Julian, Satomi and I took a short trip to Oregon with friends Bryan, Junko and Alisa. This was a "just get out of town" sort of vacation, three nights total. Our first night was in Eugene, after stopping for lunch at the Portland Saturday Market (where we met up with Bjorn and Kirsten, who we don't see enough of). Eugene is a very livable-looking place, with a college town feel -- dreadlocked hippies at the weekly market, a substantial number of small cafes, etc. -- and pretty surroundings.

Sunday and Monday nights we were on the coast doing the usual Oregon coast things: Sea Lion Caves, Newport Aquarium, Seal Rock, and numerous ticky-tacky shops intermixed with a few nice galleries. Florence seemed like the nicest small town on the coast. Waldport looked dead, and Newport appeared to be growing too fast (though Nye Beach is still quirky and attractive).

It seems like Bryan did most of the cooking, so thank you Bryan for the great food... again!