Annnnd we're back!

Since I don't know who's reading my blog I don't say I'm leaving town until I come home.

And here I am.

We left on Wednesday, April 1 for our annual coastal getaway. Drove to Depoe Bay, home of practically nothing commercial, lots of ocean views, beaches and whales and seals and sea lions.

My mom and dad have a time share, and I pay the cleaning fees and points etc every year for our anniversary trip and we stay in a condo at the beach.

Every year, we plan our trip around work. We don't want to inconvenience the people we work for/with. Both of us have a work ethic that makes it almost impossible to just take time off. Every year it's two or three days. A long weekend.

And we are so sorry to leave the beach and come back home. All that effort to pack up our stuff, plan meals, remember this and that... and come back home and put it all away. After only three days. ::sigh:::

Not this time, though.

Almost the only time I've had off over the last six years has either been to be sliced and diced due to work injuries/recovery or illness, also due to my job. I work in the middle of a germ factory, and it's always at top production.

I earn a certain amount of vacation time each year, and if I don't use it, I lose it. After what I've gone through for my job, I think that would be a crappy thing, too. To lose that vacation time.

So eleven months ago, we made this year's reservation.
No regrets about taking the time off, either.

We perched on the cliffs overlooking Depoe Bay for six nights and seven days.

I took a lot of photos, which I will bore you with a few at a time over the next few weeks or so.

We got home about 2:30 this afternoon. Plenty of time to put the bathroom supplies away, change the bed, run a load of laundry, unpack suitcases, build a nice fire in the woodstove (it was COLD in this house!!!) and do this and that.

One of the things I cooked while we were at the beach was a big dish of lasagna. We didn't eat all of it, so I cut it into big squares and froze those squares in individual bags with the Food Saver. I will have some nice lunches.

I drink a smoothie every morning, and one of the ingredients is always a banana. There were two of them left this morning, but they didn't like the journey home very much, so I needed to whip them up this evening. They would have been banana soup if I left them out all night. :)

I put the smoothies into shaker jars, and now I have breakfast for Wednesday and Thursday already made.

It will be nice to get back to my kids, but I have to admit that we really had a wonderful time. Can't wait until next year. Because we are definitely doing this again. :)

Harbor Seals
Our little cove was full of them at low tide.

The view from the balcony across the little cove.

When I walked down to see them, they all looked at me. This little one was very interested in me and watched me the whole time.

There were Canadian Geese all over the place. And great piles of goose shit on the lawn. You must step with care while you're there.