Two aging Californians and their dog Sadie flee Silicon Valley for the alleged good life on the Oregon Coast. "Go north," the realtors claim. "You can buy four houses for the price of one Saratoga fixer-upper. The air is clear, the traffic is light, and everyone is friendly. All those rumors about how Californians are not welcome north of the border are simply not true. Nor is it true that it rains 80 inches a year and sometimes even snows. Come on, it"s the beach!" And so, plagued by debts that two jobs, two home businesses and a city pension weren"t doing much to help, fed up with sitting in line on the freeway, and longing for a taste of that good life, we headed north. Was it a harbinger of things to come when the rental truck broke down in Sacramento, leaving us stranded on I-5 at the J Street off-ramp, that the transmission hose broke in Corning, or that for three days the dog barked at every passing car and refused to relieve herself? Nawwww. Read about beaches, bridges, rain, the joy of perfectly seasoned chicken, rain, dog knees, vodka with lemonade, rain, porch concerts and more rain. Author Sue Fagalde Lick , whose previous books include Stories Grandma Never Told and The Iberian Americans, tells it like it really is. What can you do but laugh?