Visit to Portland

After 6 years with Alex living in Portland, we finally went to Portland to visit him and his girlfriend, Kristen.
The trip down from Issaqua was wet. It rained most of the way down with periods of heavy rain that reminded me of the rains in Texas. It rained so hard in places that we had to slow down and I almost pulled off of the freeway.
The weather improved while we were there and turned off very nicely.
We arrived about 1:30pm on Monday and we went for a long walk. Alex lives near downtown Portland. We walked to a sandwich shop, and had a sandwich as we were hungry.
The Bunk Sandwich Shop has been featured on Food Network's Diners, Dives & Drive-ins.
The sandwiches were good although pricey.

We went to Kristen's house where we stayed. She was so nice to give up her bed for us.
We then went to a city park and walked around for a while enjoying the plants and trees.

The park is situated in a very nice neighborhood with expensive and somewhat unique homes.

This is a tree in the park.
That night we met Tony, Mag & the girls for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Portland. It is Szechuan style and served family style. It was good, but some dishes were extremely spicy, so Brenda had to pass on some of the choices.
It was nice to see Tony and family again.


PuiKay interviewed Brenda and me for a school project. She needed someone who was alive in 1954. We both fit that profile, but I remember more than Brenda as she was only 2 years old then.
The girls are still being home schooled, except for PuiKay. She is a sophomore in high school this year.

Tuesday, the weather cleared up and we decided to go on a wine tasting tour in Willamette Valley.
Kristen, who is Alex's girlfriend, is in the wine business, so we got our tastings free and a discount on all of the wine we bought.
We went to 4 different wineries, all but one she has done business with over the years.
We especially liked Argyle Winery.
They had a flower garden in front that was blooming and spectacular.
There were multiple varieties of flowers and grasses that I have seen and enjoyed, but the names either I never knew or had forgotten.
All of the wines were excellent in all 4 wineries. But none in the price range that I usually buy. so tasting great wines was a treat.
The main grape grown in this region is Pinot Noir. It is very difficult to grow and impossible to manipulate. That is why it is such an expensive wine.
We went home and Kristen fixed a delicious pasta meal. Of course, we had wine and an exceptional evening.

Becky is still hanging in there. She is feeling fine. Both she and Fred are ready for this pregnancy to end. They are looking forward to greeting Grace into this world.

We move to Wallace Falls next Friday. This surely has been a quick 2 months.
We have enjoyed our time here and may return next year.

Ta ta for now.