Honeymoon Week

Larry and I have been in Oregon. I met Larry's mother Joy, who couldn't come down to the wedding. We've been hosted by his sister Dianna, her husband Tony, and their son Joe, who graciously gave up his room for "the evil lair." At first I thought Joe meant he was giving up his room for "the Evil Lar" ... his uncle Larry. But then I saw their den was painted red, and had a flying cow with evil red eyes. The Red Den was the Evil Lair. Not his uncle.

I love Larry's family. They're fun to be around, so generous, and they've made me feel so welcome and comfortable. We've had a great time together. We went to the State Fair. Most state fairs are the same: you've got displays of local livestock, plants and crafts; deep fried food, and thrill rides to throw it up onto. But we had fun hanging out together. Dianna and Tony know how to laugh.

We drove out to farmland to the local fruit stands.
We drove up to Portland to Saturday Market, where local hippies sell their stuff.
We went to Powell's bookstore, an entire city block of books.
Nothing says nerd love like a bookstore and coffee.

Except for a wi-fi joint and coffee. Which Larry and I did the next day.








Larry's looking a little like Hugh Laurie when he blogs.










I think I scored.

Like I said, we've been having a great time. But last night when Tony asked us what the rest of our honeymoon looked like, Larry said, "We'll leave here Tuesday morning and maybe get back to LA by Wednesday night."

I pulled Larry into Joe's room and sat him down. "Larry, when you planned our honeymoon, what were you envisioning it to be?"

Larry sighed. "I know I didn't plan this well. We needed more time alone."
"Well it's not over. But you're thinking we'll leave Tuesday and blitz drive down to LA in a day and a half?"

That's just one possibility," he stammered.

As the words emerged on his lips he realized how bad that sounded. If that was the first possibility, what could he say to make up for it?

When people go on honeymoons, they go off and be alone. They go to Hawaii. They stay in nice hotels and get room service and go snorkeling. They don't spend a week in their nephew's bedroom with his bowling ball.

So I took Larry's hand and smiled, "I love your family. They are great. But in addition to this, we ALSO need a honeymoon.

Larry closed his eyes, upset at himself for not planning better. To Larry's credit, he had originally reserved a hotel in Lake Tahoe over Labor Day weekend, but then I booked a movie and had to work the first two days after our wedding. Larry was a good sport. He even came to the set and played an extra all day. But it pushed our honeymoon back a couple of days, and thus we found ourselves in Oregon a couple extra days waiting for the Labor Day traffic to die down. All understandable.

But when I heard Larry say we were maybe going to get home in a day and a half, I had visions of a marathon drive, and numb backside to show for it; a concave matress at the Truckee Motel 6. That's not a honeymoon. That's a quick drive to Annullment.

However, a honeymoon jaccuzzi or a hike around Lake Tahoe could fix that. Which Larry promptly arranged.

So Larry drove me back to Portland today. We walked along the Willamette River Bank, through Chinatown. We saw a Craft Fair. We went up to Washington Park, the Rose Garden.

Tomorrow we're taking off toward California. Our goal is Lake Tahoe. But if we find something we want to do along the way, we'll do that. Larry mentioned watching the salmon run, Mount Hood, and Yosemite. So who knows where we'll end up tomorrow night. We just won't be rushing to get there.



I just love that guy. How can you not love a man who loves you like no one has ever done before? I realized the other day that not only did I hit the jackpot. Larry and I are each other's jackpot. But we are no one else's jackpot. How convenient for us.