Roommate Reunion 2015, cont'd

Y'all gave me more gray hairs today... - Cora

Sometimes the best of friends are responsible for difficult conversations.  As the Oregon roommate reunion continued, a 2-hour drive to the coast was apparently the perfect time to have such a conversation. Which resulted in both more gray hairs and a headache on my part. Thankfully, Jessi and Shannon came to the rescue.

Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have any Tylenol, would you? - Jessi and Shannon

We spent Sunday afternoon exploring the small, coastal town of Florence.

At literally every.single.store., Jessi and Shannon felt compelled to ask every.single.person we met for Tylenol. It was, after all, their fault that I had the headache in the first place. Unfortunately, the embarrassment I felt about the entire process sort of cancelled out any appreciation I felt. Really, what else are friends for than to stress you out and then embarrass you? Thankfully, we got to enjoy some Oregon coastal scenery, which seemed to make everything better.

Guys! We need a selfie stick! - Jessi

Speaking of the coast, apparently we looked either completely desperate or completely pathetic in our attempts to take a group picture. A complete stranger walked over to us from another part of the beach to ask if we wanted to borrow her selfie stick. It temporarily felt like a new low. But then it was awesome.

Cora, when are you going to Antartica? - Jessi

I don't think I actually understand what it is that you do. - Shannon

Proof that even the best of friends don't always understand each other. I'm going to Iceland, not Antartica. And don't worry, Shan, I'm pretty sure that almost no one understands what I do, including most of my coworkers! Despite differences and brief misunderstandings and disagreements, best friends talk it out, help each other feel better, and have a great day at the coast in spite of it.

Can we take a picture for you? Oh, would you happen to mind taking a picture of us? Maybe just one more?(after looking at the pics and deciding they were not up to her rather high picture standards) - Jessi

After a beautiful day at the coast, I shared more of Oregon's breathtaking and unbelievable beauty with Jessi and Shannon by taking them hiking at Crater Lake.

We hiked Garfield Peak, which is not a particularly long hike, but it is rather uphill.

Our strategy was generally to stop and take a picture whenever we saw something beautiful. Which was always. It was the perfect strategy for never admitting how out of breath we were.

Take a pretty picture. Hike a few feet uphill and notice you're winded. Suggest stopping for another picture (or ten), but certainly not because you're out of breath.

Hike. Run across someone else on the trail. Solicit about twenty pictures from them.

Hike 10 feet. See a chipmunk which demands to be captured in a photograph.

Stop and individually pose for the same picture x 3.

Hike. An ultimately effective, but perhaps not efficient method of hiking. The view from the top, however, was more than worth it!

The harder the better - Name redacted to protect the innocent

For the last day of the reunion, we decided we earned some relaxation. In addition to drinking lots of coffee, another roommate reunion tradition is getting pedicures. This time, we went all out and booked pedicures at the River Rock Spa at the nearby Seven Feathers Casino. Not only did we get to enjoy relaxing and much-needed pedis, we also spent time enjoying the lovely spa amenities. It was the perfect way to spend our last day together. Oh, and the quote? It was said to the man adjusting the jets on the hot tub. Obviously.

I am so thankful for my friendship with Jessi and Shannon. We laugh, we cry, we reminisce, and sometimes we get on each others' nerves. Jessi uses me as a human clothes rack. We love each other and the all too brief times we get to spend together.

Shannon and Jessi are the best kind of people and the best kind of friends. I look forward to each opportunity we have to be together. As long as we have been friends, it is not nearly long enough. Here's to more memories, more gray hairs, and many, many more roommate reunions!