McDreamy, Fraiser, and a Cup O'Joe

There are towns in the Pacific Northwest that experience an entirely new kind of isolation. I"m talking isolation, isolation. Vastly different from the small town life that says "hy, lets go drive an hour to see a movie... or better yet, Walmart" (shout out to all you Rolling Fork folks out there!). No, these towns find themselves, when winter comes and the snow falls, tucking in to hibernate. Such is the case with Ocean Park, a small sleepy town we visited because Dad recalled seeing a little general store there on tv (if you build it... and put it on TV... we will come). I think we spent an hour wandering the aisels for any anomalies worth giving a try. And boy did we find some things. This little store was designed to provide for anything Ocean Parkers might need or possibly think they might need- and there was merchandise there that dated back to the 1970s, not because it was a "vintage" throw back but because they stocked the product in 1970 and no one has bought it yet. Aside from all the tin Scooby-Doo and Bonanza lunch boxes and Anti-Monkey Butt powder, we found many things with which to satisfy our curiousity: Moxie Cola, Pot- o-Gold chocolate cups, Mallow Cups, and... Flake! In case you haven't sampled it (and I'm sure many of you haven't) Flake is one of the yummiest chocolates out there simply because of its unique texture. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Flake outside of the UK, except for Ocean Park, Washington. Who'd a thunk?

Aside from Isolation, there is another issue Pacific North westerners deal with: volcanoes. Mount St. Helens, I think might have been one of my favorite stops on our trip. Many of you know the story of the 1980 eruption. I mean the story has a little taste of everything, suspense, tragedy, adventure... It has captured my imagination.


Also, did you know that Mt. St. Helens is a part of the Pacific Volcanic Arch? and that many of the mountains in the area are volcanoes including Mount Rainier. Indeed, Mount Rainier is listed as one of the 16 Decade Volcanoes- a list of the 16 most dangerous volcanoes with regards to loss of life and property pending an eruption. From my understanding the things that scores Rainier her spot is her proximity to Tacoma and Seattle, both of which could suffer devastating consequences if Rainier were to erupt to the same intensity St. Helens did. This calls to my attention a very important question I want an answer for. You know all those movies about natural disasters and volcanoes erupting and destroying Los Angelos? Why is it never Seattle where the story line could actually be plausible. Would that not be more suspenseful?


Mount Rainier is one of the reasons we visited Washington in August. In the winter (which sometimes creeps into May) many of the roads close due to snow. And let me tell you snow + driving up the side of mountains= not a good combination. But even so, there was snow on the ground. The drive was beautiful, and we even stopped by to take a short jaunt through the woods (no snake, ticks or spiders webs- oh happy day!)

Before heading to Seattle, I had Dad take us on a quick detour over the infamous Tacoma Narros Bridge. Built in 1940, the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the third longest suspension bridge at the time, lasted only 4 months before succumbing to the vibrations created by the strong winds across the water. Ever seen the video?



The original bridge is now an artificial reef and the new bridge looks like this!

In Seattle (which we all know I now cannot move to because of the impending apocalyptic volcanic disaster) we fulfilled our desire to visit the least known/ cared about/ visited National Park Service Sites in America by visiting the National Klondike Gold Rush Historic Site Seattle Unit ( in lieu of the Alaska Unit) and took Daddy to a Mariners game (which they actually won 5-4 over Boston). But let me tell you, the best part was Mecca. Ok, not the Mecca, but close enough. The original Starbucks is located on the North end of Pike Place Market- a shopping district crammed full of vendors, street performers, and shoppers. Du woop music fills the air while the aroma of fresh seafood mixes with flowers. Starbucks was a mad house with a line out the door and barely room to turn, but after we got our coffees (yummy, yummy coffee) we wandered and looked, which as you know by now, we are masters at. We tasted unbelievable crab, watched the guys at the fish market throw mackerel over everyone's heads and did a bit of shopping ourselves. My terrific find of the trip? An original 1863 copy of the New York Tribune detailing the breaking news of the surrender of Vicksburg.



That was teh last hurrah of vacation. It's hart to pin point a favorite part, but I'm most thankful for the "boring" moments: walking through a grocery store, driving across a bridge just because we can, an watching men throw fish across a market. So few people would enjoy that with me, but honestly, those are thie stories that make life truly interesting.