January: Completed my second "drynuary" with only a slip up due to the opening of Devil's Reef in Tacoma. We were able to make it down there for a soft opening night and all was as delightful as expected.
February: The first February since 2014 that we didn't celebrate our anniversary of our first date on the 15th because now we have a new one on the 15th of July. Plus, Christopher got home from a work trip to Italy on the 15th and we spent the evening on the couch with dinner.
March: We took an early and short spring break trip to Vancouver to visit some of our favorite food and beverage establishments and try a few new ones. Had delicious Chinese food at Bao Bei and delicious cocktails all over town (Long Table Distillery and the Shameful Tiki Room to name a couple).
April: Started the month with an Easter brunch at Ursa Minor on Lopez Island. It's a long trip for a day, but we made it and brunch was as lovely and well-made as we knew to expect. We explored the island a bit after eating, but the early spring winds put a damper on any hiking we might have done. The next week, I flew off to San Antonio, TX (lovely town, would quite like to go back) for a work conference. I made things super exciting by forgetting my wallet on the first flight. Thank goodness for Christopher being home and able to FedEx me cash and an alternative form of ID. Then, a day after I got home, on the 14th, Brother and Mallory got married! What a party that was.
May: On the 19th, Christopher left for his four week work trip around the globe. Seattle to Milan to Shanghai to Seattle. Over Memorial Day weekend, I took a day trip up to the Skagit Valley (starting with a stop at the outlets, natch) which involved meeting a cow, getting a (speed trap!) speeding ticket, and eating tacos with my Aunt Pam in Edison. Between the sun during lunch and during a glass of wine after, my shoulders were slightly crisp and unhappy.
June: A months-long dream of visiting the Sip 'n' Dip in Great Falls, MT came true! My Mom, Pam, and I did a three night trip east with a night in Missoula on the way. Then we had the pleasure of experiencing the O'Haire Motor Inn and its infamous Sip 'n' Dip bar. Between Piano Pat, the mermaids, and the punch bowl beverages, it's not an experience I'll soon forget. We even got to swim in the pool before it was the mermaids' turn. You'll never find anything like it anywhere else. Late in the month, I got final word that my promotion to senior assistant librarian was official. This was a great relief and I felt very happy of myself!
July: Do they say that the first year of marriage is the hardest? We had no way of knowing, but still decided to celebrate with a trip to California - starting with a couple of nights in San Francisco (eat, drink, rum, repeat), we then made our way down the coast with hopes of Taco Bell on the beach but the taco gods said it was not meant to be. (Their opening time kept getting pushed back and updated on a piece of paper on the door. What was going on in there to warrant such issues??) Still in need of lunch, we remembered a recommended location just off Highway 1 in Pescadero. Duarte's Tavern has been around a loooong time. So long that you can still buy a bottle of booze from their bar should you be in need. We sat at the bar itself and a nice grandpa type served us expensive sandwiches, cheap-ish drinks, and ollalieberry pie.
Highway 1 construction kept us from taking it the whole way to Paso Robles, but that's just another excuse to do the drive again. (Taco Bell on the beach WILL happen.) "Paso" as they call it, is an interesting place. As a town in the middle of wine country, I greatly prefer Walla Walla, but we had some fun and interesting tasting experiences in the area including a long awaited visit to Linne Calodo. We headed to the coast for the trip's last night. I don't remember how I discovered the Kon Tiki Inn (somewhere on Facebook probably)
