Change of plans for the day...

We had our day all planned out. We were going to get up and be ready to leave our house early enough to catch the train from Wilsonville to Portland. Our goal was to visit the Japanese consulate to get our work visas. Well, we did get up and ready early but we had to run by Kinkos to get something sent quickly. Afterwards I drove us to Wilsonville. We found the park and ride area and thought it looked pretty calm and quiet. As we went to the kiosk to buy our tickets we realized why it was so calm and quiet - the last train had already come and gone. The last train leaves at 8:50 AM. We had missed it by about 40 minutes. Now we know for tomorrow.

With our day becoming wide open we went to the outlet mall that is north of Salem in Woodburn. It is a huge outlet mall with 16 more stores coming this year. Since we did not have to be anywhere we walked around the mall to see what stores were there. It is a great mall. They were having some good sales (some places 70% off), but I am going to hold out for their Fourth of July sidewalk sale. They will have even better sales going on and by then I will know what I need to help complete my new wardrobe for Japan. For those of you who love Coach, there are so many adorable purses. I am thinking I will have to get one before I leave, but need help with what is the "in and latest" styles.

We went to Orupa for lunch. This is a nice looking restaurant near the city center in Salem. We have tried to go two other times but we were too late. They close at 2:30 until 4:30. Today was our lucky day. We got there about 12:30 and it wasn't very crowded at all. They have a great selection of food (even for me). Mark and I both liked our selections. I had the pizza rustic and Mark had a chicken pesto sandwich. He had fries with that and then came in a cast iron pan to keep them hot. Very clever! We will go back for sure. I am thinking my mother and niece might enjoy having lunch there.

Once we got home Mark decided to find a location where he could finally go kayaking. So far he has struck out. Yesterday he went out on his bike to scope out the area. He found one park about two miles away from where we live. We went there today (pictures included below) to see where he go either kayak from or to. The park is HUGE. We walked back and found it to be beautiful. It is green and the temperature dropped significantly once we were in the tree covered areas. There were no places for Mark to get his kayak in or out that he could walk to. The problem is that miles away from the parking area there are a few beach locations, but there is no way he could walk out with his kayak. It would be so unpractical. We decided to try one more area called Sunset Park. I could get there on my own so the plan was we would go back to the apartment and he would put his kayak in the water there and then go down to Sunset Park. Well, it all sounded good until he went to find where he could get in at the apartments. There is at least a 6 foot drop for him to get in and it doesn't seem very realistic. So, once again he hasn't been able to kayak. This weekend he will have to do more research to find a realistic and practical place to kayak. I am thinking he will just have to drive to a lake and kayak around the lake.

Mark will be on his own this weekend because I am driving to Astoria to watch my little Ella's dance recital. I will spend the night with her and then later on Sunday she will return to Salem with me. I am looking forward to our time together. I have a list of activities for us to do.

Now we are home and I am going to relax and read the magazines I got in the mail today. Sounds like a great plan to me.

Below I have some photos from the park today. It was very, very beautiful.