Monday, January 21, 2008

A Fido-Friendly Vacation on the Oregon Coast

Want to bring in the New Year somewhere with a little romantic luxury and yet get a way to a place that is not only kid, but dog-friendly at the same time? If you think you need to wait to visit the Oregon Coast until the summer time, think again. The sun still comes out on cool breezy late December and early January days, and has miles of beach to run and play fetch on. There’s also a really nice place for you and your four-legged child to stay: The Salishan Spa & Golf Resort near Lincoln City, Oregon.

Located on both sides of Highway 101 in Gleneden Beach, The Salishan presents itself as an upper-class golf resort whose property extends over the highway and onto a housing area with beach access. It doesn’t advertise itself as being pet-friendly on its website, but they will allow you to bring your pet. They do ask that if you need to leave your pet unattended to please utilize their pet sitting services (about $8/hour at a minimum of three hours). However, if your pet is well-behaved and can stay in a crate, they don’t enforce that rule.

We stayed there December 30th, 2007 thru January 1st, 2008 and had a wonderful time. I knew the Oregon Coast was a fun to place to take your family and pet in the warmer climate, but I didn't know it could be so much fun in the winter time as well.

Our room had a very lovely “lodge” look to it, complete with a fireplace, private balcony and cozy couch that Marley—our German Shepherd—could snuggle with us on. Next to the fireplace was a small refrigerator with a coffee maker and complimentary Starbucks coffee. Our king-size bed, covered in white down and overstuffed pillows, reminded us of our honeymoon. The bathroom mirrors a spa atmosphere with earth elements and stone walls and shower flooring. Comfortable terry cloth bathrobes hung in the closet next to an ironing board and iron. There was also a TV, desk that had postcards, stationary and a room service menu.

The only real noticeable difference between the pet-friendly room and the other luxury room I’d stayed in before was that the other room had a wide flat Plasma screen hanging over the fireplace, whereas this was a regular television set. In my opinion: not a bad trade off.

After getting ourselves settled in, we decided Marley had been in the car long enough (it had been a four hour drive from Olympia, Washington) and made the short five minute drive to the hotel’s ocean access area. You have to use your hotel card key to open the gate.

The nice thing about the Oregon coast is that there are still dunes to walk through, with a ton of driftwood. You know what lots of driftwood means—lots of ammo for playing fetch!

Marley didn’t let the cold ocean keep him from jumping in. There were some other dogs there, but as soon as they were out of sight, we were able to let Marley off leash several times. The beach access area also has a stand with doggy bags in case you forget to bring them or run out.

We alternated our time between playing at the beach with Marley and having massages at the Spa. The bonus is that by just staying at the Salishan, you don’t have to get a massage to utilize their sauna, steam room or pools. We kept Marley in his crate while we were gone, but I think he was so pooped from running on the beach that he didn’t mind the nap.

There are several places to eat and shop along the coast, though our main purpose was to just relax and enjoy the ocean. If you have kids, there is an aquariam to take them to, as well as fishing trips they can go on. One of the pubs we visited on our first night had live jazz. The Salishan also hosted a very lovely formal New Year’s Eve celebration—it consisted of a five course meal (I ate duck for the first time), ballroom dancing and lots of cheer.

I highly recommend the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort to anyone wanting to get away to the coast & sit a little in the lap of luxury with your pooch. Marley gave his paw of approval on this one. To learn more about the Salishan Spa & Golf Resort, visit http://www.salishan.com/ or call 1-800-452-2300.

Written by Rebekah Curlee, freelance writer in Lacey, Washington

Thursday, January 10, 2008

What I’m Learning…

What I’m Learning…
By Rebekah Curlee


“It’s not personal, it’s just business,” a colleague told me at lunch, trying to console me after an older woman at work had attempted to have me fired. But it was personal. This woman had professed to be a Christian. And yet, like so many other older Christian women I’ve met in the workplace, had felt so threatened by me—my youth, my energy, my success—that she’d listened to another “Christian” woman (also older) instead of coming to me directly about some issues they were having.
I am grieved to say this isn’t the first time. This actually makes two times now that an older woman—someone whose personality I was drawn to at first, someone who I could envision myself being the best of friends with outside of work, and someone who professed to share my Christian faith—has treated me in a very un-Christ like manner at work.
The first woman, *Jan, was in her thirties and absolutely beautiful. She was a very devout Catholic with scriptures all over her desk, and had this very “cool” image I was drawn to. But shortly after she was introduced as my new supervisor, she began to change my entire job duties. I had come to that island prison (yes, literally, a prison) to be a tour guide, but she began having me do more filing in the Chapel. I hated working in the chapel because I had to work alongside offenders (mostly child molestors) in a small room with no phone or egress route in case of emergency. I had already promoted up from filing work, and though I was open to being humbled, I still didn’t appreciate the 2 hour commute, low pay and obvious dangers just to file—especially when I’d already filed everything.
It became difficult to predict what mood she’d be in one hour from the next. She’d come flying into our shared office space yelling directives to run reports on a moment’s notice for a meeting we were about to have—except she didn’t understand that I’d have to create a database first. She was very quick to criticize my every move, very quick to yell and scream at me, and then would come in the next day with a Vegetarian treat for me (I was on a Vegetarian kick at the time). I could go on about stories about her micromanagement, but the bottom line is that I didn’t feel safe there, and when her verbal abuse began to occur in front of others, I eventually had to transfer out of that position.
I moved on and up. In just five years of state service, I promoted up very quickly—advancing well beyond many older employees. I have countless other stories about “Christian” women in the workplace who have been catty, backstabbing and just cruel. In every instance, the women justified their actions as “just business” and “just” protecting their turf from the invading younger generation.
I never wanted to be enemies or even be seen as a threat. My motives were pure; I wanted to do everything I could to support them and make them a success—they just couldn’t see it.
I can’t change these women. I can’t open their eyes to see I’m not a threat to them.
All I can do is watch myself that I don’t become like them. Working in a secular job—especially government—is a huge mission field. I’m not sure other Christians fully grasp that truth. We are watched all the time. When we let others know we are Christians, we are watched even more closely. Our tone of voice, our body language, how we treat others, and how we operate politically—those are all watched by unbelievers.
“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him with their lifestyle.” This was a quote by DC Talk that was very popular when I was in college. I still repeat that every morning as I walk into the office. “The world is my oyster” everyone tells me,” and “success” has come quickly “for someone so young.”… But how will I act when I’m those women’s age? When I’ve been outbid on a job, or no longer getting all the kudos and praise I get now? Will I look back and remember these hard lessons? Will I act like these women before me?
These women forgot that Jesus modeled and valued relationships. Those relationships don’t stop at church, but extend into every aspect of our lives—including our workplace. I have learned that in this cold world of business and government politics that it’s not business, it’s personal.