Mimmsical Creations

Well, my last news was exciting - Mike was eligible. (We were led to think that if he was eligible, he would get the job...) But this misleading information was untrue. Although he was eligible, he was not hired (nor even interviewed!) for the job. We were quite upset and sad on Thursday (I started writing this post on Friday, and never finished!) He got the news mid-morning. So... the job hunt continues. We're researching other options for getting ourselves moved out to Oregon. My bosses continue to be supportive of me! That helps immensely!

Well... enough of that bad news. Here's more about our trip!

On our second day at the coast, we didn't go too far mileage-wise. We found a beach called Agate Beach and we stayed there for a couple hours (or more) and walked the shoreline. The weather was still sunny and warm - the water was COLD! We had lunch and then decided we'd find a hotel on the coast since we were already tired for that day. Well, did we ever find an amazing place!! Near Yachats, OR there is a place called the Overleaf Lodge. I can say I HIGHLY recommend this hotel. It was truly five-star! We got a good rate (more than we'd normally spend, but worth every penny!) on a third story suite with a balcony overlooking the coast. And not just any coast - a very rocky and beautiful stretch of coast!! We could hear the waves crashing in our room! We had naps that afternoon to the sound of the ocean and slept that night so deeply with the sea air and sounds!

More pictures at flickr!

Yachats itself is a tiny town, but we found an amazing restaurant there called the Drift Inn. Truly gourmet food, and a wonderful wine list! They even have live music most every night. We wound up eating there that first night and the next as well! It was so enjoyable (and yummy)!

We drove further south the next day to Coos Bay and North Bend and then Bandon. The towns themselves weren't all that impressive, pretty run down and depressed. We did quite a bit of driving around the towns seeing what was what! We came across another really great restaurant find in Coos Bay - a mediterranean place that had just amazing food! Yum! (I had a gyro, but I "regret" not trying something a little more unique. I was coveting Mike's schewerma! {sp?})

Our favorite place of our last trip was Coquille Point, near Bandon. It is beautiful, of course, but our previous find of the Overleaf and its coast made it less spectacular somehow. We didn't stay on the coast long because it was COLD!

We then drove inland to Eugene, Corvallis, and Salem (and Portland a little bit) We spent some time in each town driving around again and finding the houses we saw in the paper for rent. It was a great way to see the neighborhoods.

We like Eugene and Salem OK, but we really loved Corvallis! It's much smaller than either of the other towns, and it has kind of a "hippy" feel to it! That's the town we're hoping for now! (But many of the others will do as well!) Salem felt too big to me. It's not that much bigger than here, but it feels more like a big city! We'd "make it work" though! Portland is too big. Neither of us like it very well. I have never lived in a truly BIG city, and it's scary!

This trip was truly wonderful. We got a needed vacation, but we also did some needed research. We learned that we truly DO want to move out to Oregon! We both love the grey, rainy weather! We're ready, now all we have to do is get a job for Mike figured out! Anyone know a town that needs a reiki master?