Ashland highlights

Roast beef and roast vegetable paninis

Natural bubbling rotten egg mineral water fountains

Charlie’s hand stands

Awesome cleanly mowed green green grass parks

6 hours between here and there

Portland!!!

We stayed downtown at hip new hotel Modera known for its living wall, artsy fartsy décor and fabulous fur throws on the bed, sleeping with the fur was almost like sleeping with the cats minus the furious purring and pawing. Orca and Ipa we miss you!! We got into Portland late and spent the majority of the night sipping on beer in the hotel room and exploring the downtown area on the FREE public transit. Dinner was elk and black IPA for Barley and hand made veggie patty and Miss Spelt for Becca at a local brewery. After a glorious night’s sleep we walked to the “mission district” of Portland along the river and broke our fast at a splendid breakfast joint. Parsley, garlic, and tofu. eggs local feta, tomatoes and basil. Blueberry almond muffins. and three cups of coffe each.

We spent the afternoon at OHSU, where Becca is applying to school. As Charlie put it, the buildings at OHSU like to have air underneath them to promote healing and inspiration…lots of sky bridges and floating buildings. We spoke to Bridget, one of the admissions counselors for the nursing department, for 30 mins of so, and after some convincing we decided to explore her part of town the North East Quadrant. We stopped at a boutique chocolate shop to pick up some ginger chocolate toffee delight, and a local wine bar for some vino! It was before 4PM so the owner couldn’t legally “serve” us, but he gladly popped open three bottles for our generous sampling, spilling some along the way as he was already pretty toasty. We walked away well served with Vino Verde and a Chardonnay both only $8.00! Next stop, a brief tour of the NE Neighborhood, very similar to Oakland with Victorian cottages and duplexes and abundant porch-age; however the local tomato plants seemed deprived with only a few straggly fruits, (that is compared to Barley’s bountiful garden patch).

We decided on a brightly adorned Cuban restaurant for lunch: fried plantains, yuka, cabbage salad, beans and rice, braised pork Cuban style sandwich with salsa, Cuban espresso, and sauce from the Philippines. Despite Charlie’s desire to buy ice and hit the road, we ordered a Mango Empanada which of course was well worth the extra time… and now, on our way to Washington state! Ryan and Kayla here we come!