Portland, Packing, and Putting Things in Order

As we were leaving the Columbia Gorge Friday morning, the rain began.  We had hoped it would “hold off” until the afternoon, but it was not to be.  The hop to our Portland RV Park was fairly quick.  When checking in, we asked for a spot near the laundry as we would be cleaning and packing everything up!  The park is nice, but no fire rings (see later comments!  LOL). 

We drove into Portland proper and decided the art museum would be good for a rainy afternoon.  They had a special Body Beautiful exhibit in conjunction with the British Art Museum.  It was an exhibit of classic Greek statues including the Discus Thrower and many Hercules and Aphrodite statues.  I tried to get David to pose as the Discus, but to no avail LOL! (He made a comment about vandalism that happens to the statues and he didn’t want that to happen to him!)  They also had a Monet exhibit which included the Lily Pond and a few others. The museum’s contemporary collection was large but uninspiring.

 

After walking for what felt like miles in the museum (it was 2 buildings connected by a tunnel and could be very confusing to find your way!), we were ready for beer and a snack.  The Grain and Gristle was billed as Clay and Tracy’s fav so we plugged it into Nuvi.  There we had an amazing sour and IPA from Upland Brewing.  So… soon we were plugging in Upland Brewing into Nuvi.  It was in the basement of a building, so finding it took persistence, but we had plenty of that!  We were impressed with almost all of their beers.  On the way home we stopped by Walmart and bought new umbrellas!

Saturday, the rain had slowed to occasional drizzle so we headed out to the Saturday Market.  They had a special tent set up for Distillery tasting, so I left David in the “day care center” and shopped til I dropped.  I was able to pick up a wedding or shower present for Hope and some gifts and a “rainy Oregon” T shirt and cat purse for ME!  Dave bought chocolate infused vodka for Clay and us!  Come and taste it!!

 

Now we were thirsty, so we once again consulted Clay’s list of places to go.  We started at Hair of the Dog Brewery and while tasting there a couple told us the best sours were at Cascade.  There we got some amazing sours and only tasted about ¼ of them!  We also tasted several of their small plates to balance the brews!  As we were leaving the Market area we saw folks lining up all the way around the block to get into Voodoo Donuts.  Nuvi found us a 2^nd shop near Cascade that, while it had a line, it wasn’t quite as crowded.  David laughed and said his birthday present to me was now complete…. Rogue beer and Voodoo Donuts.  (If you weren't at my birthday party and want to know the joke...use your imagination or ask!)  I threatened to send the picture of him eating the bacon maple donut to our nutritionist!! LOL… They definitely have different donuts.  The ones with the fruit loops and Oreos would definitely give you a sugar high!!  We settled on a peanut butter and chocolate fritter and some glazed and filled ones, enough to keep our sugar levels up through Sunday!!

Dave munching on a maple and bacon donut!!!

Sunday we woke up to dry, but threatening skies. With the Panthers and Tigers having byes, we were having football withdrawal!  At least they weren’t losing!  Clay called us from his DC/VA/NC trip and wanted to know if we had taped the Panther game on our DVR (think about that for a minute…  Clay is in the backwater of VA and calls us in Oregon about the Panthers!! LOL).  We told him, that Cam was having his best Sunday with no fumbles or interceptions and the defense had not allowed a single score!!  After a few choice words from Clay, Dave informed him it was a bye week.

Back at the RV Park, Dave cleaned out all of the compartments underneath and prepped the segways (we learned our lesson and took the expensive batteries off of the units this time!).  He really wanted to get this chore done before rain really settled in as it is predicted to do.  Deb worked on the RV inventory.  We have laughed since the last trip:  every time we couldn’t find something; we would conclude it was in the RV.  We decided to do an inventory, so we would know what is here. The rain seemed to be holding off, so we decided to ride up to Mount St. Helen’s.  Unfortunately when we got to the Lower visitor’s center, the mountain was ensconced in clouds and fog, and it didn’t make much sense to go further.

Monday we finished our packing planning.  We found yet a better and less expensive RV storage unit.  (We passed on the storage condos you had to buy!!! LOL) Our other piece of “business” was to get a wine packing box, since we weren’t having any luck with Nuvi finding UPS stores nearby, we decided to stop into Edgefield Winery at McMenamen’s which was nearby.  It was their first Hotel and Winery/Brewery.  The wine was passable and she threw in a box when we bought a bottle!

Then it was into Portland for lunch and one last brewery.  At the “Lucky Labrador” we laughed at the sign that said, “No dogs allowed”.  I guess the dogs aren’t as lucky as the brew.  The beers were just ok, but the tomato bisque soup was outstanding and much needed after maneuvering through traffic. There is much competition among the brew pubs here.  They all have good beer, most have great beer.  With so many, you begin to expect to be “blown away”!!  At the brewery we asked where the best place to get coffee was , so that  we could get some to take home to the troops.  The place around the corner, Coava was great.  The gardens and Elvis’ 24 hr Church and Art Gallery were the last things on our list.  The rain made the gardens less attractive (though the Chinese Garden was listed in the “things to do in Portland in the rain”… lol … We passed.  But the Elvis church was a hoot.  It is just a store front window in China Town.  I loved the last screen (and electronic voice) after I had put in 2 quarters.  “Thank you for visiting Elvis’ church where we don’t tithe… we quarter!”  Tracy and Clay, they supposedly perform weddings there too for a dollar.  Let us know if you want to elope!!!! (don’t you dare!!!!)

Elvis' 24 Hour Church and Art Gallery

Coava Coffee
They measured the water by weighing it!

 

REFLECTIONS….

 As I write this, Dave has spent the morning on a conference call and is now working on a proposal for DS,  and I’ve been IM’ing Emily about WHEN I can FINALLY see the granddaughters,  so we are definitely making the transition back to NC and SC!  It is time to start reflecting on our trip!

 ·         I think we have the “living in 300 square feet” thing down pretty pat!  The only thing of significance we bought for the RV this time was a space heater.  This kept us warm and cozy in the bedroom and saved on propane.  There were several days when we used both the air conditioner and the heater in the same day as the temperature difference could be as much as 40 degrees!  We also bought a cover for the RV since we will be storing it without cover.  As I begin to clean and pack up, I’m using a lot of Clorox based anti mildew cleaner!!  Will it be enough?  Only time will tell.

 ·         The pace of this trip has been much more relaxed.  We only did a “stop and drop” 2 or 3 times, and we stayed 2-4 days or more in most places.  Of course we covered a lot less territory this way, but we felt like we truly saw the places we went.  (And used less gas!)

 ·         I’ve learned to reach out to our neighbors and invite them over for wine.  Often they have said that this was their first invitation and that they were also “hungry” to meet people.  Having a fire ring at the camp site helps (and makes my pyrotechnic hubby happy!).  It definitely encourages sitting outside swapping tall tales!  When we talked about this with a couple along the Columbia Gorge, they noted that we were from the part of the country where hospitality is the norm!!  So I guess I’ve done my Southern Roots proud!! LOL  The other thing that helped us meet people was my DNC Volunteer shirt.  Almost everytime I wore it, someone would comment on it and start a conversation.  It helped thath Oregon is a pretty blue state!!

·         On those nights when we had no fire ring, or no congenial neighbors, Dave and I played 2 board games I bought at Camping World.  I am now the champion of “Farkel” a dice game similar to Yatzee, but Dave almost has my score doubled in Sumdoko, a “crossword” type number game.  We borrowed Phase 10 here in this last campground, and it is a rummy type game that is also fun.  Will we save the scores for the next trip… or burn them?  I might be “selective!”  LOL

 

·         They really are unimaginative out here in the Northwest!  They don’t have many names for streets and just use numbers.  Our RV park is near 247^th Ave.!!!  Where are they counting from?!!!!  Also Oregon (especially Portland!) drivers must take lessons in New Jersey.  If you slow down even a tiny bit to read a street sign, you get honked at!!  And forget someone letting you in when you want to change lanes!!

·         I haven’t been as successful at finding all of the states’ license plates this trip.  I have more than ½… anyone want to guess how many?  Becky won last time.

 

·         I only read 2 novels this trip, well 4 if you count the 2 books on tape we listened to while driving.  One was about wine tasting, so it was pretty appropriate and the other was a mystery by a Charlotte author.  I'll be sharing them at book club.  I traded in one I left in the RV from the last trip at a "Leave one, take one" shelf at one of the RV parks, so I have one for the flight home.  The 2 Janet Evocavich’s that we listened to had no social redeeming values but were really funny and helped the miles pass.  One was a farce about Charlotte and NASCAR!!!  (Motor Mouth).

And now for Deb’s lists……

I didn’t find as many funny signs this time, but the quality of the few I noted is pretty good!

·         Bone Pile BBQ – Dave especially liked this one

·         End Safety Zone – does this mean we are now traveling in grave danger?

·         Another Pumpkin Patch – the “another” is what really got me!!

·         Drive in Church – every Sunday – that’s one way to do it!!

But I do have one long list!  Coffee Shop names!  They take their coffee and tea very seriously out here.  There are little trailers parked on many intersections that have “Drive up Expresso”  (the most  common name).  Here is a list I compiled just in the last 2 weeks!

 

MoJo                                  Myla’s Cup o’ Jo                            Expresso (boat ½ buried in front yard!)

Expresso 2 Go                   Coffee in Motion                           Java Crew

Brooks & Jerry’s               Fast Lane Expresso                         Dutch Brothers (common chain)                   

Digital Diner                      Mary’s  (simple)                             The Tilting Teapot           

Allies Philosphy                 Pacific Grind                                   SerendipiTEA

Tiger Lily                             Pirate Coffee Co.                            Panache

Beachtown Coffee            Banker’s Cup                                   Coffee Cottage

Retail Expresso                 Black Rock Coffee Bar                    Brewed with Kenings

Better Days Coffee           Jack’s Snack and Tackle                  Coffee Cabin

Vibe                                     Coffee Boutique                              City Coffee

Extracto  Coffee                Clive’ Coffee                                      Museum Grounds

Roaster’s Brew                  Beanarino                                         Perfect Cup (very broken down!)

And my favorite….. Coffee and Wine Bar!