Art & Beer

Before I went to Cabo San Lucas for my vacation this last winter I had only ever gone to the not so nice places of Mexico. Tijuana and Ensenada.I wasn't expecting Cabo to be anything like those places, but I figured there would definitely be some similarities that the entirety of Mexico shared. One being awful roads. When I went to Mexico as a kid, we went with our church and built houses for a week. Each day we treked from where we were staying to the place that we were building at. The roads had everyone's toilet matter running down the side of it, and the roads were full of potholes and lacking actual concrete or blacktop.

When we left the airport in Cabo in search of our car that was being stored across the street, the roads appeared to be fairly well maintained. I thought for sure this wouldn't continue, it was merely a trick to play on people and that once they left the nearby area it would be back to dirt roads full of pot holes the size of a small child. As we pulled out of the car lot and towards our digs I kept waiting for that drop-when the good road ran out and the other road started. Except it never came. All that ever crossed beneath our car's tires was fairly new blacktop.

As we continued to cruise on down to our residence for the next week we passed by a place that sat right on the side of this nicely paved highway. I fell in lust with this place the moment I stepped in side, and in love with it the moment I took my first sip of bloody mary. I had no idea that a place like this existed in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the road. When we went in, the owner told us that it has taken him seventeen years to get everything built and created for this art gallery/bar that sits in the desert. I would have been fine spending most of my vacation here.

Vacation Recap: The Digs

Hola!

It's been a hot minute since I've posted a blog entry, but I'm coming back at you with a post containing lots of jealousy inducing photos. I recently took a much needed week long vacation to Mexico. It was everything I needed in a vacation: sun, warmth, boozy drinks, hammocks, massages, sailing, guacamole, and yoga (to name a few!). Today I am showing you a little bit of where I laid my head down every night (Spoiler: it was like falling into a cloud every night I got into bed).

Leaving Oregon

On Veteran's Day I woke up early and began packing up my things. My little mini getaway was coming to an end. We took one more early morning walk, turned on the fireplace and brewed up a pot of coffee to get the day going. It would be a long drive back to Seattle.

I didn't once get lonely or bored when I was on this trip. I think it's a mighty fine quality to have too! To be able to spend time with yourself and fully enjoy it.

In the Middle of Nowhere, Continued.

I awoke early this morning, but I was actually ok with it for once. The doggie dog slept on top of the bed with me for the entire night which made me happy to know that there would be no surprises found in the cabin when I got out of bed. The dog and I went out for a morning walk shortly after the sun came up. It was chilly this morning, our breath showing the signs that winter is fast approaching. I stumbled out into the desolate resort area wearing blue sweat pants, my burgundy university sweatshirt, and thick fuzzy socks shoved into my gray TOMS. It made me even happier at 6:30 in the morning because I knew no one was awake to witness my stylish outfit. When we got back to the cabin I immediately started a fire (and by “started” I mean adjusted the thermostat so the fire place would turn on), and put some coffee on.

My absolute favorite thing to do when I don’t have to work is to sit around all morning and drink coffee while reading or watching tv. I’m so rushed during the week because I wait til the very last possible minute to get out of bed, and therefore don’t even eat breakfast til I get to work so being able to lounge and do these things is a complete luxury. I read some of my book club book and watched a few episodes of New Girl until the Wi-Fi started to annoy me. When I was sufficiently satisfied with my coffee intake I got dressed and the dog and I headed to Sisters, OR.







It’s a small little town about ten miles away from where I’m staying. It’s full of cutesy shops on a small street front. I took a few photos, looked at a few shops, and then headed back to the cabin.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. I went on a walk and got some great photos. After I got back from Sisters it was relaxing time in the form of more New Girl Episodes, steak dinner, and Risky Business. I leave tomorrow morning, and I am a little sad. It has been so refreshing to get away for a few days and be by myself. The whole experience has been good for the soul. Having the chance to play around with my new camera in such beautiful surroundings has been cathartic. Having a doggy to keep me company has been comforting, and having the open road in front of me with the music blasting has been empowering. I’ve realized that most people don’t take enough time away for themselves, and that this time I do have for myself might not last forever. One day I may find someone who I do want to settle down with and start a life, and when that happens I don’t want to look back and wish I had taken more time for me when I had the opportunity.

Getting away, by myself

Currently I’m sitting on a couch, wine glass on the coffee table, and Teen Witch on the TV. I spent the better part of today driving far, far away from Seattle. I’m not going to lie: these past few weeks (or even months) have been rough. Both my personal life and work life have experienced some major upheavals. I needed a break, but I haven’t been able to take one due to reasons I had no control over. I started to feel really suffocated and stressed out. All that changed this weekend though. It’s a long weekend and I decided two weeks ago that this would be the weekend that I would get away. At first I thought I would fly somewhere warm and lay by a pool for a few days sipping margaritas and reading my kindle. When flight prices weren’t to my liking, I changed my plan. Upon perusal of the deal sites I found an awesome deal on a cabin in central Oregon. It was two nights for the price of one in a cabin that sleeps five people and it was going to be all mine.  Some major “me” time was in order. 

I packed up the car, stole my mom’s cute pup and hit the open road. It was a long drive, but it was broken up by coffee stops, and doggy potty stops. As I got further and further away from Seattle, I felt myself relax a bit. I also noticed myself realizing how off the beaten track this place was going to be. I started to think about how people live so far away from a large city. I’ve always lived within twenty minutes of I-5, and as far as I can tell, the closest thing to a larger city in these parts is a two hour drive.

My whole plan for these few days was to do things I don’t get to do that often or never have time to do. I bought a new fancy schmancy DSLR last week. I used to be really into photography pre digital times. I learned how to develop black and white film in a dark room. I also had a photo of mine featured in a local gallery back home. I’m no pro at this digital camera stuff, but it’s something I want to explore and I figured I could get some great practice in while I’m down here. Get ready for photo overloadJ. I also plan on getting some reading done. I’m behind on my Good Reads goal for the year and that bums me out. I was doing so good for most of the year and then fell behind. Drinking wine while watching movies is another planned task of this long weekend, which doesn’t need any further explanation if you ask me! 

Also, who knew you could get wi-fi in the sticks, but not cell service? It’s shoddy at best, but it’s kind of nice to have when I thought I wouldn’t have internet at all. You still might not see this post til I’m back in Sea town because of the quality of internet..

Things I learned while in Norway

Norway was my first experience of traveling abroad. I have done Canada and Mexico, but no other countries. I have been stuck on this continent for way too long. I researched a bit before I flew over to Norway to see what the country would be like. I was extremely relieved to discover that most all Norwegians speak English. That little tid bit alone made me feel a lot better. The fact that I would be able to communicate with the citizens on my first ever travel abroad trip was comforting. It was almost as if I was dipping my toes into the water and warming up as opposed to just jumping head first into the pool. 

I thought that it would be very fitting to start out my posts of Norway talking about the things I learned while I was there. Feel free to add yours to the comment section if you have traveled to this Scandinavian country, I'd love to hear them!

1. America is all over Oslo. (at least where food is concerned) They cannot deny it. First, there are 7-11s everywhere! I was told it's the best place to get coffee. It is considered to be the fast food of Oslo. It resembles our 7-11's here, but nicer. They love their bacon wrapped hot dogs in too. I didn't partake, but theirs did look a lot more appealing than American 7-11 dogs. One of their dogs is called a Hell Dog. "Looks like hell, but tastes like heaven." Yeaaah, not the advertising I want to read before eating my hot dog. Burger kings and McDonalds are also very prevalent. I avoided both but noticed them frequently when I was out exploring. They love the Body Shop. I didn't even realize this place still existed! There was like three in the airport and another five around the Oslo city area. I saw multiple HUGE TGIFridays restaurants which is crazy because they went bankrupt in America. Maybe that's how they stay afloat, pushing American style restaurants in other countries. Norway is pretty Americanized when it comes to food.

2. Things are EXPENSIVE. You can't find beer for less than $15 a pint. Meals are at least $25 at a sit down resturaunt. Delis and kebab places are a bit cheaper. See that picture above? Yeah, that is a lamb stew. I had that along with two Guinness beers for lunch one day and it was $56 American dollars!! PBR type beer over there was around $12 a pint. Good beer started at $15 a pint. If you do find yourself over here, make sure you've saved up some funds because you're likely to drop a significant amount on food alone.

3. Which means NO TIPPING. Everyone in Norway is salaried so they don't need tips. They aren't struggling workers being paid nothing so hey, the one bonus of dropping big bucks on food. You don't have to stress about adding a tip on top of it!

3. Although food and booze is expensive, health care isn't! If you get hurt, it'll cost you $40. If you have pnuemonia it'll be $40 to see a doctor. If you need open heart surgery it will be $40 to fix ya. Not a bad price at all. Norway is a socialist country so that's one of the bonuses.

4. Everyone speaks English. Kind of awesome because they come up to you and start speaking norwegian and then you say I'm sorry, I speak only english. Then they say "Oh no big deal, just tell me. I have no problem with that"

5.The public transportation is AWESOME. I rode around norway by plane, train, bus, tram and ferry. Only once was I asked to see my ticket. I guess they're pretty lax about that stuff here. If you just hop on public transportation, there are no questions asked they just expect that you paid. Honor system to the degree the US would never have.

6. I have never felt so safe. Oslo is a cute little city filled with cobblestone walkways and gorgeous old brick and stone buildings. You almost feel like you're on the set of a movie because it is so different than everyday American surroundings. Oslo's biggest crimes revolve around pick pocketing and ID fraud. Heck, Norway doesn't even feel that their Army needs to be that big. They only have enough people in the Norwegian military so that they can defend their country until back up arrives to help them. When I heard this I couldn't help but laugh. Can you even imagine?!