Meandering on the Way — November 24 to 28, 2022

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Another clear, crisp day. Nice weather for a drive up to Vancouver (Washington) to have Thanksgiving dinner with AD and AS-C. We enjoyed it immensely. The cranberries were especially delicious, this despite the fact that they were actually a mixture of blueberries, blackberries and boysenberries. Yum. After dinner–and before pie–we had a nice walk through a wetland preserve just a couple of blocks away. For dessert, there were two pies imported from Corvallis, one blackberry and one pecan. We all had to try a little of each. November 24 also happens to be AD’s birthday, so he had to tolerate candles on his. M&E later adjourned to a motel to recover.

Friday, November 25, 2022

After spending the night at a comfortably mediocre Comfort Inn, we went out to do some shopping at the Vancouver Mall. It had been twenty years or so since we last visited a mall on Black Friday, so it was time to update. Who knew what we might find? Is this the end of days for bricks and mortar? Maybe or maybe not. The mall was bustling. It wasn’t as crazy busy as we remember from the halcyon days of our youth; but still, there was a lot of commerce going on. And what a mix of stores! A few were familiar, like Macy’s, Penney’s, and Victoria’s Secret. But many were pretty much mysteries to us, shops like Tilly’s, Torrid, Claire’s and Zumiez. The interesting thing was how much the mall is oriented toward young people–not just young compared to us, but truly young like twenty-somethings, teens and preteens. At Zumiez, for example, you can buy Mercer 55mm 99a Skateboard Wheels and RIPNDIP Lord Nermal Purple Lightning Crew Socks. If you find either of those on someone’s wishlist, you know where to go. 

Also, the mall was interesting for what it didn’t have: no Apple store, no Tesla showroom, no Anne Taylor, no Lululemon or Williams-Sonoma, none of that. Instead, we saw Maurice’s,  Forever 21, Famous Footwear, a knife and sword shop called Highlander and a cowboyish place called Boots and Wear. There are also LOTS of beauty and cosmetics shops, including three or four hair salons, two nail salons, three or four cosmetics outlets, two tattoo and piercing parlors, and two eyebrow threading places. There were two pop up clothing stores (Yea Dat and Cool Loots) plus two pretzel shops, a bubble tea place, a selfie studio and a COVID clinic. Also a branch of the Vancouver public library, a Golds Gym and at least a dozen eateries, including Chick-fil-A, Outback and Five Guys.

So, you may ask, how did we take advantage of this vast selection of goods, services and calories? Well, we bought a couple of things at Macy’s. What with the sales and all, our total there came to around ten dollars. Then E blew another ten on a new chain for her purple amulet. And that was it. What a fantastically frugal duo! If we had had more time, we might have spent more. But we had an urgent appointment–an offer of a tour of the Andees’ new food truck and a free sample. We’ll tell that story in pictures…

Saturday, November 26, 2022

After a rainy Friday, we’re back to sunshine. M raked leaves in the morning and then, in the afternoon when things were more dried out, he mowed the lawn. (Lawn mowing in late November? Gadzooks.) We went for a walk up the big hill in our neighborhood and generally tried to wind down from having eaten too much in the last few days. In fact we had a modest supper–followed by two kinds of pie. Best to wind down gradually.

Sunday, November 27, 2022

We didn’t do much of anything today, just rested up for the upcoming week, which should be eventful. The bathroom project is nearing the finish. Check out the shower. Pretty nifty, eh?

Monday, November 28, 2022

Fun stuff this morning. We made our annual visit to the Clothes Tree to pick out something or other that E might want for Christmas. No photos of that, it’s a surprise.