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Way back when
Oct. 2nd, 2005 09:34 pmFifteen years ago, when Arlina and I had been dating for about 4 months, I talked her into taking a trip up the Oregon coast with me. We planned it all out and took off, splitting expenses 50/50. I think it was something like $400 each. What a great trip!
We drove north and spent some time in Portland with her friend Lorna and her (Lorna's) fiancee John--they are the same people I spent time with earlier this year at the beginning of my trip across the country. From there we headed south down the coast.
In Tilamook we visited the cheese factory and bought a little stuffed cow that we put on the dashboard as our mascot. We named it "cow". It still sits on the dashboard of the van, and went with me on mu journey this summer, kept company by the squealing buddha.
We had the first argument of our relationship on the sand dunes in Florence, Oregon. We had been in a t-shirt shop, and she had to look at every single shirt in the store. I did not yet know that it was unwise to comment on her shopping habits. I learned.
We spent a couple of days in Florence--it is a great place to explore the coast from. While there, we realized we were running out of vacation time and called the hospital to see if we could squeeze a few more days out of them(we were working on the same nursing unit). We told our supervisor we had eloped and wanted a little more honeymoon. It was October 2nd. She didn't believe us, and we headed home.
The next year, we took a trip down the California coast to celebrate our "anniversary". We stayed in a place called the Madonna Inn. When we got there, they had a bottle of champagne on ice in the room with a "happy anniversary" card--again, October 2nd.
The next year we did the same thing--we ended up at Knotts Berry Farm, in southern California, and got "hitched" in the little ghost town chapel. We told my mom we eloped, but she didn't believe us.
The year after that, we actually got married for real, on our fake wedding anniversary! I'm not sure I ever told any of my family why we chose that day--it was an inside joke between Arlina and I. It was October 2nd.
From then on, we always traveled on our anniversary. Some years it was just a little camping trip up into the Sierras. Other years it was a big trip. One year we celebrated in a thunderstorm on top of Angel's Landing in Zion national park. Another year we had lunch in the space needle in Seattle.
Two years ago, we returned to Oregon and retraced the steps of our first trip. We spent time with our friends in Portland, and then headed down the coast. I took this picture on our anniversary day. ( oregon anniversary )
Last year, she was in the hospital. We celebrated our final anniversary together in a room across from the medicine cart where we first spoke. I think it was the best one we ever had. I took a picture. It was a year ago today--hard to believe.
happy anniversary baby!
We drove north and spent some time in Portland with her friend Lorna and her (Lorna's) fiancee John--they are the same people I spent time with earlier this year at the beginning of my trip across the country. From there we headed south down the coast.
In Tilamook we visited the cheese factory and bought a little stuffed cow that we put on the dashboard as our mascot. We named it "cow". It still sits on the dashboard of the van, and went with me on mu journey this summer, kept company by the squealing buddha.
We had the first argument of our relationship on the sand dunes in Florence, Oregon. We had been in a t-shirt shop, and she had to look at every single shirt in the store. I did not yet know that it was unwise to comment on her shopping habits. I learned.
We spent a couple of days in Florence--it is a great place to explore the coast from. While there, we realized we were running out of vacation time and called the hospital to see if we could squeeze a few more days out of them(we were working on the same nursing unit). We told our supervisor we had eloped and wanted a little more honeymoon. It was October 2nd. She didn't believe us, and we headed home.
The next year, we took a trip down the California coast to celebrate our "anniversary". We stayed in a place called the Madonna Inn. When we got there, they had a bottle of champagne on ice in the room with a "happy anniversary" card--again, October 2nd.
The next year we did the same thing--we ended up at Knotts Berry Farm, in southern California, and got "hitched" in the little ghost town chapel. We told my mom we eloped, but she didn't believe us.
The year after that, we actually got married for real, on our fake wedding anniversary! I'm not sure I ever told any of my family why we chose that day--it was an inside joke between Arlina and I. It was October 2nd.
From then on, we always traveled on our anniversary. Some years it was just a little camping trip up into the Sierras. Other years it was a big trip. One year we celebrated in a thunderstorm on top of Angel's Landing in Zion national park. Another year we had lunch in the space needle in Seattle.
Two years ago, we returned to Oregon and retraced the steps of our first trip. We spent time with our friends in Portland, and then headed down the coast. I took this picture on our anniversary day. ( oregon anniversary )
Last year, she was in the hospital. We celebrated our final anniversary together in a room across from the medicine cart where we first spoke. I think it was the best one we ever had. I took a picture. It was a year ago today--hard to believe.
happy anniversary baby!
