Ocean Shores Beach Trip

20 July 2010

We finally got out of town. It was the first time since Amy and I moved here that we pulled up stakes and got ourselves a change of scene. My Mom got us a condo to rent for several days and we shared the costs. We had a much more elaborate vacation than the camping trip we had planned on, and for even less than we had planned to spend.

There isn't much to tell. We ate junk food, played on the beach, read books, and generally did what we pleased. It feels good to just play. It's a secret to life that I think we forget or have shamed out of us at age 11 or so.



John and I had fun building Disneyland in sand. I couldn't have had a better partner since he's the only one I know who knows the park as intimately as I do. We only had the energy to build Main Street, the Castle, the Tiki Room, and the Jungle Cruise. IT was mostly recognizable and we had a lot of fun. Did I finish? No, and that's okay. Did I know it was just going to get wrecked? Of course. It's a sandcastle. After all, that's what cameras are for.

One of the highlights was having our niece Lorena around to entertain us all. She's cuter by the day, and is able to do more for herself all the time. She especially lights up around Grandma, her aunt Amy, and her uncle John. She has a sweet disposition and just loves to be part of the fun.

Amy and I decided to break away from the group on one of the days to visit Lake Quinault in the Olympic National Forest. It was only about an hour and a half away, and well worth the trip.


We went on a short nature trail through the rain forest that took us over a beautiful gorge, all under a canopy of trees that have been around since the time of Columbus. We spent some time on the shore of the lake.


The water was so clear you had to resist the temptation to bend down and take a big drink of it.

We came back yesterday rested with full health points and ready to take on our work again. Meanwhile, we'll look forward to going back while the last of the sand in our shoes slowly vanishes.In the final day we managed to stop in at the Star Wars shop in Aberdeen. It's full of previously owned collectibles in varying condition. I was pleasantly surprised to find items identical to some from my own collection in poorer condition retailing for much more than I might have thought. I resisted the temptation to walk out with a few unpackaged storm troopers, but I doubt I'll always be leaving empty-handed if I ever manage to go back.

-Tom

Amy models a wildflower found in the rainforest

This driftwood guitar was out in front of a winery on our way to Westport

These deer came to visit almost every day while we were staying in the condo.

A Touch Of The Dizzies

ATTENTION: This post is WEEKS old! When I say "last Monday" I mean June 7th. Ya. We're slackers.

Amy's had a lot excitement these days. I suppose that's putting it kindly. She's had increasing spells of vertigo over the last few years, and we finally got her to an ENT to find out what's going on. He says it sounds like Minear's disease. If that sounds familiar to you, you might be remembering that the astronaut Allen Shephard had the same condition.

It's a building up of fluid in the inner ear that puts pressure on the ear drum. It tends to cause ringing in the ears, vertigo, dizzyness, and permanent hearing loss.

Yeah.

Scary.

We don't have an official diagnosis yet, but Amy's had a hearing test. She came out with normal hearing, so that should serve as a baseline, but we're going to get her back to the ENT to see what's next.

Meanwhile, Amy's having to stay on a low-salt diet. It's tough for her, and I try not to rub in the fact that I can eat salty things and she can't. I'm trying to support her however I can, though, and this is mainly accomplished by nagging and pestering her about keeping track of her sodium in-take. Like any diet change, she has good days and bad, but I like to think we're making a difference. Worst case scenario? She could be legally deaf in a few years. I don't see that as too likely, but it is possible. Best case scenario? She's going to live with this all her life, and we'll always have to be aware of it. It might be a while before we take another flight on an airplane.

Meanwhile, our lives go on. I'm getting a lot of freelance work, and Amy keeps getting plenty of clients at Massage Envy. We miss our nieces and nephews and think about them a lot.

Amy and I had a great date last Monday. Since we had to go to Seattle for her hearing test anyway, we made a day of it and had lunch after her test. We also stopped in at Twice-Sold Tales in the capitol hill neighborhood, a used bookstore we've both been wanting to check out. Amy had to drag me out. We both walked away with a little something at a fraction of the price it would have cost at, say Barnes and Noble.

We'll be back. I think I could have spent the whole day there, not to mention half my monthly pay.

-Tom