Although it took us what seemed to be five hours longer to get home than I had planned, we did make good time on our trip back. We unfortunately had one casualty..... a meadowlark. During the early morning hours he flew up in front of our car and went SPLAT! We didn't think anything of it until this morning when we stopped at a gas station and this woman walked up to us and said "Did you know you have a bird stuck to the front of your car?!" Indeed, he had planted himself firmly in the front grill as our makeshift hood ornament. As pretty as his yellow tail feathers were, we decided to lay him to rest in his home state of Montana. We ALMOST had a much bigger casualty (a giant deer) during the night, but luckily Alfredo had lightening quick reflexes and swerved around him at the last moment. We felt like we were in one of those car commercials where logs fall off a semi in front of you and animals try and run you off the road, only it's not as glamerous when you think of what would have happened if you DID end up with a deer for a third passenger. [shudder]
We had great weather all the way back except for one valley in Montana where it suddenly started pelting giant raindrops onto our windshield out of nowhere. Only, on closer inspection, they weren't raindrops...... they were bugs!! YUCK!! We had somehow crossed paths with the insect super highway and they all decided to fly straight at us! It was the most disgusting thing ever (besides the dead bird hood ornament)! We couldn't use the windshield wipers because they smeared the bugs so it just got worse and worse! Finally we had to stop at a gas station to scrape them off because it had gotten so thick that we couldn't see out the front window. The front of our car looked like it was covered in tan colored snow. bleh......
I counted my digital photos and I believe I took somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 photos.... maybe more. If you want to see them, well, it's at your own risk! ;) It could take hours!
Thanks to all of you who joined us on our little adventure. Tune in next time when we travel to the hot and sunny tropics of Argentina.... ha ha. I wish!! We love to travel, but I have to admit - it feels great to be home! :)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Trekking home
Well, it is time to say goodbye to Seattle and head home. Our trip felt like it lasted only five minutes and I'm trying to figure out where all those days went. There is so much more to see - it felt like we only got the appetizer and now we're ready for the main course! We're definitely going to take another trip out here in the future and catch up on some more of the sights (and probably more friends/family).
At about noon we'll be on the road again. Hopefully this time we'll be able to catch the Rocky Mountains in daylight!
See you all soon! :)
At about noon we'll be on the road again. Hopefully this time we'll be able to catch the Rocky Mountains in daylight!
See you all soon! :)
Sightseeing Seattle
We started off the day with fabulous homeade cottage cheese blueberry pancakes - ala Bob. This is his specialty and even though it happened to be father's day, he insisted on taking over the cooking duties. We were all very impressed by the yummy pancakes and ate until we were stuffed. We also had fresh carrot/fruit juice and cherries once again. Can't get enough of those cherries!
Promptly at 9:30 am my friend Nicholle Omiste (formerly Shaffer) from St. Olaf picked us up to take us on a walking tour of Seattle. She works on Bainbridge Island which is a ferry ride across the bay, so she is very familiar with all the streets and local attractions downtown. We began our trip by taking the monorail over to the Space Needle and walking around the park there, seeing all the cool buildings, fountains, strange street people selling things, and funny sculptures. Unfortunately, many of the outdoor attractions were closed because it was only 50 degrees, but it was fun to imagine what they would have looked like in hot weather with millions of kids running around them. We saw the strange music center which was a gigantic sculpture of a building in all different colors that made no sense to me, but Nicolle explained that it was commissioned by one of the owners of Microsoft and that he made it becuase "he needed to get a girlfriend and wanted to impress her". ha ha! Ohhh...... that makes sooo much more sense now. ;) It actually looked quite interesting, but I wasn't about to pay $15 to find out about the disco lounge and tribute to Jimmy Hendrix guitars. Well, not yet anyway..... ;)
We continued our hike around the historical downtown into Pioneer Square and eventually to Pike's Market. This was one of the other highlights of the trip. We loved the colors, the smells and the sounds of this busy market with all it's fresh fruit and veggie stands, bakeries and crafts. I told Alfredo I could live there! We saw some guys throwing fish, but it wasn't a busy day and mostly people were standing around holding cameras up waiting for a good photo and no one was buying anything. Hence, no fish being thrown (come on people!). We sampled some of the fresh white peaches which were to die for!! We also bought some Ranier cherries (the yellow ones) and figs, and for lunch we munched on fresh hot gyros. Again, excellent eating!
After stuffing ourselves, we continued our trek down Pioneer Square to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop where they have supposed dead bodies and heads of Guatemalen indians in glass cases and other crazy morbid things. It's all very hokey, but good fun for an old fashioned scare! We didn't take home any bones, but we did find some good postcards. :) We also walked through the Washington Ferry terminal and saw where Nicholle takes her 45 minute ride every day on the way to work.
We capped off the day by taking a 90 minute walking tour of the Underground of the city. Seattle was orginally a town that was built all in wooden structures on the edge of a sand dune. It a giant tinderbox waiting to ignite. One day a kid who was melting glue in a factory forgot to attend to the fire and it exploded into a giant grease fire that burnt down the whole city. Oops! I'm pretty sure he lost his job. Luckily no one was hurt, but they decided to take this opportunity to start over and they did something totally radical. They built directly on top of the remains of the old city and raised everything up between 15 - 30 feet. Everything was built in stone and eventually the streets were filled in to rise up to the height of the new buildings. As bizarre as this sounds, it was actually quite interesting because it left a hollow city underneath where bootleggers hid their booze during the prohibition, and banks hid their gold during the gold rush, etc. We were able to walk all over under the city and see what used to be there! It felt like we were in some secret underground society.
We hopped back in the car, said goodbye to Nicholle and spent our last few hours hanging out with the Rosains. Their daughter Becky, her husband Scott and their 17 month old daughter, Alice were visiting and that provided a whole other element of fun. Alice was at walking stage now so she could run around everywhere.... the stairs were her favorite. She was also very organized, so her favorite thing to do was put all the magnets on the refrigerator in order. I have a feeling she's going to be Secretary of State someday. Or perhaps the next Martha Stewart! ha ha
We also had a fun and unique opportunity to see some old family movies that Bob's dad had taken on his 9 millimeter movie camera (the old fashioned kind). We saw movies of my grandparents at Christmas, my parents and relatives growing up and even my mom and dad's wedding!!! Not many people get to see live footage of their parents before they were born! :) Bob also had a video from 1991 which was the last time we saw them at a family reunion, so of course there were embarrassing shots of me in my fuschia shirt tied in a knot in front, 80's style, and bright blue shorts. Those were not the best fashion years for me...... One funny thing I noticed, my mom looks exactly the same! Same haircut, same clothes, same everything. It's like she hasn't aged in 16 years! Amazing!
After many fun hours of movies and reminiscing, we had to say goodbye to Bob and Jody and move on to our next destination which was a BBQ at George and Mariah's house in Lynnwood, about 30 minutes away. Again, we were fed to the gills with wonderful homemade food: steak, organic tossed salad with feta cheese (my favorite!), and fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert! Yummmm....... We had a great time catching up and telling funny stories. It was nice to get to know Mariah's husband George since we haven't hung out with him before. We grilled him all about what it's like being a high school physics teacher and mountaineering man. Mariah and George are both avid outdoorsy people, which was apparent from all the adventure magazines around their house and all their photos taken atop big mountains. They are perfectly located in Seattle to take advantage of the outdoors scene. It's almost enough to convince us we need to move here! ;) Sounds like lots of fun!
Promptly at 9:30 am my friend Nicholle Omiste (formerly Shaffer) from St. Olaf picked us up to take us on a walking tour of Seattle. She works on Bainbridge Island which is a ferry ride across the bay, so she is very familiar with all the streets and local attractions downtown. We began our trip by taking the monorail over to the Space Needle and walking around the park there, seeing all the cool buildings, fountains, strange street people selling things, and funny sculptures. Unfortunately, many of the outdoor attractions were closed because it was only 50 degrees, but it was fun to imagine what they would have looked like in hot weather with millions of kids running around them. We saw the strange music center which was a gigantic sculpture of a building in all different colors that made no sense to me, but Nicolle explained that it was commissioned by one of the owners of Microsoft and that he made it becuase "he needed to get a girlfriend and wanted to impress her". ha ha! Ohhh...... that makes sooo much more sense now. ;) It actually looked quite interesting, but I wasn't about to pay $15 to find out about the disco lounge and tribute to Jimmy Hendrix guitars. Well, not yet anyway..... ;)
We continued our hike around the historical downtown into Pioneer Square and eventually to Pike's Market. This was one of the other highlights of the trip. We loved the colors, the smells and the sounds of this busy market with all it's fresh fruit and veggie stands, bakeries and crafts. I told Alfredo I could live there! We saw some guys throwing fish, but it wasn't a busy day and mostly people were standing around holding cameras up waiting for a good photo and no one was buying anything. Hence, no fish being thrown (come on people!). We sampled some of the fresh white peaches which were to die for!! We also bought some Ranier cherries (the yellow ones) and figs, and for lunch we munched on fresh hot gyros. Again, excellent eating!
After stuffing ourselves, we continued our trek down Pioneer Square to Ye Olde Curiosity Shop where they have supposed dead bodies and heads of Guatemalen indians in glass cases and other crazy morbid things. It's all very hokey, but good fun for an old fashioned scare! We didn't take home any bones, but we did find some good postcards. :) We also walked through the Washington Ferry terminal and saw where Nicholle takes her 45 minute ride every day on the way to work.
We capped off the day by taking a 90 minute walking tour of the Underground of the city. Seattle was orginally a town that was built all in wooden structures on the edge of a sand dune. It a giant tinderbox waiting to ignite. One day a kid who was melting glue in a factory forgot to attend to the fire and it exploded into a giant grease fire that burnt down the whole city. Oops! I'm pretty sure he lost his job. Luckily no one was hurt, but they decided to take this opportunity to start over and they did something totally radical. They built directly on top of the remains of the old city and raised everything up between 15 - 30 feet. Everything was built in stone and eventually the streets were filled in to rise up to the height of the new buildings. As bizarre as this sounds, it was actually quite interesting because it left a hollow city underneath where bootleggers hid their booze during the prohibition, and banks hid their gold during the gold rush, etc. We were able to walk all over under the city and see what used to be there! It felt like we were in some secret underground society.
We hopped back in the car, said goodbye to Nicholle and spent our last few hours hanging out with the Rosains. Their daughter Becky, her husband Scott and their 17 month old daughter, Alice were visiting and that provided a whole other element of fun. Alice was at walking stage now so she could run around everywhere.... the stairs were her favorite. She was also very organized, so her favorite thing to do was put all the magnets on the refrigerator in order. I have a feeling she's going to be Secretary of State someday. Or perhaps the next Martha Stewart! ha ha
We also had a fun and unique opportunity to see some old family movies that Bob's dad had taken on his 9 millimeter movie camera (the old fashioned kind). We saw movies of my grandparents at Christmas, my parents and relatives growing up and even my mom and dad's wedding!!! Not many people get to see live footage of their parents before they were born! :) Bob also had a video from 1991 which was the last time we saw them at a family reunion, so of course there were embarrassing shots of me in my fuschia shirt tied in a knot in front, 80's style, and bright blue shorts. Those were not the best fashion years for me...... One funny thing I noticed, my mom looks exactly the same! Same haircut, same clothes, same everything. It's like she hasn't aged in 16 years! Amazing!
After many fun hours of movies and reminiscing, we had to say goodbye to Bob and Jody and move on to our next destination which was a BBQ at George and Mariah's house in Lynnwood, about 30 minutes away. Again, we were fed to the gills with wonderful homemade food: steak, organic tossed salad with feta cheese (my favorite!), and fresh strawberry shortcake for dessert! Yummmm....... We had a great time catching up and telling funny stories. It was nice to get to know Mariah's husband George since we haven't hung out with him before. We grilled him all about what it's like being a high school physics teacher and mountaineering man. Mariah and George are both avid outdoorsy people, which was apparent from all the adventure magazines around their house and all their photos taken atop big mountains. They are perfectly located in Seattle to take advantage of the outdoors scene. It's almost enough to convince us we need to move here! ;) Sounds like lots of fun!
Sailing through Seattle
This morning we reluctantly checked out of the gorgeous Avalon hotel and started the 3 hour drive up to Bellavue where our family lives (Bob and Jody Rosain). We had a really hard time figuring out how we were related, but it appears that Bob is cousins with my mom, which would make us first cousins once removed...... or so they said. Either way, they are such a wonderful couple who are empty nesters and were eager to have visitors. We arrived at their house around noon and got settled in. They have a split level house with huge windows in the front, inviting wood ceilings and floors, lots of sculptures and art from around the world that they've collected while visiting their children in the Peace Corp, and other cute coastal features. We had a nice get-to-know-you chat, since the last time we met was when I was 11, and then took off in their little Scion for a whirlwind tour of the city of Seattle. Having lived in Bellavue for over 20 years, they were experts on what neighborhoods were in what districts of town, all the buildings in the Washington U campus, and of course all of the tourist attractions. It was a fun drive that ended up down at the marina where we got to take a little cruise on their sailboat!!
Bob and Jody have been avid sailors for many years and they told us tales of all their sailboats and the cool places they have been. They even let Alfredo and I help change the sails! It was a cool windy day, so perfect for sailing, and we were able to see all across Lake Union. There were no sea lions in sight, but we did spot a big jellyfish - YUCK!
After the refreshing sail, we headed back home and they prepared us a PHENOMENAL dinner: bright red Alaskan king salmon with garlic, lemon and salt roatsted on a cedar plank (mmmmmmm), tossed green salad with nuts, broccolini, fresh baked bread, mushroom risotto and rhubarb-strawberry pie with ice cream for dinner. I cannot even tell you how much we ate that day!! We also had fresh Washington cherries to snack on and some excellent local red wine. We felt like royalty! To add to the fun, Jody's sister, Susan, came by to join us for dinner and told us hilarious stories with her dry sense of humor that made us all laugh. They are such a fun family with so many great stories to tell! We felt like we had known them forever!
After dinner and long conversation, Alfredo and I put on our salsa outfits and went down to the Century ballroom to join up with Mariah and George Ortiz for some salsa dancing! The ballroom was beautiful with a huge wooden floor and we had a great time catching up with them and catching up on our dancing skills. :) It was late by the time we got home and we were exhausted, but it was a spectacular day and we wouldn't have wanted to miss out on a thing!
As a side note, we found out that Seattle is the #5 carjacking capitol of the US, and we were totally convinced that night that our car was going to be stolen when we left to go dancing. There was a car across the street with tinted windows and there was a dude sitting in there who kept staring at us and continued to sit in his car until after we had walked away. I wanted to run back to the car to check, but I didn't and luckily it was still there when we returned. Maybe no one wants a Hyundai Sonata anyway..... whew. ;)
Bob and Jody have been avid sailors for many years and they told us tales of all their sailboats and the cool places they have been. They even let Alfredo and I help change the sails! It was a cool windy day, so perfect for sailing, and we were able to see all across Lake Union. There were no sea lions in sight, but we did spot a big jellyfish - YUCK!
After the refreshing sail, we headed back home and they prepared us a PHENOMENAL dinner: bright red Alaskan king salmon with garlic, lemon and salt roatsted on a cedar plank (mmmmmmm), tossed green salad with nuts, broccolini, fresh baked bread, mushroom risotto and rhubarb-strawberry pie with ice cream for dinner. I cannot even tell you how much we ate that day!! We also had fresh Washington cherries to snack on and some excellent local red wine. We felt like royalty! To add to the fun, Jody's sister, Susan, came by to join us for dinner and told us hilarious stories with her dry sense of humor that made us all laugh. They are such a fun family with so many great stories to tell! We felt like we had known them forever!
After dinner and long conversation, Alfredo and I put on our salsa outfits and went down to the Century ballroom to join up with Mariah and George Ortiz for some salsa dancing! The ballroom was beautiful with a huge wooden floor and we had a great time catching up with them and catching up on our dancing skills. :) It was late by the time we got home and we were exhausted, but it was a spectacular day and we wouldn't have wanted to miss out on a thing!
As a side note, we found out that Seattle is the #5 carjacking capitol of the US, and we were totally convinced that night that our car was going to be stolen when we left to go dancing. There was a car across the street with tinted windows and there was a dude sitting in there who kept staring at us and continued to sit in his car until after we had walked away. I wanted to run back to the car to check, but I didn't and luckily it was still there when we returned. Maybe no one wants a Hyundai Sonata anyway..... whew. ;)
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Gardens and Balloons
Alfredo and I took the opportunity of the yucky morning weather to sleep in a bit today. There was a great continental breakfast (homeade granola, juice, fresh fruit, coffee, you name it) and great television on: Star Wars, the original series! Of course we got sucked into watching the whole thing and by the time it was over the weather had just about cleared up. :) In true Oregonian fashion, we decided to work out, so we suited up and went up to the fitness center in the hotel. Not only was it huge with a million machines to choose from, but it was practically empty so we tried the treadmills, the weights, the balls and the punching bag! ha ha.... so much fun! I'm training for a 5k race coming up (yeah Jodes!) so I got my 3 miles in and felt pretty good about that. :)
After the excellent workout, we decided to conquer the strange maze of Portland streets and go to the Portland Japanese Garden and the International Test Rose Garden. We of course got lost, but were lost in a forest, so it wasn't all bad. I took lots of pics along the way and eventually we got to our destination just as the sun was peeking through the clouds. Imagine about 300 acres of the most gorgeous roses you have ever seen, all colors of the rainbow. Then imagine that it has just stopped raining and so there are dewdrops on every petal and the colors are vibrant and everything smells fresh. Well, that only begins to describe the experience! I think I drove Alfredo nuts because I must have taken at least 300 pictures there. Not kidding!!
Across the way was the exquisite Japanese garden, which was a quarter mile hike up through the forest to a secluded wooded area that was a hidden treasure of manicured bushes, flowers, bridges, fountains, waterfalls and sculptures laid out in simplicity and harmony with the surrounding forest. We felt like we had been transported to Japan! There were even brightly patterned orange, yellow and black cod in the pond and they made a weird sucking noise with their big round mouths every time they came to the surface. Alfredo figured out how to do a perfect impression of them! ha ha... I think this garden was one of my favorite things that we've encountered on our trip so far. It's hard to describe - it's just a feeling you have when you're in there like you are totally at peace. It's great! I took lots of pictures so I can recreate some of these cool elements in my own backyard (someday when I actually have a yard!).
One other funny tidbit - we were eating frozen popsicles at the rose garden and my lips froze to the popsicle and I couldn't get them off. :( It hurt like crazy and I felt like such a DORK because I couldn't remove them! Alfredo tried to breathe hot air on the popsicle but to no avail. My lips were permanently stuck and I had to wait for the popsicle to melt in order to get them off. Ugh! I now have patches of skin missing from my bottom lip. Don't laugh at me!
The afternoon entertainment for the day was going down to Tigard (about half an hour south of Portland) for the annual hot air balloon festival. There were lots of vendors selling yummy carnival food (mmm..... A&W root beer floats, pizza, and curly fries), live music, arts and crafts stands with beautiful handmade Indian jewelry and lots of other cool local artsy things. When we first arrived the music of choice was a "band" which was made up of what looked like three 10 year old boys on electric guitars and drums. They were performing music that they wrote which all sounded exactly the same - painful to the ears. After that it got better with some DJ's keeping the tunes alive and pretty soon the trucks rolled into the big grassy field and started setting up the hot air balloons and slowly filling them with air. As we munched on our veggie chips and root beer floats, we watched the colorful balloons come to life. As the daylight faded into dusk, they became "glowing" balloons that lit up the night sky, every time the fires were ignited beneath them. They never actually took off into the sky, but it was still cool to watch them glow on and off. After draining my camera battery into oblivion, with bags full of our purchases from the local vendors, we headed back to Portland for our final night at the Avalon. [sigh] The time has flown too fast! Sionara Oregon - Washington here we come!
After the excellent workout, we decided to conquer the strange maze of Portland streets and go to the Portland Japanese Garden and the International Test Rose Garden. We of course got lost, but were lost in a forest, so it wasn't all bad. I took lots of pics along the way and eventually we got to our destination just as the sun was peeking through the clouds. Imagine about 300 acres of the most gorgeous roses you have ever seen, all colors of the rainbow. Then imagine that it has just stopped raining and so there are dewdrops on every petal and the colors are vibrant and everything smells fresh. Well, that only begins to describe the experience! I think I drove Alfredo nuts because I must have taken at least 300 pictures there. Not kidding!!
Across the way was the exquisite Japanese garden, which was a quarter mile hike up through the forest to a secluded wooded area that was a hidden treasure of manicured bushes, flowers, bridges, fountains, waterfalls and sculptures laid out in simplicity and harmony with the surrounding forest. We felt like we had been transported to Japan! There were even brightly patterned orange, yellow and black cod in the pond and they made a weird sucking noise with their big round mouths every time they came to the surface. Alfredo figured out how to do a perfect impression of them! ha ha... I think this garden was one of my favorite things that we've encountered on our trip so far. It's hard to describe - it's just a feeling you have when you're in there like you are totally at peace. It's great! I took lots of pictures so I can recreate some of these cool elements in my own backyard (someday when I actually have a yard!).
One other funny tidbit - we were eating frozen popsicles at the rose garden and my lips froze to the popsicle and I couldn't get them off. :( It hurt like crazy and I felt like such a DORK because I couldn't remove them! Alfredo tried to breathe hot air on the popsicle but to no avail. My lips were permanently stuck and I had to wait for the popsicle to melt in order to get them off. Ugh! I now have patches of skin missing from my bottom lip. Don't laugh at me!
The afternoon entertainment for the day was going down to Tigard (about half an hour south of Portland) for the annual hot air balloon festival. There were lots of vendors selling yummy carnival food (mmm..... A&W root beer floats, pizza, and curly fries), live music, arts and crafts stands with beautiful handmade Indian jewelry and lots of other cool local artsy things. When we first arrived the music of choice was a "band" which was made up of what looked like three 10 year old boys on electric guitars and drums. They were performing music that they wrote which all sounded exactly the same - painful to the ears. After that it got better with some DJ's keeping the tunes alive and pretty soon the trucks rolled into the big grassy field and started setting up the hot air balloons and slowly filling them with air. As we munched on our veggie chips and root beer floats, we watched the colorful balloons come to life. As the daylight faded into dusk, they became "glowing" balloons that lit up the night sky, every time the fires were ignited beneath them. They never actually took off into the sky, but it was still cool to watch them glow on and off. After draining my camera battery into oblivion, with bags full of our purchases from the local vendors, we headed back to Portland for our final night at the Avalon. [sigh] The time has flown too fast! Sionara Oregon - Washington here we come!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Call us!
We will be staying at the Avalon through tonight (Friday) and we discovered we have our own telephone answering service - sweet! So give us a call if you're bored @ 503-802-5838 and hear our silly voice message! :) We'd love to hear from you!
To Portland and Beyond
We started off our day early with a jaunt downtown Portland in search of......whatever we could find. We found a quaint restaurant called Mother's Bistro that was a mixture of cute decor you'd find in your grandmother's house (glass chandeliers, rose patterned couch cushions and wooden benches, and pretty white floor length curtains). They also happened to serve a spectacular breakfast menu - which was handy because there was nowhere else in town that was open before 10 am. Alfredo and I dined in style on another breakfast that was not only hearty, but healthy as well. Slow cooked organic oatmeal with brown sugar and fresh squeezed grapefruit juice....mmmmmmmm.
After breakfast we headed down the streets looking for adventure and found the cute pagoda that marked the entrance to Chinatown and the Chinese Garden. This manicured phenomenon takes up one city block and is meant to be a tranquil haven of lush greenery and flowers for meditation. Today was "elementary schoolers field trip day" so there were about 10 classes of loud and rowdy kids running across the wooden bridges, screaming and yelling "THIS PLACE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!". Minus the craziness, it really was quite stunning and made for some great photo opps with Alfredo posing next to the statues of roaring stone lions. :)
Later in the morning, we returned to the hotel and I tested out the services at the hotel spa by getting a facial treatment, Avalon style. This meant a preliminary foot bath and massage, hand massage and shoulder massage, and then finally an hour of wonderful face beautification. This was my first time getting a facial, and I marveled at how my skin was so soft and hydrated afterwards. In fact, I'm still touching it right now. It feels as good as when I left the spa this morning!
Around noon we hopped in the car and journeyed down to Salem and Kaizer, about 40 minutes drive to visit some friends of Alfredo's. We had a great time visiting with Alfredo's old neighbor, Ralph: an 88 year old man with the spunk of a young kid. He took us through a tour of his apartment (a dry and stuffy old place with knick knacks lining the dusty shelves and old black and white photos of his family who is all deceased). He surprised us by telling us that he still goes out dancing every weekend down the street at the local square dancing joint. He's just as good, only a little slower than he used to be, he said. :) We visited a couple other friends and Alfredo showed me around all his favorite places in Salem where he used to live. We had a fantastic late lunch at a Mexican restaurant and were served by a waitress named Jaunita who was an exact copy to Alfredo's mom, Alejandra. We fell in love with her immediately when she served me a huge (I mean HUGE) plate of food and then asked if she could sit down and help me eat it. :) She also gave us a little tin foil sculpture full of Mexican candies as a souvenir of our trip. We promised to come back and visit her again next time we're in town. She was just one of the many wonderful, friendly people we've met so far.
We capped off the afternoon by shopping at the local Fred Meyer store because Alfredo kept telling me that it was SOOO much better than Target. ha ha..... After scoping it out, it definitely had some potential, but really, is there any comparison to Target?? I think not. ;)
Having maxed out our time in Salem, we decided to throw caution to the wind and drive down to Lincoln city to see the ocean. It turned out to be a bit longer than the 30 minutes Alfredo had estimated. In fact, it was nigh sunset when we got there an hour later. While the view was spectacular, the wind was FREEZING and gave me a pounding headache. We tried to stand by the waves for about five minutes and then ran back to the car as fast as we could! It sounded like such a great idea in theory......
The wooded forests and vineyards on the drive to Lincoln City were incredible though. The tall old growth pines are the supposed hiding place of Bigfoot and we had our eyes peeled the whole time for a glimpse of his hairy legs. We didn't see any hairy legs, but we did find the Spirit Lake Casino hidden in the hills and we stopped there for fun. Alfredo played a couple of slot machines and I found replicas of the Blues Brothers and other strange statues hiding amongst the trees in the hallway. We bought some souvenir wine glasses at the gift shop and then headed for home to relax and taste some of the local wine we had bought earlier in town. Ahhh.....the perfect end to a busy day!
After breakfast we headed down the streets looking for adventure and found the cute pagoda that marked the entrance to Chinatown and the Chinese Garden. This manicured phenomenon takes up one city block and is meant to be a tranquil haven of lush greenery and flowers for meditation. Today was "elementary schoolers field trip day" so there were about 10 classes of loud and rowdy kids running across the wooden bridges, screaming and yelling "THIS PLACE IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!". Minus the craziness, it really was quite stunning and made for some great photo opps with Alfredo posing next to the statues of roaring stone lions. :)
Later in the morning, we returned to the hotel and I tested out the services at the hotel spa by getting a facial treatment, Avalon style. This meant a preliminary foot bath and massage, hand massage and shoulder massage, and then finally an hour of wonderful face beautification. This was my first time getting a facial, and I marveled at how my skin was so soft and hydrated afterwards. In fact, I'm still touching it right now. It feels as good as when I left the spa this morning!
Around noon we hopped in the car and journeyed down to Salem and Kaizer, about 40 minutes drive to visit some friends of Alfredo's. We had a great time visiting with Alfredo's old neighbor, Ralph: an 88 year old man with the spunk of a young kid. He took us through a tour of his apartment (a dry and stuffy old place with knick knacks lining the dusty shelves and old black and white photos of his family who is all deceased). He surprised us by telling us that he still goes out dancing every weekend down the street at the local square dancing joint. He's just as good, only a little slower than he used to be, he said. :) We visited a couple other friends and Alfredo showed me around all his favorite places in Salem where he used to live. We had a fantastic late lunch at a Mexican restaurant and were served by a waitress named Jaunita who was an exact copy to Alfredo's mom, Alejandra. We fell in love with her immediately when she served me a huge (I mean HUGE) plate of food and then asked if she could sit down and help me eat it. :) She also gave us a little tin foil sculpture full of Mexican candies as a souvenir of our trip. We promised to come back and visit her again next time we're in town. She was just one of the many wonderful, friendly people we've met so far.
We capped off the afternoon by shopping at the local Fred Meyer store because Alfredo kept telling me that it was SOOO much better than Target. ha ha..... After scoping it out, it definitely had some potential, but really, is there any comparison to Target?? I think not. ;)
Having maxed out our time in Salem, we decided to throw caution to the wind and drive down to Lincoln city to see the ocean. It turned out to be a bit longer than the 30 minutes Alfredo had estimated. In fact, it was nigh sunset when we got there an hour later. While the view was spectacular, the wind was FREEZING and gave me a pounding headache. We tried to stand by the waves for about five minutes and then ran back to the car as fast as we could! It sounded like such a great idea in theory......
The wooded forests and vineyards on the drive to Lincoln City were incredible though. The tall old growth pines are the supposed hiding place of Bigfoot and we had our eyes peeled the whole time for a glimpse of his hairy legs. We didn't see any hairy legs, but we did find the Spirit Lake Casino hidden in the hills and we stopped there for fun. Alfredo played a couple of slot machines and I found replicas of the Blues Brothers and other strange statues hiding amongst the trees in the hallway. We bought some souvenir wine glasses at the gift shop and then headed for home to relax and taste some of the local wine we had bought earlier in town. Ahhh.....the perfect end to a busy day!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
We made it!
After numerous calls and inquiries about our whereabouts (just teasin, Kels), I decided it would be better to update everyone on the blog! I am currently typing on the computer in the "business center" at the Avalon Hotel & Spa: our home base for 3 days while we are in Portland. I would have to genuinely say that this place is not a nice hotel..... it is a PHENOMENAL hotel!! It is like our own little oasis of luxury complete with complimentary town car rides into the city and a free fitness center that is bigger than LifeTime Fitness in Plymouth (the women's locker room has it's own hot tub and meditation room - ha!). Some may ask 'how do you afford this kind of lifestyle? Do you have connections to Paris Hilton?'. Well..... it helps to have a Happenings book that gives you 50% off! ha ha..... Yes, we live in luxury, but on a budget. :)
For the most part our drive out west uneventful and pleasant. We had great tunes, good company and a sporty little Hyundai Sonata with sunroof - score! Our first stop for gas proved to be a hilarious incident involving a town in North Dakota that had more trains than people per capita. As we entered this podunk little village, we were unable to find the "gas station" which we were sure had to be in the direction we were going. We did, however, find the Catholic church, the Lutheran church, the VFW and a bunch of industrial looking silos. As we drove round and round the dirt roads, it became apparent that wherever this gas station was, it wasn't going to be big. We finally located the one pump in town, which had been hidden from view by a large semi that was sitting in front of it and the pump had no sign whatsoever. As we pulled in, we noticed several people hanging out around the pump: the ma (large and plump, curly hair up in scrunchy), the pa (potbelly, stained T-shirt and worn jeans with holes), the kid (skinny, shaggy brown hair, and only one who knew how to work the "petrol" machine), and a couple other folks who I assumed were the rest of the family, or perhaps their neighbors. As the kid helped Alfredo decipher the ancient gas machine, I asked to use their restroom. It turned out to be a four foot by four foot box of a room with a toilet that looked like it was recovered from the Titanic (complete with rust and algae). Instead of a bar of soap, there was shred of soap remains next to a big dirty nail scrubber brush. I realized that around this part of town, perhaps clean was a relative term. Maybe if you just scrub all the black soot off your hands, you don't need soap?? To complete our adventure, the only road back to the highway happened to cross two railroad tracks and lucky for us, there were two trains that decided to cross just as we were leaving. [sigh]
After 24 hours of driving we were dead tired, starving and dreaming of heads hitting the pillow. We arrived in Oregon (after only one sleeping break of 2 hours) as the sun began to break across the horizon, which of course out west means that it was around 8 am instead of 6 am. Our groggy eyes could barely make out street signs, but we somehow managed to stumble upon a great little city called Arlington, about an hour and a half from Portland where we intended to stop for gas and then be on our way. However, the locals said that the Village Inn diner served an outstanding breakfast, and they couldn't have been more right! We had fresh egg and veggie omelettes with homemade pancakes that melted in your mouth. The pancake was roughly the size of a small pizza, but not surprisingly I was able to scarf down the whole thing. ;) With food in our bellies we continued on towards Portland and drank in the beautiful scenery of the Columbia River gorge, Mt. Hood in all its splendor and the Cascade Locks. We went for a hike at Multnomah Falls and took lots of photos as we hiked through the magical forested landscape. Everything was vibrant and green and fresh and the view was breathtaking as the sun shone through the trees onto the tumbling falls.
We checked into our hotel early in the afternoon (after getting only mildly lost - SW Hamilton Street is NOT the same thing as SW Hamilton Court) and got a tour of the lovely facilities. We thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of taking a hot shower and relaxing outside on our private deck facing the river, letting the breeze dry our hair. There's nothing like staying awake for 38 hours in a row to make you appreciate the little things in life.... like being clean and taking a nap. :)
Hasta luego! More adventures to follow tomorrow.... Now it's time for bed!!
For the most part our drive out west uneventful and pleasant. We had great tunes, good company and a sporty little Hyundai Sonata with sunroof - score! Our first stop for gas proved to be a hilarious incident involving a town in North Dakota that had more trains than people per capita. As we entered this podunk little village, we were unable to find the "gas station" which we were sure had to be in the direction we were going. We did, however, find the Catholic church, the Lutheran church, the VFW and a bunch of industrial looking silos. As we drove round and round the dirt roads, it became apparent that wherever this gas station was, it wasn't going to be big. We finally located the one pump in town, which had been hidden from view by a large semi that was sitting in front of it and the pump had no sign whatsoever. As we pulled in, we noticed several people hanging out around the pump: the ma (large and plump, curly hair up in scrunchy), the pa (potbelly, stained T-shirt and worn jeans with holes), the kid (skinny, shaggy brown hair, and only one who knew how to work the "petrol" machine), and a couple other folks who I assumed were the rest of the family, or perhaps their neighbors. As the kid helped Alfredo decipher the ancient gas machine, I asked to use their restroom. It turned out to be a four foot by four foot box of a room with a toilet that looked like it was recovered from the Titanic (complete with rust and algae). Instead of a bar of soap, there was shred of soap remains next to a big dirty nail scrubber brush. I realized that around this part of town, perhaps clean was a relative term. Maybe if you just scrub all the black soot off your hands, you don't need soap?? To complete our adventure, the only road back to the highway happened to cross two railroad tracks and lucky for us, there were two trains that decided to cross just as we were leaving. [sigh]
After 24 hours of driving we were dead tired, starving and dreaming of heads hitting the pillow. We arrived in Oregon (after only one sleeping break of 2 hours) as the sun began to break across the horizon, which of course out west means that it was around 8 am instead of 6 am. Our groggy eyes could barely make out street signs, but we somehow managed to stumble upon a great little city called Arlington, about an hour and a half from Portland where we intended to stop for gas and then be on our way. However, the locals said that the Village Inn diner served an outstanding breakfast, and they couldn't have been more right! We had fresh egg and veggie omelettes with homemade pancakes that melted in your mouth. The pancake was roughly the size of a small pizza, but not surprisingly I was able to scarf down the whole thing. ;) With food in our bellies we continued on towards Portland and drank in the beautiful scenery of the Columbia River gorge, Mt. Hood in all its splendor and the Cascade Locks. We went for a hike at Multnomah Falls and took lots of photos as we hiked through the magical forested landscape. Everything was vibrant and green and fresh and the view was breathtaking as the sun shone through the trees onto the tumbling falls.
We checked into our hotel early in the afternoon (after getting only mildly lost - SW Hamilton Street is NOT the same thing as SW Hamilton Court) and got a tour of the lovely facilities. We thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of taking a hot shower and relaxing outside on our private deck facing the river, letting the breeze dry our hair. There's nothing like staying awake for 38 hours in a row to make you appreciate the little things in life.... like being clean and taking a nap. :)
Hasta luego! More adventures to follow tomorrow.... Now it's time for bed!!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Ready for takeoff!
Finally..... we're done packing, repacking and stocking up on snacks for the trip. Alfredo is totally convinced that I've gone off the deep end stocking up on healthy snacks like carrots and celery with peanut butter and raisins. I only spent a half hour packing a cooler of food. Really, what's so crazy about that?
More than food, we also have an excellent stock of music and other items of listening pleasure. My coworker Nick graciously "loaned" me his techno mix (SWEET!) and we have iTunes from one end of the spectrum to the other: orchestra to hard rock, salsa beats to hip hop. It's going to be quite a ride! We also have a book-on-CD documentary (thanks Angela!), a motivational speaker (thanks Dad!) and some choir tunes.
We take off at 8:30 am tomorrow morning to discover what our lovely rental vehicle will be for the next 8 days.....mmmmm..... lamborgini? ferrari? pinto? we'll see......as long as it has a good CD player that's all I care about. :)
Off to bed! zzzzz...............
More than food, we also have an excellent stock of music and other items of listening pleasure. My coworker Nick graciously "loaned" me his techno mix (SWEET!) and we have iTunes from one end of the spectrum to the other: orchestra to hard rock, salsa beats to hip hop. It's going to be quite a ride! We also have a book-on-CD documentary (thanks Angela!), a motivational speaker (thanks Dad!) and some choir tunes.
We take off at 8:30 am tomorrow morning to discover what our lovely rental vehicle will be for the next 8 days.....mmmmm..... lamborgini? ferrari? pinto? we'll see......as long as it has a good CD player that's all I care about. :)
Off to bed! zzzzz...............
Friday, June 8, 2007
Where does the time go?
Only four days left! I feel like time is flying like crazy. We still have not started packing yet so I'm very thankful that we have all weekend to work on that (though I prefer to sit outside and catch some rays - it's supposed to be 85 degrees and sunny!!!). I've been emailing and calling all of our contacts out west, and we now have FIVE + people to catch up with in Seattle alone. I hope we have enough time to see everyone!
Okay, back to packing.....
I better go check the weather forecast for our trip. So far it looks like sunny skies ahead!
Okay, back to packing.....
I better go check the weather forecast for our trip. So far it looks like sunny skies ahead!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Welcome to our blog!
Only 11 days left until we leave for our big summer trip out west!! We'll be spending 9 glorious days driving out to Oregon and Washington to see the sights and visit friends and family. I can't wait!! I've done so much legwork for this trip already that I feel like it should be a month long. This will be our first big trip as a married couple (other than our honeymoon, of course) and I'm looking forward to the 24 hours of driving that we'll be doing together on the way out & the way back. "Honey - will you PLEASE change the CD. We've listened to Pink Floyd 10 times in a row!" :) Alfredo says he loves driving long distances, especially at night - he just needs a good supply of Monster energy drinks and some Cheetos. I guess I'll just do my part by putting together some fun music and entertainment for the long drive. I got a new iPod car converter so I can't wait to try that out. We'll just download some good tunes & stories from iTunes and we'll be set!
List of things to do before we leave:
1) Make a list of things to do.
2) Do them.
3) Go on trip.
Well, I hope you all tune in for our exciting adventures out west! I'll try to update this blog every day, probably at night. I want to remember every minute! Feel free to post comments if you want.
Happy June everyone!
List of things to do before we leave:
1) Make a list of things to do.
2) Do them.
3) Go on trip.
Well, I hope you all tune in for our exciting adventures out west! I'll try to update this blog every day, probably at night. I want to remember every minute! Feel free to post comments if you want.
Happy June everyone!
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