Oregon Trailing -- Day 2

Apparently this blog world thing is weird to some people.

Like my husband.  And other people's husbands.

But, thankfully, said husbands sometime just decide to step out on faith and trust their bloggy wives and let them head out and meet total and complete skin strangers.  I say skin strangers, because the part that the husbands (and all those other skeptical skeptics) don't understand about close blogger buddies is that, really, our hearts have already met...and it is like we've been friends for years.

Like so with Cathy.

She was a skin stranger.  Until today.  And, oh, how I'm glad we met.  Because she is great.

So amazingly gracious.  And kind.  And loving.  And she suffers from adult-onset A.D.D. like me...so we're kindred, me and her.

Before I launch into details of my day with the Cat-a-Lac, let me just tell you that I have no idea how you Pacific timezone people do it.  Y'all have me so messed up, that I went to sleep at 8:00 last night.  And slept like a baby.  All.Night.Long.  It also could have been caused much in part to the whole getting up at 3:30 yesterday morning, but I'm choosing to blame it on jetlag...because that 2 hour time difference is a kick in the pants.

Because the husband was in an I'm-Delirious-From-Spending-the-Day-Flying-the-Friendly-Skies-In-a-Tin-Can stupor, he let me choose the restaurant last night.  I googled, of course, and after not so much arm twisting, decided on Thai food.  Can I tell you how much I adore Thai food?  Could be because it is just nostalgic for me, having eaten many a plate of street vendor fried rice in my day, or it could be just that it is freakin' amazing.  Either way....love it.  More like adore. 

So we headed out to Singha Thai, and I ate this.

Pineapple Chicken Fried Rice.  And it was delicious.  Just like I knew it would be.

This morning, the husband headed out for meetings, and I hopped in the rental car (which has AMAZING brakes) and made my way southward...towards the home of my MIRL.

While I drove the Oregon freeways (which we call interstates, interestingly enough), I admired the trees.  That sounds so bizarre, what with Arkansas being The Natural State and all, but their trees are different here.  They're all evergreens....and they're just...well...different.  I like 'em.  (For the record...their sky is bigger here, too.)

I pulled up in the driveway of a super cute little house, and I giggled to myself about ringing the doorbell and it being answered by a 400 lb. man who lives with his mama and has thoughts of kidnapping me and chaining me up in his basement.  (Just for the record....if your friend is getting ready to go for a MIRL, don't joke about stuff like that....it tends to make one need to pop a xanax.  Just sayin'.)

Thankfully the door was opened by Cathy.  And she was far from being a 400 lb. man.  Phew.

We hugged.
And chatted.
And hugged some more.
And chatted.
And drank creamer with a smidge of coffee.
And giggled.
And forgot that this was the first day we met.

Because it was natural. And easy. And fun.

And she gave me this.  Isn't it beautiful?  She made it.....and I can't wait until she goes into business, and I can tell her, "I told you so."

After chillin' at her house for a little bit, we headed out for lunch.  We are one-in-the-same, so it took us 3823498347293 hours to make up our minds where to eat.  But, we finally decided on Chipotle...because I'd heard a gazillion people talk about it, and I love being a follower!  Hello.....you people weren't kidding.  YUM.

After another long and drawn out speedy exhibition of decision making skills, we decided just to head out and drive.  We can talk while we drive we decided...so it made sense.

She showed me her town.  And she showed me where she went to college.  And she showed me prisoners.

You think I'm kidding.

I'm not.

Those folks in orange?  Uh...yah.

And then she took me to an Orchard Market which has a real name, but I forgot it due to the scrumptiousness of the apple cider doughnuts that I was shoving into my mouth.  We browsed and shared a chuckle over the marketing genius of folks here in Oregon, and then I found honey sticks.  And decided I HAD to have one.  So I forked over a whopping 20 cents for a plastic pixie-stix full of lemon honey.

Verdict?  Don't waste your 20 cents.

And then we went to Sonic, because we had long determined that if we ever met...we MUST share a date for Pineapple Diet Dr. Peppers.  Because Cat GETS it.  She appreciates and loves the amazingness that is the PDDP.  Smart girl.

And then I discovered that the carhops in Oregon actually wear roller skates.  And now I want to know why the ones in Arkansas don't.  Irks me just a tad.

We had an hour or two before dinner, so we headed out and did a bit of shopping.  We touched the same sweaters and decided that we have the same taste...in clothes and in prices.

We picked up the husbands and headed out for a bit to eat.  Excuse me, a load to eat.  Billy and Cathy took us to The Cheesecake Factory, and I might have thought that I had died and gone to heaven.  It was scrumptious. And the food wasn't too shabby either!  The only thing odd about the evening was our freakishly quiet waiter, and his interesting use of hand gestures.  But we got free cheesecake out of the guy, so he's forgiven.

What'd I eat, you ask?  Well...I was too busy scarfing down the first bites to remember to take a picture, so you are getting the half-eaten version.  The pasta was delish.

And I topped that off with piece of Key Lime Cheesecake.  Whoa Nelly.

And then we posed for pictures.

Don't hurt your eyes.....that's us.  Really.  It just looks like we are in a  cheesecake cave....or a basement! ;)

We had a great time.  We laughed a lot.  We shared stories.  And it was like we were old friends and picked up right where we left off.

Feeling really blessed.  And really full.  And really sad for all the people that don't know what they are missing.

Oregon Trailing Day 2......over.and.out.