Pro-Soup Propaganda

This last weekend was the most amazing I've had in awhile! It was so awesome to get out of town for a few days and go hang out with one of my favorite people, Renai, and also getting to meet her friend Katie, who was so great! We were staying in a yurt at Cape Disappointment and were hanging out in Astoria during the day for the Fisher Poets Gathering. This is but a small part of the 150+ photos I took during the weekend, which you can see in their entirety here, if you are interested.

Our lovely little yurt 

I got to Cape D around 5:30pm and the other girls weren't due in until after 9pm sometime, so I headed to find a beach to walk on. I found Waikiki Beach, which has the most driftwood on it that I've ever seen at one time on a beach! I wanted to hang out while it got dark. It was so pretty!

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse 

Pointy Frank ears 

After it got dark I headed back to the yurt, snuggled inside my sleeping bag and read for four hours, which was awesome. I managed to finish two books that I had previously started! Finally, around 10:15pm I realized I still hadn't heard from the girls. The original plan was that they were going to go to the yurt first and then meet me at the Voodoo Room in Astoria. The weather was so stormy and crappy and I was so cozy that I just decided to stay put, thinking that I'd see them soon and we'd either hang out at the yurt or head as a group to Astoria.

So then comes 10:15pm. There was no cell service at the yurt, so I drove to what I called the "cellphone parking lot" and, yup, they had actually just headed straight to the Voodoo Room. A quick call to Renai and soon they were heading back. It was so awesome to see her, because it had been almost a year! Crazy!!

The next day we headed to Astoria to do some FPG stuff. We headed to Pier 39, where there was supposed to be a cannery tour and a boat tour. It turns out that the cannery tour is pretty much always there and, for reasons unknown at the time, there was no boat. (Although I just found out from Renai this afternoon that the boat had moved, due to the nasty weather. Darn!) These next pictures were all from the cannery tour. It was pretty awesome!

A picture of some of the Bumblebee worker ladies back in the 40's, I believe. 

I don't think they give out shad roe recipes anymore. 

After we finished walking around the cannery we headed to Fort George Brewery for some beer and food. February is stout month so they had a bunch of stouts on tap. Katie and Renai each got some stout, but I ended up getting a Vortex. I just wasn't ready for stout at 11:45am. ;o) 

We did the brewery tour! Good times, as always. 

I history nerded out at this point. Past of the actual Fort Astoria is behind the brewery. There is also a blue line painted on the street and sidewalk to designate where the actual fort was. I. Was. So. Excited. 

After the fort we headed over to the Heritage Museum.  I ended up talking to the front desk lady for a long time. She was so interesting! I finally started doing the tour, of which this little guy was the first thing I saw.

 This cannon was found in the sand around Astoria and dates to the late 1700s/early 1800s. NBD.

The most amazing float in the 1911 centennial parade, for sure. 

Two words: "painted cats" 

After the museum we went to check out the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. The view and the lighthouse were so pretty! 

After the lighthouse we headed back to the yurt, where we all took naps. We are a wild and crazy bunch! After we nibbled on trail mix, candy, and bread for dinner we headed back to Astoria to listen to Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wranglers. I know Ray from Ketchikan, so I was hell-bent on being able to hear the band play in Oregon! It was an awesome time!

Sunday morning we headed to Waikiki Beach, so we could see it in the daytime. See, I told you there was a ton of driftwood! We all walked the beach for a bit and then Renai decided it was time for her and Katie to head home, which is good because it turns out she had the flu. Poor girl!