Sandboarding... Who knew?

We hooked up with Brian and went to the coastal village of Florence, Oregon for our last three days in the U.S. I’m usually a good traveler, but I'm not getting food exactly when I want it. My stomach doesn't keep a schedule. When I’m hungry, I want to eat, NOW! If I don’t get food, I’m cranky and, well let’s face it… a bitch. As long as I'm venting, I haven't slept in my own bed for two weeks. I bet you're feeling sorry for Allan about now.

But we're in Oregon, with Brian so things are good. We checked out the town and gave the casino a try our first day. The next day’s activities were more fun and far less costly than our time at the casino. Brian went sandboarding. There are dunes all around this town, so you just rent a board and head out. The hard part is the lack of lifts, so the longer the ride down, the longer the trek back up – through sand, carrying the board. He got a workout. Then we all took a dune buggy ride, which was fun and a little scary. We didn’t overturn, but I’m not sure if that was luck or the skill of our driver, Wayne. We went across the dunes at very steep angles. Wayne seemed to lean toward leaning. If you ever go dune buggying, keep your mouth closed.

We had great fun. When our three days with Brian ended, we drove to Seattle for the flight to Japan. I was weighed holding my carry-ons, like a jockey with her saddle. Our flight leaves at 2:30 am.