Oregon post!
I've been promising, and now I finally got around to writing my Oregon post.
I left work a bit early to catch a 7:20 flight. Hung around the airport, had a drink and watched the Red Sox v. Yankees game a bit. Flight was good, but had a very bumpy descent.
Arrived in Portland, Dad and Ben greeted me somewhere between the gate and baggage claim. Many hugs and such. We drove into Portland and looked for a place to eat. We found a really cool bar & grill where we had some yummy food. Dad and I shared a salmon sandwich which was a little too spicy for my taste, but delicious anyway. We called it a night after dinner since we'd all arrived that day and were tired.
Our first stop in Portland was the International Rose Garden, which DJ recommended we check out. We wandered around the gardens a bit, looking at pretty flowers and trees and scenery. It was really lovely and I got some postcards there for a few people.
After the rose garden, we went to this Flea Market I'd heard about. It was really really awesome. Not flea market like old dusty crap, but lots of vendors with awesome crafts and things. We explored a lot and we all bought stuff. Dad bought some photographs and presents for mom, Ben bought a little wooden whistle thing, and I bought some neat earrings and a funny wood carving thing that says, "Go Huskies!" (if you're a fan of the movie "State & Main" then you know why that's funny)
Dad needed to find a coffee shop with internet access so he could do his fantasy hockey draft. Ben and I hung out there while he did that. I ended up taking a nap, which was very comfy. After that we went to a steakhouse called The Keg for dinner. Oh. my. god. It was delicious. We had this spinach, artichoke, crab dip and it may have been the best thing I'd ever put in my mouth. So fucking delicious. Steak and baked potato with 3 cheese butter was delicious also. I wish we had them in LA, because they were so good!
Sunday was the day of the hockey game, but we needed to find something to do before it. I tried talking Dad and Ben into seeing "Serenity" but they weren't going for it. Until they read a local paper which trashed every movie in theaters, except for "Serenity." Then they were interested. So we went to see it and it was awesome of course. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat, it was perfect. Simply wonderful. And they liked it too, which was great because they didn't see the show and knew nothing about it.
While we were in downtown Portland we saw this cool waterfall structure thing which was really neat. And we took some funny pictures of Dad and Ben with a statue. And ate really good pizza from a chain called "Pizza Schmizza." It was really good, and I'm not a big pizza person. Yummy yummy in my tummy.
We went to the hockey game, and it was ok. They were college kids, so most of them weren't that talented yet and the game wasn't that exciting. There was a crapload of fighting. We were walking into the auditorium, and within 4 seconds of the game starting, there was a fight. At most there were 4 guys from each team taking time outs. It was absurd. And the Winterhawk fans were really annoying so I was kind of glad when the away team won. Heh.
After the game we had a little surprise when we realized Dad left the lights on and the battery died. And of course it just started to rain again. It wasn't a huge deal because AAA got there in like 40 minutes, and they jumped the car and we were fine. It really wasn't that bad, though I got the feeling Dad was the most irritated out of all of us. I didn't care though. We were on vacation, it was an adventure, and no harm no foul. Once the car was fixed we went to dinner at this cool floating seafood restaurant. It was really lovely and also had yummy food. I had salmon and it was very good.
Monday was Eugene day!! Eugene day meant seeing Jared!!! I was so excited because I hadn't seen him in like, a year and a half. Dad, Ben and I drove down to Eugene and met him at his apartment. He was actually running a bit late so he waited while he biked down from the school. He met my dad and bro and then they dropped us off downtown and we parted ways. We couldn't take St. Theresa (his car) out because she was having issues, so we ended up taking the bus and walking around.
We started by having lunch at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant. I tried something called 'brown slices' which was a veggie meat-like substance. It wasn't that good, but I liked the sauce and veggies, so it was fine. Jared ended up paying for me, which was sweet. We took the bus to the school and had coffee with his Episcopalian friends, who were very nice. Then I got a tour of the lab and got to see his zebrafish and cool equipment he uses and he showed me an embryo in a microscope. It was very neat.
We left the school and walked down to the river, where we stopped on a bridge over the river. It was so pretty, lots of trees on either side and the bridge over the river which was swirling around and it was so nice. We were talking and we were leaning close together over the bridge. And there was a moment where I really thought he was going to kiss me. And I was pretty disappointed when he didn't. (he later told me he didn't because he thought it'd confuse things, which he was right about, but it was still disappointing because I really wanted him to kiss me)
We kept walking through the park and stopped on a bench on this little island in the park. We watched the ducks and cuddled on the bench because it was cold. Then he taught me these fun games that he was way better at, but it was fun because it was keeping me warm and it involved me falling into him a lot. Which I liked. Hehe.
Eventually we walked to the restaurant where Dad and Ben met back up with us. The restaurant was ok. Kind of BJ's-esque, but I didn't like it as much. But it was fun hanging out with the boys. We dropped Jared back off at lab after dinner and we hugged goodbye and we headed back to Portland. It was so good to see him again and it makes me mad because I still think we'd be really good together if we were in the same state. Maybe the timing for us is just never going to be right. Oh well.
Our last day in Portland was a very active day. We started out driving up to Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge. Timberline lodge is where they shot some exteriors for "The Shining" and it's way up in the mountains, at the base of Mt. Hood. It was so cold up there that there was snow all over the place. It was so fun. The trees were speckled with snow and it reminded me of Christmas. It was beautiful.
We explored the lodge a bit and watched an informational video about the construction of it. Then we hiked up a little bit to get closer to the mountain. We thought we weren't going to get to see it at first, since it was so cloudy out. But the the wind just blew the clouds away, and there was Mt. Hood! It was awesome. So beautiful. I loved being up there in the cold and snow and walking around. I even built a snowman! Heehee!
We left Mt. Hood and found this place for lunch that ended up being surprisingly delicious. Best hot chocolate EVER. Next was a gorge an hour or so away. We took pictures and then walked a bit uphill to take closer pictures. Reminded me of Ithaca a little. Very pretty, but I liked Mt. Hood better. Last stop for the day was a little lookout spot where we had a great view of the river and everything. There's so much pretty up there. Mmm.
Dad and Ben left wicked early the last morning. I hung around a bit longer at the hotel before leaving myself. I managed to get to the airport via the streetcar and the Max, which was fun. Flight back was good, and it was good to be back home. But man, I had a great time. I really liked Oregon. I could totally see living there later. I hope my parents move there soon, I think they'll be really happy there.
I left work a bit early to catch a 7:20 flight. Hung around the airport, had a drink and watched the Red Sox v. Yankees game a bit. Flight was good, but had a very bumpy descent.
Arrived in Portland, Dad and Ben greeted me somewhere between the gate and baggage claim. Many hugs and such. We drove into Portland and looked for a place to eat. We found a really cool bar & grill where we had some yummy food. Dad and I shared a salmon sandwich which was a little too spicy for my taste, but delicious anyway. We called it a night after dinner since we'd all arrived that day and were tired.
Our first stop in Portland was the International Rose Garden, which DJ recommended we check out. We wandered around the gardens a bit, looking at pretty flowers and trees and scenery. It was really lovely and I got some postcards there for a few people.
After the rose garden, we went to this Flea Market I'd heard about. It was really really awesome. Not flea market like old dusty crap, but lots of vendors with awesome crafts and things. We explored a lot and we all bought stuff. Dad bought some photographs and presents for mom, Ben bought a little wooden whistle thing, and I bought some neat earrings and a funny wood carving thing that says, "Go Huskies!" (if you're a fan of the movie "State & Main" then you know why that's funny)
Dad needed to find a coffee shop with internet access so he could do his fantasy hockey draft. Ben and I hung out there while he did that. I ended up taking a nap, which was very comfy. After that we went to a steakhouse called The Keg for dinner. Oh. my. god. It was delicious. We had this spinach, artichoke, crab dip and it may have been the best thing I'd ever put in my mouth. So fucking delicious. Steak and baked potato with 3 cheese butter was delicious also. I wish we had them in LA, because they were so good!
Sunday was the day of the hockey game, but we needed to find something to do before it. I tried talking Dad and Ben into seeing "Serenity" but they weren't going for it. Until they read a local paper which trashed every movie in theaters, except for "Serenity." Then they were interested. So we went to see it and it was awesome of course. I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat, it was perfect. Simply wonderful. And they liked it too, which was great because they didn't see the show and knew nothing about it.
While we were in downtown Portland we saw this cool waterfall structure thing which was really neat. And we took some funny pictures of Dad and Ben with a statue. And ate really good pizza from a chain called "Pizza Schmizza." It was really good, and I'm not a big pizza person. Yummy yummy in my tummy.
We went to the hockey game, and it was ok. They were college kids, so most of them weren't that talented yet and the game wasn't that exciting. There was a crapload of fighting. We were walking into the auditorium, and within 4 seconds of the game starting, there was a fight. At most there were 4 guys from each team taking time outs. It was absurd. And the Winterhawk fans were really annoying so I was kind of glad when the away team won. Heh.
After the game we had a little surprise when we realized Dad left the lights on and the battery died. And of course it just started to rain again. It wasn't a huge deal because AAA got there in like 40 minutes, and they jumped the car and we were fine. It really wasn't that bad, though I got the feeling Dad was the most irritated out of all of us. I didn't care though. We were on vacation, it was an adventure, and no harm no foul. Once the car was fixed we went to dinner at this cool floating seafood restaurant. It was really lovely and also had yummy food. I had salmon and it was very good.
Monday was Eugene day!! Eugene day meant seeing Jared!!! I was so excited because I hadn't seen him in like, a year and a half. Dad, Ben and I drove down to Eugene and met him at his apartment. He was actually running a bit late so he waited while he biked down from the school. He met my dad and bro and then they dropped us off downtown and we parted ways. We couldn't take St. Theresa (his car) out because she was having issues, so we ended up taking the bus and walking around.
We started by having lunch at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant. I tried something called 'brown slices' which was a veggie meat-like substance. It wasn't that good, but I liked the sauce and veggies, so it was fine. Jared ended up paying for me, which was sweet. We took the bus to the school and had coffee with his Episcopalian friends, who were very nice. Then I got a tour of the lab and got to see his zebrafish and cool equipment he uses and he showed me an embryo in a microscope. It was very neat.
We left the school and walked down to the river, where we stopped on a bridge over the river. It was so pretty, lots of trees on either side and the bridge over the river which was swirling around and it was so nice. We were talking and we were leaning close together over the bridge. And there was a moment where I really thought he was going to kiss me. And I was pretty disappointed when he didn't. (he later told me he didn't because he thought it'd confuse things, which he was right about, but it was still disappointing because I really wanted him to kiss me)
We kept walking through the park and stopped on a bench on this little island in the park. We watched the ducks and cuddled on the bench because it was cold. Then he taught me these fun games that he was way better at, but it was fun because it was keeping me warm and it involved me falling into him a lot. Which I liked. Hehe.
Eventually we walked to the restaurant where Dad and Ben met back up with us. The restaurant was ok. Kind of BJ's-esque, but I didn't like it as much. But it was fun hanging out with the boys. We dropped Jared back off at lab after dinner and we hugged goodbye and we headed back to Portland. It was so good to see him again and it makes me mad because I still think we'd be really good together if we were in the same state. Maybe the timing for us is just never going to be right. Oh well.
Our last day in Portland was a very active day. We started out driving up to Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge. Timberline lodge is where they shot some exteriors for "The Shining" and it's way up in the mountains, at the base of Mt. Hood. It was so cold up there that there was snow all over the place. It was so fun. The trees were speckled with snow and it reminded me of Christmas. It was beautiful.
We explored the lodge a bit and watched an informational video about the construction of it. Then we hiked up a little bit to get closer to the mountain. We thought we weren't going to get to see it at first, since it was so cloudy out. But the the wind just blew the clouds away, and there was Mt. Hood! It was awesome. So beautiful. I loved being up there in the cold and snow and walking around. I even built a snowman! Heehee!
We left Mt. Hood and found this place for lunch that ended up being surprisingly delicious. Best hot chocolate EVER. Next was a gorge an hour or so away. We took pictures and then walked a bit uphill to take closer pictures. Reminded me of Ithaca a little. Very pretty, but I liked Mt. Hood better. Last stop for the day was a little lookout spot where we had a great view of the river and everything. There's so much pretty up there. Mmm.
Dad and Ben left wicked early the last morning. I hung around a bit longer at the hotel before leaving myself. I managed to get to the airport via the streetcar and the Max, which was fun. Flight back was good, and it was good to be back home. But man, I had a great time. I really liked Oregon. I could totally see living there later. I hope my parents move there soon, I think they'll be really happy there.