White trash and Bon Jovi.

This weekend proved to be an enjoyable one as I the Pretty Girl and I made our way to Longview to visit my sister's family for my nephews birthday. We had a nice time playing with the children and ate some really good cake which had a Darth Vader theme. Kids have such way cool toys nowadays.

Afterwards we headed up to visit an old high school friend Ron and his fiance Amy. We went and ate dinner at The Masthead and caught up as we haven't seen each other in years. Ron decided to take us to the Wild Grizzly, which is a local bar and casino. For those of you not in the know, Longview is a working class town, which means you'll see your share of white trash. First thing I noticed when walking into the fine establishment was a man in his late 30s. A burly looking man who was sporting a goatee and one of the most well groomed mullets I've ever seen.

Ron is a big fan of karaoke. I am not, but when in Rome...

Actually I hate that saying. I did not partake in karaoke as I find it annoying as all hell, but the Pretty Girl did enjoy people watching. There were so many characters there ranging from numerous women with boob jobs and bad hair and men who dressed like they were still in high school, which was about 15 years ago for most of them.

Ron and his fiance sang many a tune that evening, including the always crowd pleasing 'Living on a Prayer'. If you're ever in the mill town of Longview just play some Bon Jovi and the people will elect you mayor.

The next day the Pretty Girl and I headed down to the Portland waterfront. We rented some bicycles and road along the Williamette river. We ran into some group protesting the war, but their protest seemed to be going as well as the Iraq conflict itself. Very few people showed up and most seem disinterested. We think they dumbed a large amount of red dye in the river, but few noticed. Then on one of the steel bridges two protesters dropped big banners, but they kept flapping in the wind and were difficult to read.

We stopped by Oak's Park, the country's oldest theme park, and walked around while I reminisced. The entire bike trip was about 16 miles, which is a lot considering I haven't pedaled in almost a decade. My butt's still sore.

Later we went to Sunday market, ate some ice cream, then headed to Castle Rock and meet up with Brandon and his family and ate pizza at Papa Petes. After dinner we finally made it into town at about 11p last night, so I'm a little tired today, but the weekend was well worth it.

"I always think I'm the Tom Cruise of music - a lot of success and fans, but no critics, darling." - Jon Bon Jovi