Bachelorette Party Weekend: Packing Up, PDX and Home

After some not-so-great sleep, but got a little bit of sleep, I got up around 8 a.m. because I heard people downstairs thumping around. I used the restroom, got dressed and started packing up my stuff.  I went downstairs and the girls were making the rest of the breakfast we had the day before.  We wanted to eat as much of it as possible, so we didn't have to pack any of it home.  I added the orange I brought to my breakfast ensemble. 

Megan and Fitzy had gone for a walk earlier than morning and were on their way back for breakfast. We ate as much food as we possibly could and packed up the rest.  I told Celeste that Ben would eat the rest of the sausage, so I packed that up in my cooler.  We spent the rest of our time, packing up food, packing up our belongings, shoving everything into the cars and checking off our list the Vrbo owner had us do before we checked out.  We did find some weird stuff in the house while we were cleaning up after ourselves. We had to start a load of towels, closed the windows, adjusted the thermostats and made sure the garbage was out.  I think this is a little excessive since they probably hire someone to clean up after guests, but whatever.

You could tell Erika was done and needed to leave.  I was thankful she made the journey down to spend time with me and my friends.  She needed to get out of the house and be around people.  Who knows, maybe my friends will become her friends for certain gatherings.  I guess we will see.  She was the first to leave the house.  She thanked everyone, made sure she had everything packed up and got in her car.  I told her to text me occasionally to check in and to make sure she got home safely.  She said she would do that.

We all made sure everything was packed up in Megan car and my Escape after one last sweep of the house.  I thanked everyone for everything they did for me that weekend.  I haven't been the center of attention in quite some time and honestly, it felt pretty good.  I am usually the person doing things for everyone else and it was nice to be on the other side of that for a weekend.  

Megan, Celeste and Nicole drove north towards Astoria and Fitzy, and I drove south towards Seaside.  We stopped at the Shell gas station and got gas.  It was super expensive.  $4.45 a gallon!  Megan paid for the gas because she appreciated the ride to the airport.  We hit the Hwy 26 junction and drove east towards Portland.  It's been a while since I was on that highway.  I told Fitzy stories about when I lived in Oregon for a year.  It rained a couple times.  We talked the entire drive about politics, abortion, the wedding, moving, her job, my job, family, etc.  We hit a lot of topics during that two-hour drive, and it was nice to visit with her since I don't get to see her very often because of distance.

We got into Portland around 12:30. The traffic wasn't that bad which was nice. We got to PDX rather quickly.  I thanked her for coming over, she told me she had a great time and thanked me for picking her up and dropping her off.  I helped her get her bags out of the back of the Escape, we gave each other a side hug, she went into the airport, and I drove off.

I got onto 205 and then onto I-5 north.  I chatted with Ben and Mom and hit many rainstorms along the way, which was a bummer, because I wanted to stop and pick up some geocaches.  I didn't want to get soaked so I just went all the way home with no stops.  I got home around 2:45, unpacked the Escape, showered, did some laundry, put stuff away and relaxed for a few minutes.

I got my grocery bags in the Escape, grabbed my list and headed out to go grocery shopping around 4 p.m.  I went to Costco first, bought some comfy slides, and then to Walmart.  I bought a pizza because I was feeling like a pizza.  Ben came home from visiting with his mom, sister and aunt Shelly.  He made himself some meatloaf for dinner.  We watched the Canucks and Predators, ate some pie, I did some internet stuff and folded laundry.

Over the weekend I found four caches and 13 waypoints, hung out with my friends and sister, made tons of memories and it was just...fun.  Plain and simple.

I wrote this post on Facebook, so everyone knew that I have pretty awesome friends.

"Wow, what a weekend!

I would love to take this opportunity to thank my friends and sister for putting together a bachelorette/girls/getaway weekend for me. It was everything I thought it would be and more.

I am not used to people doing things for me, or being the center of attention, as I am usually the planner, arranger, the get stuff done person in most, not all, of the gatherings I am a part of. This includes family and friends. I kinda felt like a bum, but it was good to see what it was like, and feels like, from this end of the experience.

They planned and executed it well. They had the perfect games, food, drinks, snacks and even let me take them geocaching, even though all of them would rather play Pokémon Go, lol. We probably stayed up way too late, later than people normally go to bed, but I loved the laughs and funny memories we will share...and keep sharing, for years to come. I am thankful to have friends like them in my life.

Thank you to Nicole, who helped organize and come up with our fun activities, you always make parties fun and exciting. Awwww yeaahh!

Thank you to Celeste, who helped with planning the menu, cooking and making sure everything was on track, including the itinerary. It was really hard not knowing what was being planned on the secret Facebook event. I pledge allegiance, to the flag...

Thank you to Megan, who helped drive, reserved the house for all of us to share, making food and aided in the planning and execution of the girl's weekend. Oo-De-Lally!

Thank you to Fitzy, who flew out from Spokane to hang out and spend time with all of us, that was quite the journey you took. We will never forget you almost taking out the fridge while pretending to be a magnet.

Thank you to Lindsay, who wasn't able to make it, but she contributed with snacks that she dropped off prior to the weekend.

And, thank you to Erika, who agreed to be my maid of honor, even though she is 8 months pregnant. You were a trooper!"

Next Adventure:  Trish Finally Retires! 

Bachelorette Party Weekend: Seaside, Geocaching, Dinner, Bonfire and Games

I got up in the middle of the night because I had to use the restroom.  I am so so so thankful I brought my earplugs because I could hear Nicole snoring through the door.  Thank you, past Val, for packing them in your backpack!  High five!

I was woken up by the super early morning risers but managed to sleep in until about 7:30. I got ready for the day and went downstairs to hang out with Celeste and Megan who were making food.  Fitzy was out running; Erika was hanging out and Nicole was still sleeping, but not for much longer.  

The kitchen got busy with the clanking of pots and pans and packages of food being opened.  Remember that stick of butter I brought just in case?  It did come in super handy.  Celeste asked if anyone brought some spray, butter or oil and no one did.  Sometimes Airbnb's, Vrbo's and rentals have stuff like that in the cupboards, but this one didn't.  I spoke up and told I brought a stick of butter.  Celeste and Megan were relived and thanked me for bringing it or the food would have been ruined because the pots and pans were not the best quality. They prepared a full breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage, toast and fruit.

Fitzy wasn't back yet, so I texted her to let her know that food was almost ready.  She said she was on her way back to the house.  We ate, carried on and thanked the girls for making us food.  It hit the spot.  We all pitched in to clean up the dining and kitchen area.  We loaded our dishes into the dishwasher and let it run.  We walked down to the corner to the coffee shop.  Everyone got a hot beverage except me; I am not really into tea or coffee.  We walked back to the house.

We all got ready to go into Seaside for the afternoon.  Erika decided to stay behind and guard the house from the couch. 

We all piled into Megan's hamster car, which was a bit snuggy (we didn't want to bring two cars), got onto Hwy 101 south down to Seaside.  It was about a 12-minute drive.  I haven't been to Seaside in quite some time, so I had forgotten how busy it was...even in during the spring.  Trying to find a parking spot was a nightmare but we eventually found one near one of the free public lots.

We spent a few hours walking around to the many shops, made a bunch of 420 jokes, we took pictures, they let me geocache and do a couple of Adventure Labs, it was super windy, but we had a lot of fun hanging out together.  I am glad I dressed for the occasion.  I found the virtual cache, The Explorers (GC9P66E) and all I had to do was take a picture of myself with the statue of Lewis and Clark.

We had way too much fun walking into the shops.  A few of us purchased things here and there.  I know Ben hates it when I bring home a new stuffed animal every time I go somewhere.  This time I bought a stuffed seagull.  Yes, it even made the seagull noise.  It was awesome.  We needed to get back to the house so before we left, we hit up the large saltwater taffy shop because, you know, it's not a beach trip without saltwater taffy.

I knew Erika wanted some and wasn't sure if she was going to be able to visit the shop when we came back for dinner, so I gave her a call and systematically grabbed a couple pieces of the kinds she wanted.  It took a while, but it was fun learning about all the fun flavors.  We paid for our taffy and wandered back to Megan's car.  It was a quick drive back to the house up Hwy 101.  Erika said it was nice to hang out and get some reading in.

We had a few hours to kill before dinner, so the rings were hidden again, and we went around the house looking for them.  I found more this time than I did the first time.  Some were hidden very well.  I'm sure we left some behind that other guest will be finding for years.  Nicole, Fitzy and Erika stayed behind while Celeste, Megan and I walked to the beach.  There was a cache I wanted to grab, Beware of Rip Currents (GC5MMJH).  I knew where it was, and I had them try to find it.  I told them it was in plain sight.  I played hot, warm and cold with them, but they eventually found it.  I wrote my name on it and put it back.  They thought it was a clever hide. 

We walked onto the beach for a brief few minutes to take in the view and the amazing fresh beach air.  Then we started back; it was super windy.  I was so glad Celeste brought a bag because we walked past several pine trees and saw there were tons of pinecones.  We needed pinecones for wedding decorations!  We all picked up the good ones and filled the bag as full as we could make it.  

We walked to the small RV store to purchase firewood for the pit.  Celeste went in and she came back out and told Megan and I that if she was about to star in a scary movie - being inside that little store was the perfect setting - she said even the guy at the register was creepy.  We grabbed our two bundles of wood and made our way back to the house.  

We got there just in time because a rain squall made its way through the area.  We hung out and we talked about wedding plans.  I went through the schedule and answered questions if anyone had any.  The bridesmaids talked about their shoes and dresses. 

As it approached our dinner reservations, we all got ready to go.  We took two cars this time because we were not going to be able to cram everyone in Meagan's car.  Erika and Fitzy rode with me and Celeste and Nicole rode with Megan.  We got onto Hwy 101 and drove south to Seaside again.  This time there were more parking spots to choose from.  We parked as close to the main drag in town as possible.  We all got out and walked the short distance to Finn's Fish House.

Celeste had secured us a reservation so we would have a table when we arrived.  We were seated right away, and our drinks were ordered.  I had water, Erika had a soda and an Italian soda, Megan had a coke, Fitzy had a beer, Celeste had a margarita and Nicole had a Russian.  They were delivered and we were all ready for food.  I got a fish and chips, Erika had chowder, fries and a salad, Megan had tuna poke, Fitzy had a beat salad with soup, Celeste had fish tacos and shared steamed clams with Nicole, and she also had a crab patty and fries.  The food was delicious, and we had some great conversations over dinner.  They paid for my food, which was generous of them, and we left.  We walked around town for a little bit and then got back into the cars and drove back to the house.

We rolled down the driveway and we all noticed an eagle eating a fish near the bank of the "pond" near the house.  We all spent probably 20 minutes watching him rip up the fish.  It was pretty cool.  

We gave the evening a few more minutes and then we piled into Megan's car again, Erika stayed behind, and rolled up to the beach so we could watch the sunset.  It was cold, the clouds were in the way but, it was an amazing moment to share with my friends. I am so thankful to have them in my life. We got a few pictures and hopped back in the car because the wind was cold!

We got back to the house and settled in for the night.  Just after it got dark, I went out and started the fire in the pit.  Celeste helped me put chairs out for everyone.  Everyone grabbed their drink, blanket and sweatshirts and we hung out by the fire pit sharing stories and hanging out. As it approached 10 p.m., we put the fire out safely and went inside.  There, we had the penis cakes Erika made, followed by penis straws, sashes and games.  Erika played one game with us, Bachelorette Party, before heading to bed for the night.  We learned a lot about each other that we already didn't know. 

Don't Laugh, was another game that was absolutely hilarious.  We had to do things in certain situations trying to get everyone else to laugh. We laughed so hard when Fitzy ran at the refrigerator pretending to be a magnet.  It was awesome and totally threw us off guard!  We cleaned up, settled down around midnight.  I showered and got to bed about 1:30. I made sure I had my ear plugs!

Next Adventure:  Bachelorette Party Weekend:  Packing Up, PDX and Home

Bachelorette Party Weekend: Vancouver, PDX, Astoria, Sunset Beach

I started thinking about this event about a month after Ben proposed because I knew my friends would want to know what was going to happen.  It seemed like it would be easy to plan but it wasn't.  Early fall of 2023 two situations complicated the bachelorette party, so I had to figure out when we could do it to eliminate more complications. 

I started talking to each of my friends to see if they were interested in going to a bachelorette party and what weekend we could do it, however two of the people I wanted to invite were pregnant and were both due in May.  I had to have the bachelorette party before May to avoid them wanting to bring their newborns with them.  It is disrespectful and inappropriate to even consider bringing babies or children to bachelorette parties.  But then it got even more complicated to which that person decided it would be easier just not to go.

That winter, my friends created a private Facebook event that I wasn't invited to because it was a surprise.  There, they threw around ideas and eventually planned the entire thing on there.  They asked me things here and there but didn't give anything away.  All I had to do was take the long weekend off, bring my belongings and pick up and drop off Fitzy at PDX.  I let them know that I was able to do that and to see everyone in Oregon.

Fitzy gave me her flight information and we agreed that I would be there to get her.  The night before, I did laundry, finished up the chores, packed up all of my stuff and made sure it got into the Escape.  I knew we were going to be at the beach, and it will most likely be cold, so I brought a lot of warm clothes.  I even threw in the air popper and a stick of butter just in case we had time for popcorn.  Little did I know that the stick of butter would come in super handy later on.

That morning, Ben got up and went to work, I got up shortly after. I fed the kitties, got ready and finished putting my stuff into the Escape.  I grabbed a bagel for the road.  I left around 7:50, noticed it was going to be a nice day and stopped to get gas at the Arco on Yelm Highway.   I followed some lame people all the way to I-5 on Tumwater Blvd.  I was glad to get away from them once I merged onto the freeway. I decided to chat with Erika on my way to Vancouver.  She had the day off and was getting her stuff done and packed before she also drove down that afternoon.  We talked about various things on the way down.  It made the trip go by quicker.  

I got down there earlier than I thought I would, so I drove over to WSU Vancouver to enjoy the rare, beautiful spring day.  I got into Vancouver before Fitzy got on her airplane in Spokane. We checked in and she said she was boarding her flight and to see me in about an hour.  I told her I will be at PDX to pick her up.  I found the correct road I needed to be on, went up the hill and found a parking lot that had a meter with time left on it.  It was for about 45 minutes, and I added a quarter to it to make it an even hour.  I sent an alarm on my phone, so I knew when it was getting close to expiring.  I walked around campus for about 20 minutes and took some photos of Mt. St. Helens because there were some great views of it looking northeast.  Mount Hood also peaked out in the distance to the east.  I also saw that the Vancouver campus added a Cougar Pride statue recently.  I couldn't walk out of there without a picture with it.  I found out later on they had a dedication ceremony scheduled for it on May 9th.  Since Covid, the campus was virtually empty.  I didn't see a lot of students walking around in between classes.

I had about ten more minutes before the Bookie opened so I just hung out until I saw the girl unlock the doors.  I went inside and she welcomed me in.  I browsed the little bookstore and finally found what I was looking for.  I wanted to get Trish a Coug mom T-shirt because she was going to be a Coug mom in July.  I thought it was an appropriate gift. I grabbed one and went to the counter to pay.  I chatted with the girl for a while about the upcoming football schedule and what it was like going to WSU Pullman about 20 years ago.  I even found out that my WSU email address to log on to the school's WiFi still worked. I haven't used that email in a long time. I thanked the girl and walked back to the Escape and hoped it was ticket free since I know I went beyond my allotted time. 

I didn't see a ticket.  I got in and left the campus.  I got onto I-5 and then I merged onto Hwy 14 and then 205.  I was still a little early, so I called Erika and talked to her while I spent some time at the Cascade Station.  She said she was going to try and leave around 1 to head down.  I was glad she decided to come being 8 months pregnant.  I wanted to find a geocache.  Cascade Station is an area east of the airport where you can shop and eat at a variety of restaurants.

I've been to this area a few times while I lived in Oregon.  I found a cache that was easy to access at the Best Buy parking lot.  I had to wait a few minutes for a guy to leave.  I got out and had a hard time locating LPC #2 (GC6WZBC), but I eventually found it!  That wasted about a half hour. 

I continued to the airport and decided to park for $4 and go into the arrivals.  I needed to use the restroom, and I wanted to get the virtual cache, PDX Carpet (GC9P4PQ).  It took a while to find a parking spot, but I eventually got lucky.  I memorized where the Escape was and walked the various hallways to where I needed to be.  Most of the inside of the PDX Airport was under construction.  I found a restroom and did the virtual cache and the Welcome to Portland Adventure Lab.  

As her arrival time approached, I made sure I was at the correct door.  She had no idea I was meeting her at the gate.  I did some people watching and saw this interesting "keep Portland weird" type of person.  It was a tall male, dressed in a neon green, almost a big bird feathery type of tube top dress, green platform shoes, green knee-high socks, a feather boa and he had some wild make up on his face.  I was like, whatever makes him happy.

I saw on the board that her flight arrived.  I waited for her text message.  Within about ten minutes, she called me to let me know she was on her way off the plane and that she would see me outside at the arrivals.  I told her that I was there but didn't say that I was at the gate.  She said that she would see me soon and hung up.  I only had to wait a few minutes before she came through that door.  The look on her face was priceless!  She did not expect me to be at the gate to welcome her to Portland, haha!

She asked why I was at the gate, and I told her because I had to pee and grab the geocache and the Adventure Lab.  She thought that was fair.  She used the restroom before we left to go back to the Escape.  I led the way back to the short-term parking.  We figured out where I was supposed to pay, and we left PDX.  I got onto the 205, missed the exit I needed, turned around and got onto I-5 south to Hwy 30.  We chatted about a lot of stuff, life, jobs, family and other topics, while we drove through Scappoose, St. Helens to Rainier, Oregon. 

Holy cow! I didn't realize how far away Portland was to Astoria.  It was about 95 miles away and roughly took 2 hours to get there. I've done this drive only one other time with family about ten years ago.  It was a long day.  Anyway, we continued catching up as we hit the home stretch into Astoria.  Mom called and checked in for about 10 minutes.  Fitzy had mentioned that she hadn't eaten in a while and was hungry.  I told her that I had a plan to stop at Fort George in downtown Astoria on the way through.  I wanted to try it.  She said it was a great choice because she and Chaise had been there before.

She steered me in the right direction, and we found some free parking on one of the side streets.  We grabbed what we needed and walked down the hill to the front of the building.  We walked inside and perused the drink and food menu.  We got our beers; she had a Tide Land Stout, and I had a Iredale Amber.  It was such a nice day we sat outside at the picnic tables while we chatted and waited for our food.

Our food came out and it looked good.  We inhaled it.  I didn't realize I was that hungry.  I checked in with everyone to see where they were on their travels.  Megan, Celeste and Nicole said they had just gotten to Astoria and Erika said she was a few miles outside of Astoria because she had to stop a few times to use the restroom.  It was understandable since she was eight months pregnant.  Fitzy and I finished our food and beers and offered to pay for mine.  

We got back into the Escape and followed the road to where it connected to Hwy 101 along the coast.  We drove through Warrenton and down to Sunset Beach, where our Vrbo awaited us for the weekend. 

I recognized the car ahead of me, so we followed Erika the rest of the way to the house.  It was a blue two-story house that sat next to Neacoxie Creek.  The creek was more of a lake in some areas.  Megan, Celeste and Nicole had arrived just minutes before we pulled in.  We all unloaded our vehicles, got the kitchen and rooms situated and relaxed for a few minutes.  Nicole, Megan and Celeste, because they didn't have any room in the car on the way down, drove to the nearest grocery store for the rest of the weekend supplies.  It was around 4 p.m. 

Fitzy, Erika and I hung out at the house and shared some stories.  They were gone for less than an hour and I helped them bring in the groceries when they came back.  We settled in again and Nicole announced we were going to play our first game, find the fake engagement rings.  But we didn't have to find them all at once.  We couldn't help it and scoured the house until we thought we found them all.  We played a game similar to the newlywed game.  Nicole had asked Ben some questions about him that I had to get right and vice versa.  We did pretty good and had a lot of laughs at our expense. Nicole worked on the finishing touches of our next game, GooseChase, which was interactive.  She had us all download the app to our phones beforehand. 

Nicole divided us into two teams, it was me and Erika against everyone else, we all logged into the game, and we all went wild.  The game was a mixture of answering questions, doing tasks and collecting things.  We had to document our progress with pictures or by answering questions.  Erika and I breezed through it.  We got stuck on one of the questions because neither of us knew anything about wine. Nicole finally told us the answer and we awaited the final results.  The score was very close.  It all depended on which team found the biggest rock outside.  Erika and I knew we found the biggest one, so we already knew we won.  Nicole announced the winners, and we celebrated!  It was so much fun that I suggested we do it with everyone at some point. Everyone agreed.

Celeste and Megan asked everyone if they were ready for pizza - something I had suggested we have during the bachelorette party weekend - and everyone said they could eat.  We got busy in the kitchen making pizzas.  I went with my boring cheese, olives and pepperoni pizza, lol.  We waited for them to cook, and they were delicious.  We spent some time eating, chatting and hanging out.  We talked about the bridal party stuff, the rehearsal dinner and if anyone had any questions I could answer. 

We cleaned up the kitchen and Fitzy wanted to go take a walk to the beach, so Megan and I joined her.  It wasn't that far from the house.  The funny part was that all of us were prepared with headlamps either in our backpacks or in our cars.  I always have a headlamp in my car for just such occasions.  We got ready to go and headed out.  It was a great walk, and the night was surprisingly warm for a spring night at the ocean.  We took a few photos and then headed back. It was fun spending time with my friends outside in a different setting.

We got back and Nicole got out her board and card games.  We chose one called Best Friends, and it did not disappoint.  I learned new things about my friends I've known for decades.  It was wild and fun.  We stayed up late and then all got ready for bed.  I stayed up for a little while and journaled in my notebook for a while.  I got my earplugs in (because Nicole snores and Fitzy breathes loudly) and laid down around midnight.  It was a long but fun day with friends and my sister!

Bachelorette Party Weekend:  Bachelorette Party Weekend:  Seaside, Geocaching, Dinner, Bonfire and Games