Portland in June = Heaven

 As I have said many times, I really do think that Heaven will look like Portland on a sunny day.

On this particular June day you could see both Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens.

Of course our favorite sights were our dear friends.

Rich and Chris Marsee

And our dinner group friends 

Ron and Linda Matthews, Dave and Debby Lynn Day, Kathy and Kim Whitman, Martha Helmandollar, Allison and Phil Graham.

Being included in this dinner group, just after we had moved to Portland in 2010, really helped us develop friendships and feel a part of the ward.

I am so grateful for the invitation and happy that it is still going strong.

But best of all was spending time with Scott.  He's had a rough few months with some BIG kidney stones but he is back to normal now.

And thriving!

One of the amazing things about the big city of Portland is Forrest Park.  Right in the middle of the city there are 5,200 acres set aside for the native plants with more than 80 miles of hiking trails.  

We hiked up to Pittock Mansion.

George and I made the same hike back in July 2010, before I had moved to Oregon.

I have a hard time believing that it has been 14 years since then.

Time flies!

1st Flight in 17 Months

 The last time I was on an airplane was for our exciting trip home from Dubai through Ethiopia in March 2020, right in the early days of the pandemic when no one knew if the US borders would close, if all planes would be grounded....if we'd be stuck in Dubai or Addis Ababa. Never in my adult life have I gone this long without flying somewhere.

Now I have four pandemic flights under my belt with 4 more scheduled in the next few months.  Wearing a mask for so many hours is not my idea of a good time but I am happy to do it in order to travel again.

My first trip was to Portland (only about an hour flight plus time in the airport so probably 4 masked hours) so that I could help our friend Martha after bunion surgery.  I arrived on Monday with surgery scheduled for Tuesday morning.   Just as Martha had finished giving me all the instructions I would need take care of her and of her house, the phone rang.  It was the hospital reporting that for the 1st time in 20 years the doctor had to cancel and reschedule her surgery.  And it was scheduled for the day AFTER I had to leave. Luckily she had another friend coming to take over when I left, so she was still going to be well taken care of.  Change of plans no more surgery or care giving, now it was just a girls' week party and it was great!

I caught up with my walking buddies.  Oh how I miss them!  It seems that we never run out of things to say!

I celebrated my birthday with a delicious brownie and a FaceTime rendition of "Happy Birthday" from George.  

That sweet guy even had flowers delivered to me.

I got a guided tour of Scott's new basement apartment.  It is roomy and well appointed.

I think he is going to be very happy there.

That apartment is at the stables where he works so it's very convenient.  I can report that his horse neighbors are very friendly!

I was thrilled when I found out that the famous Burgerville onion rings were on!  They are only served  when Walla Walla onions are available. Most delicious onion rings I've ever had....made even better by the Garlic Aioli sauce.  Yum Yum! At 750 calories per serving, I hate to admit that I had them twice!  Oh well!

To celebrate my last night there, we ate at one of our favorite Lake Oswego restaurants which is right on the lake.  A wonderful evening with good friends, delicious food and a beautiful sky!  Isn't Martha the cutest???

FYI, I'm going back next week now that she has actually had the surgery.  This time I will be caregiving and not just vacationing!

 

Another Portland Weekend

I am so happy that I get to go and visit Portland for Kenya Keys board meetings.  This time Scott was without a car so I took the Max Train and then the bus to downtown Lake Oswego. It is very efficient and very cheap since I am an 'honored citizen'.  That does sound better than 'senior citizen'!

Downtown Portland is lovely.  At least the bus stop on the way to Lake Oswego is.  The stop on the way back to the Airport was in a sketchy part of town.  I was glad that I wasn't traveling alone at night. Portland does have a homeless problem and this bus stop was in the area of the shelters so there were a lot of homeless on the sidewalks.  

I stayed with our good friends, the Helmandollars again and once again got the royal treatment that you'd expect at a 5 Star hotel.  Martha even puts a goodie basket in the room with snacks, interesting articles from the paper and toiletries .  Of course the best part is spending time with our good friends.  

Saturday night I was treated to my favorite onion rings from Burgerville.  The best onion rings I've ever had and the aioli sauce makes them even better.  They only use Walla Walla onions when they are in season.  I looked forward all year to the summer months so I could feast on them.  It is probably a good thing they aren't available all year as they have 750 calories.  Oh well.

Notice that Martha got 4 and I only got 3! What's up with that?  I think Larry was worried that we would fight so he helpfully ate one of hers!

After a delicious dinner, Martha and I enjoyed a 'girls' night out' and went to see the play 'Matilda'. The enthusiastic young cast was so fun to watch!  

Sunday after church we had naps then I went for a walk and was reminded that Lake Oswego is very hilly.  

Monday I walked with my 'walking buddies' and realized just how much I miss them. Then I enjoyed a delicious and fun lunch catching up with 3 good friends.  The rest of the day was all about Kenya Keys.

I'm preparing to lead a team of volunteers to Kenya in October so there are a lot of logistics to arrange for that.  Then in the evening we had our first board meeting with the new executive director.  It is going to be great. When non-profits begin the transition as beloved founders step back and new leadership steps forward, it is a tricky time but I feel like we have a really great team in place to be sure Kenya Keys prospers long into the future and continues to 'unlock potential' in the area of Taru, Kenya.

Monday I made my way back to the airport on the bus and Max train again.  As I mentioned, the bus stop was in an area of Portland with lots of homeless.  I think one of them got on the Max train with me.  He reeked of pot and then when he bent over to get something, he gave the whole train a lovely view of his bare derriere!  Not pretty! 

No worries though, I got safely back to the airport and back to Boise.  

Looking forward to the next visit in September.  This is for my doctor appointment and George is coming too!

Gratitude #10 - Thanksgiving Surprise!

We knew that Matt, Johnny, Monica, Isabella and Scott were coming to spend Thanksgiving with us.  What we didn't know was that they would be bringing a big surprise!  Our daughter Mary!  We were thrilled. Johnny and Monica didn't join us until later in the week so we had a few days to show Mary Portland!

She got the full Portland tour!  Voodoo Doughnuts!

They are delicious!

Powell Books!

 

Multonomah Falls!

 

Columbia River Gorge

Ice cream from Salt and Straw

And we did show her the truth to this billboard....

 

The car next to us in the parking garage....

 Sign on the parking ticket machine.....only in Portland! Well maybe in Seattle too!

It was so much fun to share our fun city with our one and only favorite daughter!

Cancer Update

The specialist that I had been seeing at Oregon Health Sciences University recently moved to Phoenix so today I met with a new doctor.  All is good!  My numbers have not changed significantly so we are still on the 'wait and watch' plan.  No need to see him again for 6 months.  Then I'll have more blood work, a neck ultrasound and a visit with him.  Happy day!

OHSU is quite the busy place!  Besides being a top rate medical facility, they also have a very cool tram from the lower campus to the upper campus. On a clear day, the views of Mt. Hood are stunning.

PDX Carpet

 

So they are replacing the 28,000 sq. feet of the 25 year old carpet at the Portland Airport.  Sounds like no big deal huh?  Well it is, if the carpet is considered 'hipster'?  I'm not sure exactly what 'hipster' means although I know that Portland is full of people who are 'hipster' and I'm pretty confident that as a 62 year old, conservative, religious, Republican I am not one of them!

The definition of hipster is a young person who is trendy, stylish, or progressive in an unconventional way; someone who is hip.  In the 50's and 60's they might have been called beatniks!

So exactly what makes carpet hip?  Who knows?  And the city didn't even realize that anybody would care about the carpet.  Well they were wrong!  Once Portland realized that the PDX carpet's days were numbered they took to social media to pay tribute.  The idea went viral.  First there was a Facebook page and then came twitter accounts.  Before long, the PDX carpet design started popping up in physical goods.  The trend apparently started with socks and quickly spread to T-shirts, shoes, mugs, water bottles, neck ties, bike jerseys and human bodies.

Here is the new carpet...

My 'un-hipster' opinion is that it is pretty and colorful but I read one 'hipster' review that said it looked like it belonged in a Florida retirement center!!!

No worries if you loved the old carpet.   Just go to any 'Made In Oregon' store and buy a shirt or earrings or a cell phone case or coasters or a onesie or a cap or a mug.  I think I'll buy a magnet....then maybe I will be 'hipster'!

A Very Happy 4th of July with # 22!

Started off our day with our traditional church pancake breakfast!  And ended it with a little picnic at Burgerville!

Foster guide dog #22 was a perfect gentleman at both events!  Laddy is a sweetheart!

And wahoo!!!  Burgerville has their famous onion rings again.  They are made only when Walla walla onions are available.  No frozen pre-made onion rings here! They are delicious, especially when dipped in aioli sauce!  Last year the season was short so I'm hoping for a LONG growing season this year!  How many times a week do I dare eat them?

Beat The Heat

Portland is HOT!  I keep reminding people that it is summertime and it is supposed to be hot but Oregonians are just not used to 99+ temps!

We stayed cool by taking to the river!

It was a lovely afternoon on the Willamette!

Can hardly believe that you can kayak and see bald eagles and osprey this close to the city of Portland!!!

Miles to go.....

George, Leopold and I had quite the adventure today!  One of the great things about living in Portland is that there are numerous hikes you can take within the city itself - Urban Hikes.  So today we drove 10 minutes from our house, parked the car, walked through a beautiful bird refuge, crossed a bridge over the Willamette and  walked all the way into downtown Portland.  Then we just crossed another bridge and walked back on the other side of the river.

Portland is a very beautiful city!

I love all the bridges!

Leopold seemed to enjoy himself.

He did want to stop and smell the flowers a lot.

But maybe he was just exhausted and looking for a reason to rest!  While we enjoyed our lunch he caught a little nap...so what that people had to walk around him!  The boy was tired.

I guess he has a reason to be as we walked more than 13 miles!