On the Oregon Trail

Part 2 of the vacation update.

So we headed up to Portland after 6 days in San Fran, picked up our funky Chevy Impala rental car and took to the freeway, with the help of another Daniel the GPS. Being a Saturday afternoon, we found Tim & Jackie at the Oregon City Farmer's Market, where Jackie is the manager. Felt it was like meeting old friends, since J had told me so much good stuff about them. Thankfully, they seemed equally pleased to meet me, so we all got on really well, shared many music tastes, had a similar liking for food and fun and we had an absolute ball til we had to come home. We slept in our own little detached barn in Tim and Jackie's back garden - it was quiet and lovely, decorated by Tim and a really nice home from home. We awoke to woodpeckers drilling their way into the old walnut tree behind us - it really was heaven.

In between times, we had some great days out, with J & I heading up to Mount Hood still covered in about 10 feet of snow, people snow-boarding all over the place and looking very cool, and Timberline Lodge, built in the 1930's as part of the government run Works Progress Administration scheme to keep people busy in difficult economic times, particularly brilliant and insightful since many of the Abstract Expressionists - Pollock, deKooning et al - were able to paint through it - and used as the frontage for the hotel in The Shining.

Had hot chocolate and then went up a ski-lift half way up the volcano - twin of Mount St Helens, which we also saw, though from a distance, that blew it's top back in the 1980's. A fabulous view in the warm sun. Then we popped down through the most amazing scenery and an inspiring (artistically) canyon with turkey vultures all around, heralding our arrival, to Warm Springs and the Kah-Nee-Tah resort geothermal pools which were just the easiest place in the world to be. A passing thunderstorm chased us out of the water briefly, but disappeared without incident and unnecessary searing of human flesh.

Portland is a great city, again easy to be in, with restaurants, cool shops and friendly folk throughout. My search for cowboy boots (always wanted a good pair) was very fruitful indeed, with me finding a lovely pair in the Portland Outdoor Shop and then being given another pair by Tim and Jackie's friends Jeff and Jeannie which also fitted like a glove - Jeff found them at a goodwill store, loved them but they were a touch too small for him and therefore a little uncomfy. So glad he passed them on, because they are so cool. Photos of the boots to follow.

Above l-r: Jeannie, Jackie, J, Jeff and Tim

Jeff and Jeannie are also lovely - he's a good guitar player (and mandolin and banjo - in fact anything with strings) and a collector of old farm machinery and dustpans! We had a really good evening at their house with BBQ'd salmon, salads and good wine, all the while being dive-bombed by hummingbirds - ended the evening with a game of Switch (cards) and much laughing. Would love to go back and visit again sometime soon.

Portland Museum of Art is very good, with some great painting and sculpture - I think what grabbed me most though was the Native American basket weaving (seriously!!) which was beeeeeautiful.

Tim & Jackie have 2 dogs - Maggie is an elderly long haired retriever cross, calm and sweet, whilst Chasey is a 3 legged Heeler with a grey coat and a snappy disposition - you have to watch for your fingers - she's a sweetie at heart though, and was definitely getting used to us by the time we left. She lost her leg in an unpleasant dog v automobile outside the house last year - she did $1,500 damage to the car, so the leg was a foregone conclusion really.

Oregon is a State of waterfalls and we saw most of them!! Above are the Willamette Falls in the middle of Oregon City - reputedly the biggest falls in the US in terms of water volume after Niagara - that may be wrong though. Also, the Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River gorge - these are massively high, and we walked up to the very top. Just another amazing day.