a dozen good sized Dungeness crabs and he gave us two from his catch earlier in the day. As soon as we reached land I had to beat feet to a bathroom, and on my way back I saw a soda machine in the office of a hotel. I brought cold drinks to the guys, who were finishing up, hosing off the equipment and packing stuff into the car.
From there we went to a place that Mechanic said had cute little cabins. We had called ahead and reserved a two-bedroom cabin, but when we arrived at about 5 pm, the manager said she hadn't thought we were coming and already rented the cabin out. In the end, we rented a two-bedroom three-story house a little higher up on the hill.
This house had a full kitchen, a living room with a fireplace, big screen tv and vcr, and a deck with a view of the ocean. On the deck was a propane grill. The house was fully stocked with dishes, pans, linens, and even had a washer and dryer.
Michael stayed at the house while Mechanic, Rainbow, and I drove into town to get supplies. Mechanic had his heart set on steaks. I was the only person who was going to eat crab, so Michael was preparing two crabs for me. Once we got to town, Mechanic gave Rainbow driving directions to a little fun park type of place.
We ended up riding on the bumper boats and had a wonderful time. There was a sprinkler going on the side, and the guys ganged up on me trying to get me soaked. After the ride, we went inside and played video games and arcade games. Mechanic gave Rainbow all the tickets - even playing some more games to try and get lots of tickets - so that Rainbow could pick out some of the gifts as little souvenirs.
We went to the grocery store and spent over $100 on food and a case of Bacardi Silver. Then we went to another little shop and rented a few movies. When we returned to the house, Michael showed me how much meat came from the two big crabs he'd cooked -- it wasn't much. Preparations began for grilling steaks and chicken. We'd even bought the supplies for making s'mores but we were so full from supper that those never got made.
We sat down to watch movies and Mechanic promptly fell asleep in the recliner. I fell asleep next. Rainbow and Michael watched the whole thing. Michael told me that about half an hour before the end of the movie, Mechanic went upstairs and went to bed in the master bedroom.
This room was as big as the whole house and had a king size and a queen size bed as well as a bathroom. They had sliding glass doors that opened up to a teensy balcony but what a view! So after the movie, Rainbow went upstairs.
Michael and I were supposed to take the basement bedroom but it was damp down there and we decided we'd sleep on the hide-a-bed couch. Sometime after we had fallen asleep we awoke to something heavy on our heads. The back part of the couch had fallen on top of us. I was disoriented and said "What's happening?" in a panic. Michael calmed me down and pulled the mattress off the couch. I told him I didn't want to sleep on the floor when there was another bed upstairs -- and I marched up the stairs and crawled into the empty bed.
Apparently sometime later Michael joined me but I was asleep and didn't know. The next morning Michael got up early and whipped up a wonderful breakfast of biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage and juice. Rainbow and Mechanic disappeared upstairs for a while and finally we all got our act together, got dressed and packed and left.
Before leaving Ocean Shores, we went and rode the bumper boats again, this time with Michael. I got so soaked that I had to completely change clothes. We didn't make it back to Seattle as early as we had intended, though. I got to work at about 3:30 pm and I don't think people were too happy with me that day.
Later, when Mechanic asked me if I liked the trip, I told him it was like a fantasy. I had never stayed in a place so nice, never been on a boat like that before, and had never gone on a trip like that before with friends. It was a blast. Thank you, Mechanic, because you made it happen. He totally financed that trip, which was very generous of him. These are memories I will treasure the rest of my life.
~Paisley Blue
|
|
http://www.oocities.org/paisley_blue/jour/02/072402.html
Contact
webmaster @ paisley_blueATyahoo.com
|
|
