Saturday, August 4, 2012

Put A Bird On It

Portland was a woodsy wonderland filled with a lot of good food and good beer.  Not a bad place.

On Wednesday evening we went to Mount Tabor Park.  The park is home to a few very large reservoirs that hold Portland drinking water.





Saturday was spent in downtown Portland, down by the waterfront.  Portland houses the largest longest running open-air arts and crafts market in the nation, so we spent the morning wandering around the market.  As we were about to leave we noticed a giant sign that said "Oregon Brewer's Festival" and decided to check it out.  The brewfest was huge, and so we spent the afternoon trying great delicious beer.

Sunday was spent in Washington Park, visiting the Hoyt Arboretum and the Japanese Garden.






Bamboo fence in the Japanese garden:















On Monday we left Portland, heading east for the first time during our trip.  On our way we stopped at Wahkeena and Multnomah Falls, which are near the Columbia River Gorge, about 45 minutes east of Portland.



Wahkeena Falls.


Climbing up to the top of the falls.


Columbia River Gorge.



Top of Wahkeena Falls.



Multnomah Falls.

We drove about 8 hours on Monday, slept in Idaho, then drove another 12 hours through Wyoming and Utah on Tuesday to get to Lakewood, Colorado.  We are now in Lakewood and are enjoying some quality time with my aunts Kim and Deb.  Lakewood is near Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, so we've been having a great time doing all sorts of fun stuff.  More to come!








Sunday, July 29, 2012

NOMNOMNOM

Here's an iPhone round-up, brimming with lovely California and Oregon images of sun, sand, trees...and food.  Portland is a magical unicorn rainbow land of vegan food.


Thought this was a great name. Found in Monterey.



17-mile drive on Pebble Beach, California.


Pebble Beach.





A very sleepy Tanya at the Saturn Cafe in Santa Cruz after a long day in Monterey.



Rock climbing on Mile Beach in San Francisco.


Eric taking photos on top of the rocks on Mile Rock Beach.


A plantain taco, a chard taco and a zucchini taco at Gracias Madre in San Francisco.


A San Francisco sunset.


Mary gave Eric this super cool Camel cigarette matching t-shirt and shorts set.


Eric having a morning grapefruit at our campsite in Yosemite National Park.


Wine tasting in the Russian River Valley.


This puppy lived at one of the wineries.


We were near the Charles M. Schultz airport in Santa Rosa, so there were Snoopy statues.  Just like home.



While walking around Healdsburg, California on our wine tour we saw this statue that Eric aptly noticed looks like it is puking.  Lovely.







Our first night in Portland we ate at Off the Griddle, a food cart that serves vegan and vegetarian burgers.  This is a vegan bacon cheeseburger.  





Another dinner, this time pizza at Sizzle Pie in Portland.



Thai BBQ salad at Blossoming Lotus in Portland.



We stumbled on the Portland Brewer's Festival, one of the biggest beerfests in the country.






You could place a pin from where you came from.  There was an international map as well.


Eric drinking Summit.  M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A.





Tofu Po'Boy after the brewfest at Hopworks Urban Brewery in Portland.





Bike lighting at Hopworks.





We met Christie and Ryan at a friend's wedding in May. They live in Portland and met up with us at Hopworks.  Beer. Yum.





Vegan benedict at Portobello Trattoria in Portland.  Ridiculously delicious.




 Really cool wall at Portobello.  Also, brunch coma.





A bamboo frame bicycle.






Japanese Garden in Portland.

More from Portland to come!