This past weekend, Dude and I took the girls to my mom's house about 3 hours from Portland. Mom lives in a tiny town (pop. 435 or something) and she owns a B&B. Sounds quaint, right? Well, it is. Sorta. The house is SERIOUSLY huge and interesting and terrifying. I should probably take a moment to put two facts out there: 1) I've never lived in Oregon before now (my family moved here from Wisconsin after I left for college); and 2) I am very, very, very afraid of ghosts. Yup - ghosts. I totally believe in them and I'm a total weeny. I don't care what anyone says.

Mom's house has been known to have some other-worldly activity over the years and, while I love to visit my mom, I'm scared to death of her house. I even make Dude go to the bathroom with me if I have to go in the middle of the night. The house has three floors and the 3rd floor (currently used as attic storage) was once where the town held dances. And the downstairs ceilings were lowered at some point, so there is about a 6-foot "space" between the downstairs ceiling and the 2nd floor's floor. This space still has the old crown moulding and wall paper, etc. in it. It seems to me to be the perfect void in which ghosts could, you know, hang out between hauntings.

Since this is the low season (I almost wrote "dead season" just now), it was just us and Mom - no guests. I talked to Mom the day before we left and told her that I wouldn't mind her burning some sage or something before we got there, but she insisted that her house was "clean." Whatev. I wasn't going to fall for that. I knew she was just trying to make me feel better. After all, SHE'S the one who has told me story upon story of the weirdness that happens there. C-R-E-E-P-Y stuff, I tell you! Did the ghosts just magically go away? Riiiiiight. Well...I think they kinda did. I feel like the house will always be somewhat creepy just because it is so effing big, but it wasn't nearly as scary as in the years and years prior that I've visited. I had readied for that feeling of terror that grips me when I have to use the bathroom by the stairs to the third floor, but it wasn't there. I had prepared myself for the fact that I'd probably have to run up to the second floor by myself at night at some point during the weekend and I'd be muttering the whole time that I really, really didn't want to see "anyone," but it didn't feel like anyone was there. How did this happen?! And why didn't it happen years ago?! Mom's only explanation is that she's in a "better space" mentally now so she's probably not attracting the weirdness. Um, okay...I'll buy whatever she's selling.

Beyond the whole creepy (or not) house, going out to that little town is always something of an adventure. Everyone knows everyone and their business. There is a store downtown that is still the Mercantile from the days of old. Now it's just called "The Merc" and is the hub of activity and gossip. When Belly and The Bug were born, everyone knew that Mom had come to Washington DC to spend a month with us. And as Mom emailed pictures of the babies to her friends back home, they were promptly printed and posted in the Merc window for all to see. So going there this weekend with the girls for the first time was sort of like being the returning heroes. People we didn't know knew us by name. They asked how we were enjoying Portland so far. They commented that the girls have grown so much in the past year. They referred to themselves as Grandma So-and-So to the girls.

The best part for Belly and The Bug (besides seeing Grandma and exploring her house) were all the animals. This little town has deer wandering through it all times of the day and night. Seriously. These deer are not afraid of people and walk around the town like they own it. I guess they kinda do because it's illegal to shoot a firearm within the town limits. Someone joked that the deer population in town goes way up during deer season. Anyway, besides the deer, just about everyone has a dog in their yard and one yard (if you can call it that - it was more like a junkyard) had two sheep. Sheep! In the middle of town! The girls were enthralled. Heck - Dude and I were enthralled, too. We were acting like what they commonly refer to in those parts as "city slickers."

So what follows are a few pictures from our trip: Mom's house, the sign on the side of the Merc, the sheep, Belly's left foot that just HAD to be bare even though it was 40 degrees, deer by the back porch...