October 18, 2015. Mushroom festival on the coast

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Rain overnight. Warm and sunny during the day. High around 70

We drove about 125 miles southwest toward Yachats on the Oregon Coast.  This weekend was their annual mushroom festival, our destination.  We stopped at Rogue Brewery on the way in Newport for lunch.  We had their halibut fish and chips, and some tasty rogue beers, 2 of their 40+ on tap.  

George had a French Roast brown ale that was served in a coffee cup!

At the festival, we bought some yummy mushrooms--shiitake, oyste and maitake-- 3 bags for $10.

We overheard another customer talking about the medicinal qualities of mushrooms.  We amusingly heard her say that "the Mayo Clinic was founded based on mushrooms".  

The local mycological club (mushroom fans) had a display of local mushrooms they had collected, all shapes and sizes.  They were tagged green (delicious) or yellow (questionable) or red (DO NOT EAT!)

    We walked along the beach.  It was a beautiful day with waves splashing high in the air.

On our way home, we drove home through the scenic Suislow Forest, through beautiful fall foliage.  We stopped at the McMenamins Pub in Corvallis, home of Oregon State University, to redeem appetizer prizes on our passports.

DINNER:  Mushrooms, of course!  I sautéed the shiitake mushrooms with onion, garlic and garlic.  Served them over Japanese soba noodles.  

October 17, 2015. NE Portland visit

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Rain overnight. Nice during the day. Highs around 70

We went to the Beaverton Farmers' Market early so we could have breakfast at one of the ethnic food stands.  We chose a Lebanese omelette.  Tasty!  We bought some veg and eggs at the market,  then stopped at the library.  I picked up some Australia guidebooks and the book from which "Call the Midwife" was written.  Can't wait to start it.

We hopped in the car and headed across the Williamette River to Portland's northeast side.  It is a cute area with lots of Craftsman-style houses.  Our destination was a studio on an art tour.  The artist is a friend of one of my friends in Chicago.  

The artist's studio is her house. We walked around, enjoying her talent.

There were about 100 artists on this tour.

This artist, Shannon Playford, does "projects" with different themes, like these gods and goddesses.

From there, we went to Mississippi Avenue, a popular street for strolling.

 

We had lunch in a Japanese restaurant with huge fish tanks.  Strangely, this restaurant is famous for Its sushi......and fried chicken!

We drove around Alberta Avenue, another cute artsy neighborhood, then drove home.  Everything us surprisingly nearby.

DINNER:  Gumbo.  I really improvised, but it turned out well.  I used the leftover Dungeness crab and shrimp from the other night, and some of the leftover lamb burger instead of sausage.  

October 16, 2015. Day trip to McMinnville, a new home possibility?

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Another fantastic sunny day. Highs in 70s

George did yard work, including mowing and blowing.  Why do guys seem to love leaf blowers?

After calls with our daughters, we hit the road, going west toward the Williamette Valley.  We stopped in a very friendly winery and tasted some great wines. They credited the cost of the tasting, $10, toward our wine purchases.  I wish all wineries would do that.  They also gave us a snack pack, as I had a coupon for that.  :-)

McMinnville was our destination.  There is a McMenamins hotel there, right downtown, for our passports.  

We had lunch at their rooftop bar.  

McMenamins owns several hotels that they have renovated, yet kept an old-style feeling.  In order to redeem our prize, we had to do a scavenger artwork hunt.  Several of the McMenamins places do this.  The clue today was "He has more than wine on his mind".  We roamed the hotel halls, full of paintings and posters, and found it.....

We strolled through the downtown.  We think this might be a town where we could settle in, if we decide to of so.  Some of its advantages are...

About 35 miles west of Portland, with easy access to light rail from SW suburb
About another 50 miles to the coast
Nice size...35k population
Seems prosperous 
Lovely downtown full of cute shops and restaurants.  Spanish, Italian, Costa Rican, French, and lots    of wine bars and tasting rooms.  Even a downtown small grocery.
Very "walkable"
Lots of posters announcing plays, concerts, art walks
Brewpubs
In the heart of wine country
Small private college there

We even talked to a realtor!

We followed our noses to a brewpub that was brewing today...you could smell the malt.  It was a "Cheers" kind of pub.  Cozy and very friendly.  

Back downtown, local businesses, like the local newspaper, had decorated for Halloween...

We stopped back at the McMenamins Hotel, to get our last passport stamp at their cellar bar that opens at 5;00, then redeemed our prizes of stemless wine glasses and a t-shirt.  

Then back to Portland.  

DINNER:  George grilled some chicken thighs.  I served them on a bed of spaghetti sauce (leftover from another night), with added garlic and onions.  Served over leftover seasoned rice.  Another gourmet meal at an inexpensive price.

October 15, 2015. All around downtown Portland

LOCATION: House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Record-breaking high of 80.  Sunny

We played with Lola, then did some yard work.  Then, off we went toward downtown.  We have found a great place to park (possibly illegally) at a nearby "park n ride".  We jumped on the MAX light rail, buying all-day passes which are good on the MAX, bus and trolley.  It is only $5, and half price for what they call "honored citizens" aka old people, like  George.  

Our first stop was a restaurant that had been recommended for great Japanese ramen.  We had to transfer to the trolley to get across the Williamette (rhymes with dammit) River.  It was pretty authentic.

 

We had  their pork cutlet ramen, their specialty.

Then, back across the river, this time to Powell's Book Store, the world's  largest independent book store.  I could have stayed there the entire day.  We bought a guidebook on Australia to start making our plans.

Then, trolley to NW 23rd Avenue, a great place to stroll.  We stopped at a McMenamins pub for their Black Widow Stout, released just today for the Halloween season.  This pub used to be Portland's most infamous speakeasy during prohibition.

 

We walked through some lovely old neighborhoods with cute houses.

MAX train back to our car.  Very nice day!

Dinner:  I made paninis with leftover lamb burger and a garlic goat cheese.  Side was my version of tzatziki sauce, with lots of grated cucumber and yogurt.   

October 14, 2015. Portland's 4 T Trail

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER: Beautiful. Sunny. Highs around 70

We met our friend Pat Wimmer from Minnesota who is in town visiting her daughter.  We decided to try Portland's 4 T Trail together.

The 4 Ts stand for Trail, Tram, Trolley and Train.  

We took the Train to the zoo where we picked up the Trail.  It took us to Council Crest, Portland's highest point, where we had a great view of the city.  From there, we took a "shortcut" which unknowingly added 1.6 miles.  It led us through a beautiful forest with Architectural Digest-type houses on stilts jutting out over the canyons below.  We finally made it to Oregon Health and Science University and Medical Center, high above the city.  There we caught the Tram. 

 It was straight down!

We took the Trolley  to another section of downtown where we went to the Crystal Ballroom, part of the McMenamins chain, for a drink.

Then, we walked across the street to Jake's Crawfish, which had been recommended.  Cool place, known for its seafood.

We walked a few blocks back to the Little Bird restaurant where we had had lunch last week.  Coincidentally, Pat's daughter works there.  So we had some oysters on the half shell and drinks.

 

We dropped off Pat, and took the Train back home.  Great day, but George thinks the 4 Ts should stand for Tired, Tuckered, Traumatized  and Thirsty. 

DINNER:  Fish on the grill.  When we were shopping, I sent George to buy one fish fillet.  In an unsupervised moment, he bought 2 fillets, a Dungeness crab, and shrimp.  We cooked everything up on the grill, with rice on the side.  Lots of seafood leftovers!  

October 13, 2015. To the zoo!

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Record-breaking sun and warmth. Highs in 70s

After morning play with Lola, we headed for the nearby Portland Zoo.  Today is discount day.  We certainly got our money's worth aa it is a very nice zoo.  Great habitats for the animals.

We saw lots of animals.....lions, tigers, hippos, monkeys, bears, birds.  Elegant giraffes...

Exotic birds in an aviary...

Gigantic rhinoceros .....

There were lots of little children enjoying the animals....

We felt like we were in Africa.  Native African in hunting pose...

The weather was perfect.  We hiked a lot, although we could have ridden the zoo train...

On our way home, we stopped at another McMenamins, and redeemed a gift card prize.  

DINNER:  Pasta with a spaghetti sauce I had made from the organic farm, so it was full of vegetables.

We have been watching Netflix while we are at this housesit.  We went through all the episodes of "Call the Midwife", and are now finishing up the "Doc Marten" series.  Does anyone have other recommendations for  shows on Netflix to watch?  Lola loves to cuddle with us on the couch while we watch.  

October 12, 2015. Last of the quiet days

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon

WEATHER:  Sunny again.  Highs in 70s

We did chores in the house and played with Lola.  We are trying to get her to exercise more.  

For lunch, we went to nearby Canyon Road Grill, a hamburger "joint" quite near to our house.  It had great reviews, so we decided to have lunch there.  It is a tiny place with outdoor seating.  The weather is so nice that we sat outdoors.  We had their Canyon Burger special, loaded with avocado, cheese, greens, tomatoes, and bacon.  It was really good, and huge.  They use local farms for their meat and veg, and famous Tillamook cheese.  We split the burger, of course.

I

I couldn't get my mouth around it!  They had 4 good local beers on tap.  We remarked that only in Oregon would such a small, unassuming burger shack have  such good food, beer and wine.

In the afternoon, we planned our next few days.  The weather is supposed to be nice until rain next weekend, so we are going to get busier starting tomorrow.  

DINNER:  Since the burger filled us up so much, we just scrambled some eggs and added some portabellos and onions.