Special people and fun on our vacation...

One of the most fun things on our recent vacation to Oregon was getting to meet up with two wonderful ladies that also have blogs.  I've known Les from Coastal Horizons for about 20 years.  We met at a book site online in 1998, I believe.  And we've been friends ever since, along with Nan at Letters From a Hill Farm and some other ladies.  Even though we've been part of groups and emailed and chatted and shared our lives, this was only the 2nd time that I've seen Les in person.  It was wonderful!!

Les and I met up with Robin, who blogs at A Fondness For Reading, and had a delicious lunch in McMinnville.  It was a location between their two homes and it was perfect.  We enjoyed our food and talked and talked.  Robin has already shared a blog post here.  Les shared her post about this today as well - here.  After our meal, we walked through the downtown area of this charming town and shopped a bit.  Of course, there was a bookstore and did we stop and take a look?  What do you think?  Ha!

Here are Les (on the left) and Robin (on the right), just in front of Third Street Books.  They are holding our purchases.  Are you surprised that there were books purchased?  I'm not.

A lovely little independent bookstore.  We were chatting and pointing out books to each other, picking up this one or that one to say 'oh, I read this - it's good'.  The lady behind the counter looked at us and said - librarians?  booksellers?  We laughed and said, 'Yes!'.

I'm so happy that I got to spend several hours with both these ladies.  We could have talked for days and days, I suspect.  Bloggers that you've 'known' for years are truly dear friends.

Here are the two books that I bought.  I always like to see if I can find a good book relating some kind of history about an area where I vacation.  Tales From the Past by Jim and Reita Lockett is a compilation of stories about Yamhill County and the general area where McMinnville is located.  A Rising Man by Abir Mukherjee is the first book in a historical mystery series that is set in early 20th century India.  I had been meaning to pick up this book for a while.  This was a great opportunity.

I also bought a new coffee mug for myself at the Made in Oregon store at the airport.  This is an 'Original Handwarmer Mug' - left-handed version.  Yes, I am left-handed.  That little cubbyhole on the left side is where your hand goes and basically, the mug warms your hand while you enjoy your coffee or tea or hot chocolate, etc.  I've found that since I've lost weight, my hands are much colder than they used to be.  I was charmed by this and, as I love beautiful pottery, I needed to have it.  It was made by the Clay in Motion Pottery Studio.

We also found the best little shop in downtown Depoe Bay called Knock Your Socks Off.  They sell - wait for it - SOCKS!  And other items.  We got some for our daughter and son-in-law as a gift.  The upper left is for our son-in-law.  He has really large feet - like size 16 or 17.  So, his have the proverbial 'Big Foot' on them.  The lower left are ones my husband picked out for himself and say 'I'm a really big Dill!'.  The upper right are for me, but I might go ahead and give them to our daughter - birthday cake sprinkle cozy socks.  The lower right are definitely for her - 'I'm not bossy...I'm the BOSS!'.  She is a charge nurse in her hospital department and, yes, she is a bit 'bossy'!  Are these hilarious?  OK, OK, maybe you had to be there.  Ha!

Again, our trip was great.  We had fun times and wonderful food - inventive salads and lots of fresh seafood - berries that were in season - coffee that almost made me weep with the wonderful taste of it.  Can't wait until we will be able to visit again.  Thanks for sharing our good times!