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
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