We decided to segregate our vacation into stages (three stages, if you have been keeping up). The third stage was our actual anniversary, and for that we got away from everyone, including our little kitties. Thursday, the anniversary of the wedding rehearsal (if anyone were fool enough to celebrate that agonizing day), we drove back from California, unpacked, and spent a night in our own bed. Friday we packed light, one duffle bag which Holly managed to stuff so full it weighed something on the order of a metric ton (well, fifty pounds anyway). By comparison I could have packed all I needed in the pockets of my shorts (cargo shorts but still, only 6 pockets).

We struck out about Noon for Lincoln City. I have always loved the drive out to the coast, whether to Tillamook or Lincoln City; there is something I find personally invigorating about driving through the western end of the valley and then in, among, and over the coastal mountain range. We couldn't have asked for better weather either as it was sunny but not hot, and it wasn't windy at the coast either. The drive was made all the better because we were listening to yet another audiobook (Ender's Game); having finished one on the way back from California we had started a second and Holly was hooked (so much in fact we ended up listening to it in the hotel room). All too soon the drive was over and we had to pause the book, and for a fleeting second I almost turned North on 101 just to drive for another hour.

Check-in was not until 4 PM and due to a pit stop in downtown Salem, some construction near Dallas, and a driver who didn't feel like passing anyone (to prolong the book of course) we found ourselves with an hour and a half to kill and an outlet mall to wander through. The Tanger Outlet Malls are what they are, and it's not so exciting as to bore anyone with all the sordid details, but there were two things of note. One, we found a little wine shop and deli which we had our lunch in, and that was quite enjoyable, and two, I managed to score two hardback books for $13 at the book outlet store. The second is of particular joy for me because we tend to each buy a book on our vacations (usually at a used book store because they are so much fun to browse through) and I managed to find two new ones which look good (though I am probably alone in this opinion so I'll spare myself public ridicule and leave off the titles).

By the time I was throughly exhausted and beat it was 5 PM and we could check-in and I could get a blessed lie down. I was a little anxious about our room, for while the website said all manner of nice things and offered an appealing picture, I wasn't at all confident luck would swing my way and things would turn out aright. I forgot Holly is the lucky one, and her luck was in full force. I don't know how Holly found the hotel, but with a little searching on the Internet she found The O'dysius Hotel and I highly recommend it. We stayed in one of their Grande Deluxe Guest Rooms and that picture does justice to the luxury we felt. Our room looked out on the ocean, they turned down our bed (and gave us chocolates, two little bottles of water, and put bathrobes on the bed) while we were out at dinner, brought a complimentary continental breakfast to our door at a time we specified (9 AM), have a wine social every night, had down pillows and comforters, and we had a whirlpool tub (for one, but two might squeeze in if the two are intimate enough). All the furniture was gorgeous and the entryway was tile/slate and made you feel like you walked into the wrong room it was so nice. In a nutshell we'll go back anytime we can muster the money, but it was worth every penny.

Dinner was a little low-key but sentimental. On our first anniversary we had dinner at the Pelican Pub in Pacific City, and since we were only a half hour away (more time to listen to the book!) we thought we'd head on up the coast and have dinner there again, this time on our fourth anniversary. The atmosphere was nice, and even though they were busy they didn't feel crowded. The food was good and not to heavy (we had a cup of clam chowder and some chicken penne pasta).

Our stay at The O'dysius was so luxurious we hated to leave, and we hated to make an end of our vacation by returning home so soon. Check-out is at Noon, so we took some time in the morning to enjoy our view of the ocean while we ate our breakfast and read parts of the complimentary paper (I still find newspapers a waste of my time). We again enjoyed our drive back home and got this crazy idea to stop at some furniture stores to get prices and ideas for replacing our hide-a-bed, which had seen far better days. Downtown Salem has always been a neat little pocket of architecture for me, so I didn't mind driving around it, parking, walking, driving, parking, walking, and driving, parking, and walking some more. We actually had a good time, and even though we only managed to get inside two furniture stores we did stop at Great Harvest for a loaf (and two slices) of bread, Sip, a local coffee/tea house for a bubble tea, and at The Book Bin (a huge local used book store) where I bought four paperbacks I was dying to add to my collection (again, I won't embarrass myself by mentioning their titles).

Our plan was to stop at three furniture stores, two in downtown before we got home, and one after we got home, had a chance to measure (and remember this time) the room in question, and had some prices from other stores to use as leverage should we manage to find something we liked and could afford. We got no further than our second stop, Sid's Home Furnishings.

I swear we had no intention of buying as we walked up to the door, and that decision was made all the more firm when we caught sight of the price tags on the two sofas nearest the door. A salesman was quick to talk about the furniture, and given the sticker shock I'm sure all such casual shoppers suffered his little pitch was very much needed. He talked about how all the sofas, love seats, and sectionals were made in Canada of solid wood (not particle board he was quick to point out), all of the sofas could come in any of 450 different fabrics, and some of them more, and that they all had a lifetime warranty (on everything except the fabric). It was a good pitch, and if I had the spare kidney to part with to buy just one sofa it might have worked; but as I am not a good candidate for medical science I figured we'd just waltz around the store, smile at the salesman, and say goodbye. It was not to be.

We got part way through the store and Holly sat on a sofa. I noticed the tag declared it was on sale, and I noted the discount was significant, still it was more than I wanted to pay, even if it was quality. If you were to tell me our salesman trained with the Navy Seals in stealth tactics I'd believe you; he was following us through the store, unobtrusive and quiet as a church mouse, waiting like a champion fisherman for the right combination of fish and bait. I had just decided to humor Holly and sit on the couch (after all I didn't want to seem too rude to the salesman) when he sauntered up and announced, “I can get you a better deal.”

Holly is a bargain hunter at heart and she is curious by nature, and in situations such as these it's a deadly combination. Holly asked what kind of deal he could offer. He scuttled away and came back another $150 or so cheaper. It was still outside our range and I was searching for a good phrase to use to let the salesman down easy when Holly wanted to know what kind of deal he could give us on the set, for there was a love seat sitting adjacent to the sofa with a similar sales sticker on it. This time he bustled off, and came back excited, which as a consumer is not a good sign. He made his announcement and I must say I was surprised at the number. It was indeed low, in fact it was about $200 cheaper for the two of them than for one of them alone.

We thought about it and I was trying my hardest to dissuade Holly. The sofa and love seat were discontinued and they were floor models so it was as-is with no option to change fabric. Lucky us Holly really liked the fabric, and lucky us it matched perfectly (and I say this in retrospect) the rug we have in the room in question. So now I'm fighting against a wife who really likes the couch, an insanely good deal (which I'm going to assume they still turned a profit), and that sales pitch about the quality of the furniture. We wandered around the store; I tried to convince Holly we couldn't really come up with the money; an elderly man (late 60s I'd guess) complimented me on my long beard (which caught me off guard); I tried to refuse the deal, but in the words of the Godfather, “[He] made [us] an offer [we] couldn't refuse.”

As of this moment we owned a sofa and a love seat of quality of construction (if the sales pitch can be trusted) but we had no way to get it home. They offered free delivery, but could not do so until Wednesday. After spending as much as we just did, and after agonizing over it as I had, I didn't particularly want to wait, and Holly was hyper/excited/anxious to try them out in our little home. We were now on a quest to find Papa and hijack his pickup and trailer to bring our new purchase home. That proved to be harder than we had thought.

Somehow we got the wrong impression they closed the store at 4:30 PM, but that was the time they stopped delivering, and they were in fact open until 6 PM. We couldn't get in touch with my father until around 4 PM, and since we needed to give the store and hour's notice before picking up the couch we figured we wouldn't be able to do it today. Again, Holly's luck held firm. The sofa and the love seat have replaced the two couches in our Living Room, our hide-a-bed has been donated to Goodwill, and our other couch is now happily in our Parlour, which now looks complete.

Last year it was surround sound for our anniversary, this year a new sofa and love seat. Soon my master plan will be complete and we'll have more luxury at home than we can afford on our vacations; maybe then I'll be able to spend my vacation at home and not abroad. For this vacation I guess we can say “all's well that ends well” which is another way of saying: “And they lived happily ever after. THE END.”