So let the party and the sounds rock on

Amy and Jaime heard there was a "Best Visitor" competition going on,
(or maybe they didn't)
but they showed up with a dozen vegan Portland doughnuts anyway,
a box of Sweet Life vegan cake,
and some handmade antler treats.
And that was the first day.
It's been non-stop funtimes since.
I drove to Crescent City with them, too,
and found where the big trees were hiding.
Coastal Redwoods are no joke.






















Then I got to visit Battery Point Lighthouse again,
but this time there was a little more daylight,
and when it's low tide (it was)
you can walk to it (i did)!
So sexy.
And so here's a better, closer photo.

















We also got some tattooing in,
and worked on Amy's antlered birdhouse sleeve.
She sat for a few hours,
and we outlined the whole rest of it.
Then we started shading, too,
and got some of the squirrel filled in.
She made it 5.5 hours before an evening on the couch with
Thai food and Rocky Horror Picture Show was calling her name.






















Here's my gift from Jaime,
a business card holder cut from an antler.
She knows antlers are the answer,
and now all of my clients will, too.
Good thing my new cards arrived the very same day.
It's so fresh.

















We have a few days left before we have to say goodbye,
and we have lots more plans.
I'm playing hooky and going lighthouse hopping on Friday.
After being stuck in Minnesota for so long,
I can't get enough of the ocean.
10,000 lakes don't have shit on the Pacific.

Company.

Handsome Adam gave us a week head-start,

and then arrived in Grants Pass ready for serious hangout time.

He knew no one was going to try and visit us our first week here,

and so showing up on day 8 was a safe bet for First Place.

Adam is a damn good house guest.

He's up for whatever,

down for anything,

and does dishes till you tattoo his hands.

He helped us explore and get acquainted with our new surroundings since pretty much everything was new to us.

He's like the Lewis and Clark of houseguests,

scoping it out and paving the trail for future visitors.

If you come and stay with us here

(and don't run out of gas in an unpaved national park),

you'll owe Handsome Adam a thank you.

Here he is in a treehouse we found by accident.

We did some drives and hikes through Grants Pass and the rest of Southern Oregon,

the redwoods, and all the way to the California coast.

If Minnesota is the land of lakes,

Oregon has to be the state of rivers.

So many.

Nothing ever gets a chance to dry out,

so moss just grows on everything.

Telephone poles, highways, roofs,

everything just gets sexier with a little moss.

Sometimes it's the only color around.

On the day we drove to Crescent City, CA,

we bumped into Battery Point Lighthouse at the perfect time.

Apparently there's a second lighthouse in that town,

(two in one town?! c'mon...)

so I'll be headed back there next week when the new guests arrive.

It was a bummer seeing him off this morning,

but he threatens to come back again before we leave in April.

Awesome.

Quality and quantity.

Handsome Adam knows what's up.

On vacation.

Hawaii, kids.

It's a love/hate relationship.

I love the ocean, but hate the beach.

I love islands, but hate the people that flock to them.

Meryl has family living down here for a year,

and she had never been before.

And she's also moving out to Oregon just for me,

so......Hawaii for the holidays!

You know I don't even own a pair of shorts,

but so far we're doing well.

Day two and I already have two different lighthouse visits.

This first photo is at the top of a mountain Meryl and I climbed to get to Makapuu Point Light the really hard way.

There's a two mile paved path winding around to the lighthouse,

or an unmarked, not-at-all-legitimate super steep climb up to the top and then over.

It got dark before we even hit the top,

it was scary windy,

and some Hawaiian dude kinda told us we were screwed.

But we did it,

and it was so rad.

Here's a view of of the Makapu Point Light from partially up our hike.

At our destination we met this couple who were both biologists working in Hawaii.

We bonded over our shared love of dead birds

(i was wearing a 'dead birds are sexy' shirt)

and they brought us out to dinner and drove us home.

And since their jobs include working with sick and dying birds,

we're about to have some amazing additions to the I love dead birds blog.

So awesome.

This morning I woke up early

(which isn't hard to do with a four hour time difference)

and took a bike ride with Meryl's mom, Colleen,

out to Diamond Head Lighthouse.

Then a few hours later,

Meryl, her sisters, and I hiked the Diamond Head crater,

and got to see the lighthouse from above.

We then ate lunch at the top in a coastal artillery bunker built in 1908.

Tomorrow we fly to Maui,

and get to see some stuff out there for a while.

Rebecca and the Cucch are living on that island these days,

so we'll have some hang out time with them.

And New Years happens while we're there.

Luckily, I was prepared,

and shipped those 30 Japanese floating lanterns to myself.

I don't know who else will be there,

but I will be saying my goodbyes to 2011 in style,

and making sure 2012 gets kicked off right.