LOST CAT

Cherry Blossom has gone missing. She has been staying with Nana & Papa and appeared to be very comfortable at their house, but she did not return the other night. Tonight will make two full days that she has been gone.

Although she goes outdoors, Cherry is very much a house-cat. She is well-loved by all of us and Benny, and always received plenty of loving. We have visited the animals almost every day, but I’m afraid that we will never see her again.

Cherry has been with us since the spring of 2004, and has lived with us in Hawaii, Seattle, and now Chula Vista (though we have been staying in IB) so Ty and I think it’s more likely that something’s happened to her than she’s run away because of the move.

I’ve posted ads, printed up some signs to post around the ‘hood, checked with the animal shelters… but I know it’s all in vain. Poor Sabrina.

first day of school

Today was the first day of school for both girls. Sabrina is attending Nana’s school, the same school Ty attended as a child. Annelise attends a Headstart with an enrollment of 842, split between am and pm classes.

Katchafire (again)

We saw Katchafire play at Snoqualmie Casino in April and were excited to hear they’d be playing in San Diego when we expected to be in town…

We’ve been wanting to bring the kids to a show because when the band played in Kona we only had Annelise; Sabrina was spending the night at April’s. Unfortunately, the band’s only played 21 and up venues in the mainland cities we’ve been in. Last night, they played at Canes in Mission Beach.

I kind of blew it with my timing. I thought there were only two bands, and knew that doors opened at 8pm, so I assumed they’d go on around 10:30. Unfortunately, that was when the first band (Natural Vibrations) started, and, by the time Katchafire started their set at 11:30, Sabrina, Annelise, and Aries had fallen asleep in the sand. Sabrina did wake up for a couple of songs in the beginning and a couple in the end, and said that they sounded the same live as on their cd, but it would be nice to have them play an all ages and/ or at an earlier (family friendly) hour.

Cane’s has to keep a side door open, probably a fire code, and it gives someone standing on the boardwalk a direct view of the stage, so we sat on the sea wall and enjoyed the entire show for free. Katchafire was, as expected, awesome. Leon Davey ripped it up on the harmonica; my infatuation with him was reaffirmed.

Imperial Beach Municipal Code 10.36.180

We’ve been in San Diego less than two weeks and already I’ve accumulated $100 in parking tickets: Restricted Parking- Street Sweeping. Welcome to IB.

Funny how it doesn’t occur to me, when there’s an empty spot in front of Tyler’s, that it’s probably Sunday, the night before the first or third Monday on one side of the street, or the second or fourth on the opposite, between 7am and 11. I’m just stoked to find parking.

The worst part is that the penalty is $50 within ten days, $60 within thirty, and $100 thereafter. Or maybe the worst part is that we leave every morning at 7:25. Twenty-five measely minutes. Thanks, Mr. Officer.

Funny how things work out

Originally, we’d planned to stay with my parents until it cooled down long enough to fly the animals back to the island. Ty was going to help Breck fix up his Kona house and when it was done, we were going to occupy it. Of course, with the way things are still going with the economy, none of this was concrete. In fact, we only just found out yesterday that Breck will be leaving for Kona on Wed, so it would be accurate to say that we really didn’t have a plan beyond arriving in SD. We thought it would be great to stay at my parents’ as long as they’d have us, which would help us to save some money, hopefully pay off some bills, who knows.

Unfortunately, not 24 hours in San Diego, my dad told Ty that he is not welcome to stay at their house, only visit the girls and me there. Of course, we all left immediately, but now we are homeless and broke, having spent all of our money moving our stuff to SD. We have no money to rent a place of our own while we’re here, nor the means to get back to the island to our own place. The pets can stay until we’re ready to move here somewhere more permanent… Wherever that will be…

I really did leave my heart in San Francisco

I enjoyed that extra day in Astoria but it meant that we could only spend one night in SF and, oh, man, was I sad to leave. I miss that city SO MUCH.

It was really nice to see Lee and meet his girl, Lai. They let us sleep at their apartment in Daly City; we arrived before Lily Cafe closed. I got my usual, chicken won ton soup, but Lee crossed over to beef noodle. Ty got mussels and Lai got shrimp, and I ordered pork fried rice for the table but I think I’m the only one who ate any. I have no idea how much the meal cost because Lee refused to let me anywhere near the bill.

Their apartment was such a blessing after spending the night before in the very worst motel Crescent City has to offer. We had no idea. We were just looking for an inexpensive place that allowed dogs. Let me just say: I do not recommend the Town House Motel. Ew.

After sleeping in until 9 or 10, feeling at home at my homeboy’s, we brought the dog to Fort Funston, something I’ve been wanting to do for her since she joined our family. Fort Funston is the best dog park ever. We then stopped in Pacifica, hoping to find another friend, also named Lee, and to have coffee at the little place we enjoyed regularly when we lived there. The barista just happened to be a Kona girl! Unfortunately, Lee was nowhere to be found.

We’d originally planned to hop onto the 5 and get to SD as fast as possible but we were too tempted by the 1. It was beautiful but after driving 15-20 mi/ hour for hours, we were ready to switch over to the 101 which was not possible for several more hours. We stretched an 8 hour trip into nearly 12, but we finally made it.

If things work out to where we stay in SD for awhile, I’d love to bring the girls up to the Bay Area for a weekend. Part of me wishes we could live there again.

Goonies never say die!

Instead of leaving this morning after check-out, I called the front desk and let them know we’d be staying another night. We’d gone for a walk last night and didn’t want to leave Astoria without enjoying the town in its waking hours.

Today was the Astoria Sunday Market, which we walked by but skipped on our way to the Flavel House which is directly across the street from the County Jail seen in the movie, The Goonies. After we paid the $5 admission ($4 if you’re a AAA member) to the mansion-museum, we walked over to Data’s and Mikey Walsh’s houses. If we’d had Sabrina and Annelise, the 2 1/2 mi would’ve been too much, even with all the blackberries, cherries, and apples to snack on along the way. (We only picked blackberries.) Ty and I enjoyed all the beautiful homes and the view of the Columbia River from Franklin Street. Astoria is an adorable, tourist-friendly, historical town with super friendly locals (so friendly that one guy just happened to have a dog biscuit in his pocket for Benny, but no dog of his own- not in a creepy way, either) and a bunch of attractions (museums, gift shops, shopping, nature) if you’re into that sort of thing.

We walked along the waterfront on our way back, let Benny check out the sea lions, and stopped at a restaurant for lunch. Benny was so exhausted that she laid down during the whole meal, even when a golden retriever entered the outdoor dining area. There were a ton of dogs about town, and she got to meet many of them. Not sure if they’re locals or tourists, but, despite the occassional bag dispenser set out by the city, there were a lot of poop-piles along the way. Gross.

The extra day cost us almost $200 more than we would’ve spent had we headed out this morning, but we really needed the break from the road, even though it’s only been two days. Or maybe I just needed the rest, after working and packing and cleaning for the last who knows how many days.

My only regret is that I didn’t take a photo of our dog in front of the Goonies house.

The Goonies house is up the gravel driveway at the far end of the street.

Aloha, Washington!

We left Sequim just before 11am and did, in fact, skip La Push, because Ty didn’t want to drive the Uhaul up that hill. Considering how much gas we’re burning, I couldn’t argue. We stopped in Forks in search of the Bella bracelet I’d wanted to see before ordering for Sabrina, but Lappell’s was out, so we stocked up on snacks at the Thriftway and headed south.

We meandered along the 101 and 109 and eventually made it to Aberdeen where we picked up the 104 to Astoria. Amazing sites. Adorable towns. But you have to wonder why people live in some of them.

We found a cheap motel that allows dogs, called the Lamplighter Inn. Including the pet fee and tax, it’s $110 for the night. No hot tubs or anything, but a decent, cheap motel with a fridge, microwave and super nice front desk lady. Coffee, tea, chips & salsa in the lobby; games and puzzles, and a continental breakfast in the morning. We’ll probably skip breakfast, though, and build up appetites for oysters since every town for the last two hours has claimed to be known for them.

So far, the only bad thing is the noisy flock of sea birds across the street. The front desk lady thought they were some kind of tern, and speculated that their arrival (last week or so) might be indicative of some sort of mating season.

on the road again

We were up until 3am on the 31st, and still hadn’t finished getting all our stuff into the Uhaul. We’d rented a 5X8 trailer for $190/ 6 days but the nice manager gave us an extra day free of charge at my request. We had to buy and have a hitch installed, and buy the ball to secure the trailer, amounting to $400. Not cheap, but cheaper than renting a truck and towing the car on a trailer. We don’t have enough stuff to justify the need for a truck anyway, but we have too much to easily access the Vespa for cruising purposes during this trip.

I’d told our landlord that we’d be gone by noon because he was starting to irritate me with his micromanaging in our last couple of weeks. We’d paid $750 in nonrefundable fees, in addition to first and last month’s rent (the first month I only paid half since we didn’t actually move in until the second) but nothing was collected as a refundable deposit, so we really had no incentive to clean the place at all. Of course, we couldn’t leave the house thrashed, so we did a bang-up job on things like the fridge, oven, bath, toilet… But we didn’t do the outside of the windows nor have the carpet shampooed. $750 is a lot of money to not get back. Anyway, for these reasons, I didn’t want to run into him, so we got up early, finished packing, and were determined to be gone by noon. The house looked great, though, considering.

I didn’t have the room for the girls’ clothes that I was trying to liquidate for gas money, so I’d asked Mary Lou to donate them to the Ballard Food Bank which accepts these donations Tue-Thu. She agreed, and we all had breakfast together at The High Life. (Yum.)

We were back at the house just after noon, and on the road minutes later. Since Ty was born on Whidbey Island, I wanted to take the Mukilteo Ferry to Clinton. We didn’t spend any touristy time on the island, though, and instead took a scenic drive over to the Keystone Ferry. Because the ferry was so small, our wait was in the neighborhood of 3-4 hours. I napped, Ty fished, and Benny was attacked by two pitbulls that jumped through their owner’s car window to get at her. Fortunately, the fight was over quickly with no injuries, and Benny played with a labrador puppy and adult Jack Russel she met on the beach.

I looked forward to Port Townsend, and, as we approached, our excitement grew. Beautiful historical town cohabitated by people and deer which were everywhere. Since we hadn’t planned on arriving so late, I hadn’t made hotel arrangements, and, by the time we arrived (nearly 9pm) nothing affordable was available. We considered camping (sleeping in our car) at the Fairgrounds, but decided to drive to the next town instead.

We called around for dog-friendly accommodations but places were either too expensive or had no vacancy. We pulled in to the Great House Motel in Sequim, and, as I hesitated when I realized that I wouldn’t be able to easily get out of the parking lot with the trailer, we were approached by an Asian guy who, clearly, Engrish is his second ranguage, and who was working at the Sushi restaurant apparently owned by the same people. He had me checked in before I knew it ($71 including tax); I was tired, it was late; I didn’t bother to ask about their policy on dogs.

We’d parked at the street side of the parking lot, and our room was clear on the other side, so we had to walk Benny in sight of the workers at the restaurant which is located directly accross from the office, but no one noticed her.

Ty and I had planned to get settled in the room and then have some sushi and drinks in the restaurant, but, once inside, I saw the rules posted on the wall: #5 No pets allowed in the room at any time, and then No Refunds if you are asked to leave. So I sent Ty with my order, and stayed to keep Bendog company (aka from barking, as she surely would, if left alone in an unfamiliar room.) $25 for unagi, spicy tuna, and one beer. Expensive.

I don’t really feel bad about having the dog in the room. The floors are wood, not carpet, but even if they were, I had given Benny a CapStar before we left, so she should be pretty flea-free. Also, though she has a doggy smell, they’ve got one of those Plug-Ins in this tiny little 300 sq ft (give or take) room, so no other smell could possibly compete. I guess we’ll have to drop the key off before I take her out of the room so I don’t have to hear about it if anyone sees her. I seem to be in the habit of avoiding confrontation.

Side note: The workers who look adorable in their kimonos and hapi coats, working at a sushi restaurant, are NOT Japanese, but Korean. Sneaky. (I’m trying to justify my dishonesty about having the dog.)

Ty wants to get to Oregon today. I’d hoped to stay in La Push last night, but we didn’t make it that far, and it wouldn’t make sense to lose a whole day of travel just to stay there tonight, so our goal is Astoria, where The Goonies was filmed. We may not even stop in La Push, which makes me a little sad, but I’m sure there are many beautiful places along the way that we’ll get to see. Ty’s right… We’re only 3 hours from Seattle. Our trip hasn’t even begun, really.

Happy Birthday, Sabrina (part 2)

We’re the kind of people who start thinking about what we’re going to be for Halloween next year before our costumes for the current year are even complete, so it goes right along with the fact that we’ve been planning the celebratory events for Sabrina’s birthday since we arrived in Seattle.

As soon as we found out that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be released July 17, it went without saying that we would be watching the movie for her birthday which falls on the 19th. Originally, we’d planned to see it in IMAX at the Pacific Science Center so we looked into nearby restaurants, and found The Old Spaghetti Factory not 5 blocks away on Elliott.

Ty and I are sentimental about the Spaghetti Factory because we’d eaten at the San Diego location for years, at least every December for Manny’s birthday. We were saddened when it shut down when the ballpark was being built. (Curiously enough, we never ate at the Honolulu location, though we’ve frequented Farrell’s at Pearl Ridge for the same nostalgic reasons.)

We now know that Harry Potter won’t be available at IMAX until the 29th and we’re not prepared to wait that long, so we’ll just have to see it twice.

My work schedule this week is nuts. When we returned from La Push, I had Friday off, but worked at TJ’s Sat-Wed, and am scheduled at FS Thursday thru Sunday, Sabrina’s birthday. Ironically, I work a double that day- TJ’s 8am-3pm, and FS 4pm-11pm, not leaving enough time for dinner and the movie.

For this reason, and because Evelyn, whose birthday is exactly one week after Sabrina’s, came to visit, and because Kekoa Guppy, an old IPCS school mate of Sabrina’s is on an 18-day solo Seattle tour (at 9 years old!), is visiting Kirk and Mary Lou for a portion of his trip, we all decided to meet for dinner Monday night, so we met at Spaghetti Factory!

Funny, the prices haven’t changed much. There were 8 of us, but we won’t count Evelyn in the price because she is vegan and only ordered a water because she brought her own food. So for seven meals (3 of them kids’) and 6 wines/ beers and one appetizer, before the tip, the bill was only $100! And you know the meals come with everything- salad, bread, soda (or in Annelise’s and Kekoa’s case, milk) and, everyone’s favorite, spumoni!

Spaghetti Factory only accepts reservations for groups of 10 or more, but they allowed me to call ahead and put my name on the list up to an hour before our arrival. Despite how busy the restaurant was, the wait was short, and the meal was good! They even sang Happy Birthday to Sabrina!