Portland, Oregon

April 5-9, 2007

Thursday, April 5, 2007: After touchdown at PDX and lunch at the Kennedy School, a car tour of Portland yielded beautiful views of the city and surrounding vistas. Jenny drove us up to OHSU, the hospital where she works, and that's where we saw some of the best views! We rode the Portland Aerial Tram, which just opened at the beginning of 2007. Dinner was at Ken's Artisan Pizza.

Friday, April 6, 2007: We started off the day with breakfast at Violet's Cafe. Then we picked up Nanie and drove to Woodburn, OR, to see the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival. We were treated to over 40 acres of blooming tulips.

In the afternoon, back in Portland, we took a stroll along the Willamette River on "a trail that offers a great view of the city skyline and features a 1,200 foot floating walkway as well as easy access to four of the bridges that cross the Willamette River."

April 7-8, 2007: After a mean breakfast of french toast on Saturday, we packed up the dogs and headed west to the coast. The weather was pretty blustery- cold, windy, and rainy- and we made one stop at an overlook to watch for whales. We didn't see any whales, but later on, we did get to see some harbor seals and sea lions! Next stop was Newport, a small town on the coast. It was very quaint and had great access to the Pacific Ocean. This is what the view from our hotel would have looked like if it had been sunny! We drove around Newport, went in some of the shops, watched the sealions, and took a tour of the Rogue Ales Brewery. We also enjoyed some yummy clam chowder and other seafood dishes at 2 delightful Newport eateries. We drove back to Portland on Sunday and enjoyed a rainy day inside Jenny and Robert's wonderful home. Their new kitchen is fantastic! See kitchen renovation pictures here.

Monday, April 9, 2007: Goodbye, Portland. Goodbye, Jenny and Robert. Goodbye, Nanie and Daisy. Goodbye, Tiffany and Jolie. Goodbye, 6947 NE Alameda St. Thanks so much for an amazing trip! We'll see you soon.