Back into California again!

Hello!

Up this morning around 6:30, and down for breakfast a bit after 7 am.  To be honest, most hotel breakfasts tend to run together, but suffice to say that it was fine.  Then we collected up all of our belongings, and headed to the car.  Not too far to go today – about 5 hours from Medford to Sacramento.  Before we even knew it, we were back in California!  And, while we were passing what we knew was stunning scenery, we couldn’t see any of it!  The air was terrible!  So, past Mt. Shasta which we saw as rather a ghostly shadow and down the I-5 freeway.  We made fairly good time with not too much traffic until we got north of Sacramento, when the road narrowed to two lanes.  This made driving a bit more challenging, but we were able to get to the hotel a little after 1 pm.   Thankfully, they were expecting us (always good!) and we got into our room -- #325 early. 

A very hazy Mount Shasta

 

Getting a little clearer!

Actually a bit of blue sky and snow!

Lake Shasta!

After a week or so of very pleasant and coolish weather, we are now back into the 100’s here in Sacramento.  I think I saw 104 degrees.  Very warm, but for some reason, it was really dry, which was unexpected.  I had thought that R might want to revisit the California Railroad Museum, but in the heat, he declined the opportunity.  So, we settled down for a nice quiet afternoon with pre-season NFL football and baseball. 

Literally right next door is a restaurant called Malabar – just out the side door, cross through the Holiday Inn Express next door, and into Malabar’s parking lot!  Very nice place, and we were seated near a television so we could continue watching the Bengals vs. the Redskins.  We both started with their smoky clam chowder, which, seriously, has to be one of the best clam chowders either of us has ever had!  Just amazing!  R thinks it might be the Applewood smoked bacon, but it was really just perfect!   The rest of our meal took much longer to arrive – don’t know what the problem was, but it was more than a tad irritating.  R had (finally) a perfectly cooked rare filet mignon with potatoes and green beans.  I had their pulled BBQ pork sandwich with coleslaw.  It was okay, but nowhere near as good as the clam chowder!  Back to the room about 4:30 pm and we’re in for the night!

So – tomorrow we head to Sierra Madre for a few days with Anne and the family!

Lots of love!

R's yummy filet

My pork sandwich

Me at Malabars!

Fabulous clam chowder!

m

xxx

Portland to Medford, Oregon

Hello!

To be honest, there’s not too much to report today, as we basically made the drive from the suburbs of Portland (Hillsboro) to Medford, Oregon.  We had originally planned to be here for two nights, and now that we’re here, I have to say (no offense to anyone with ties to Oregon!) that Medford isn’t anything like the charming city of Bend!  So glad we viewed the eclipse from there, so thank you again, very much, Katy!  We had planned on doing some wine tasting here, but the multiple forest fires in the area have made the sun red, and the air very hazy.  I can even feel it when I breathe, so we’re trying as much as possible to NOT be outside!

A bit of blue sky early

And then haze for most of the day

Not great weather for breathing!

Wikipedia (that source of all knowledge!) says that Bend and Medford are about the same population-wise, but the comparison ends there.  Bend has a stunning downtown area, with beautiful houses and stunning landscaping.  Here in Medford, I think the entire community is made up of strip malls!  I do have to say, however, that the DirecTV here at the Medford hotel is the best we have seen on our trip.  We are actually able to watch a baseball game on the baseball TV channel, and it has been over a week since we’ve had the opportunity!  We are definitely ready to get back to California, that’s for sure! 

We left Hillsboro about 7:30 am this morning, and got to Medford somewhere around 12:30 pm.  As we weren’t sure how early we could get into the hotel, we decided to stop first for lunch – and it was great!  R found a place called Punky’s on Tripadvisor, and, while of course it was located in a strip mall, the restaurant itself was great.  The hours are something like: 6-ish – 3-ish!  Great to see on a restaurant door!

It’s rather diner style, but the wait staff is terrific, and the place itself is fun.  Where else can you hear She Wore An Itsy-Bitsy Yellow-Polka-Dot Bikini while you dine?  R ordered a bowl of their chili with cheese and onions, and I had their chef’s salad with their homemade Ranch dressing.  R said the chili was as good as ours (which is his actually, as I don’t make or eat chili!) and he debated ordering another bowl!  Their pie, though, convinced him otherwise.  Their salad was great – put together really well, and I ate almost all of it!  For dessert, R got a piece of their Dutch apple pie, and I had a small chocolate sundae!  Yum!  R maintains that Punky’s pie wasn’t as good as mine, but it certainly looked good to me!  Then, back on the road for stops at Costco for gas, and Wells Fargo for $$ and then to the hotel.

Loved Punky's Diner!

R's chili

My Chef's salad

Loved the decorations!

And of course R didn't like it at all!

We are in another Homewood Suites, in room 424.  Plenty of room and it’s nice to spread out!  I managed to fall asleep on the comfy couch in front of a college football game – so nice that football season has officially begun!  We decided to go for take-out pizza tonight, and picked up a pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Abby’s Legendary Pizza.  There is so much pepperoni on the pizza that we can’t even see the crust.  I think it’s a bit much, but did enjoy it.  Now just finishing up catching up on emails, and then soon to bed!  Tomorrow to California, although Anne Vaughan reports that it is supposed to be 106 on Monday in Sierra Madre!!  And it’s only supposed to be 102 in Tucson, with the chance of rain!  No global warming there…

Lots of love!

m

xxx

Whidbey Island to Portland!

Got up a little later on Thursday, as we had no timed obligations to attend to.  Burt had originally planned a trip across to Port Townsend and the Olympic Mountains, but we all agreed that if given our druthers, we would instead like to tour the Boeing Plant here in Seattle. 

Dinner at Burt's!

Our ferry boat coming in

On the waterfront!

Zappala, Burt, Katy & me on ferry

Based on that, Burt cancelled our ferry reservation, only to find that the Boeing tour had no places for us on Thursday!  Oh well!  Instead, we took Burt out to breakfast in Oak Harbor, after which a short hike was planned.  As I was a bit chilled in the morning, I pulled on R’s sweater and climbed into bed for a few minutes … waking up at 2 pm when the hikers came home!  I think I am still trying to catch up from the early eclipse day, as well as several very late nights (for me at least!) lately.

We then packed up and left Burt’s house at 2:45 pm (5 people into his Subaru, which was a rather tight fit!) to drive to Seattle to have dinner with Burt’s daughter Kristine, and her husband Milen.  It is truly a long way into Seattle! We didn’t get home until 11:45 pm! This time, we drove to the ferry that goes to Everett, Washington (home of the huge Boeing plant).  We had to wait about half an hour for the next available ferry.  R and Katy and I walked along the quay and it was just a beautiful afternoon.  The ferry arrived promptly and only took about 15 minutes to cross to the other side.  However, as we were getting off the ferry, we could see the line-up to get to Whidbey Island!  The line for the ferry must have stretched a mile easily – there was going to be some waiting, that’s for sure. 

MB, Kristine, Katy, Burt, Zappala & Milen

R's gazpacho

My Salade Lyonaisse

R's Ling Cod

My flatbread!

Traffic into Seattle about 5-ish was very heavy, (pretty much a nightmare!) but we eventually made it to Kristine and Milen’s house.  It’s in a very nice Seattle neighborhood, and is really lovely!  Nice hardwood floors throughout, and a modern kitchen and a nice large deck and backyard.  Their kitchen window view is lovely, and apparently depending on what time they leave, they don’t have too bad of a commute.  Milen and Kristine both have Ph.D’s in the field of mathematics.  Milen works for a company that has some ties to the Gates Foundation.  He works on mathematical modeling of diseases and works directly with various countries in trying to come up with plans to overcome them; I think that’s the basis of much of the Gates Foundation work, which is to be admired.  Milen is very passionate about what he is doing, but the travel does get a little much at times.  Kristine works for Microsoft, but I’m not sure doing what.

We went to a restaurant called Maree Restaurant and Bar, which is French and excellent!  I had a Salade Lyonaisse (frisee with a poached egg and lardons and croutons) and a flatbread appetizer with a garlic sauce and prosciutto and parsley – excellent!  R had their gazpacho to start, followed by ling cod, which he said was excellent.  For dessert, R and I shared a Chocolate Raspberry mousse, which was incredible!  We had Sancerre for wine, and enjoyed it very much.  There being seven of us for dinner, we didn’t get back to Kristine and Milen’s until somewhere around 9:30 pm.  Part of the reason, Burt informed us, in coming in for dinner was to pick up Aly, their miniature collie (a real cutie!) as Kristine and Milen are leaving on Saturday for Bulgaria, Milen’s home country. 

So, with Aly in the back of the Subaru, and the five of us jammed into the front, we headed back to Whidbey Island.  It was something like 97 miles, and took about 2 hours 15 minutes.  Really exhausted by the time we pulled into the driveway, but of course had to be up this morning to catch the 7:15 am ferry from Coupeville to Port Townsend.

Heading toward Port Townsend!

More Port Townsend

Blue Moose Cafe -- very funky place!

My Scooter!

Up at 5:14 am and was glad I had taken the time to get the suitcase organized and packed.  We were ready to go about 5:40 am, and tried to get out the door without waking the whole house; it would have worked except for the fact that Aly woke up and started barking, which I’m sure the others definitely appreciated!  So glad we had this chance to see Burt and Whidbey Island, as well as spend a few additional days with Bob and Katy Zappala!

Lovely drive to the ferry port, and everything ran like clockwork.  We parked the car on the ferry and then headed upstairs to the lounge, for the great views!  It took about half an hour, and then we were driving into Port Townsend!  Decided we needed to stop for breakfast, and found the very funky and out of the way place called the Blue Moose Café!  Wow!  The reviews were right!  I had one of their “scooters” – scrambled eggs in a tortilla with other things.  I had breakfast potatoes along with the eggs, with salsa and sour cream.  Really tasty!  R had scrambled eggs with grilled veggies and cheese and cottage fries.  Like me, he very much enjoyed it!

R's scramble!

Great place for breakfast!

Bridge over the Columbia

Interesting bridge!

From Astoria!

Then across the street to the big Safeway to get some sparkling water for the trip south.  We decided that as we didn’t have to rush today, we would take the coast route where we could, and it was absolutely lovely!  First from Port Townsend south and west to the big bridge over the Columbia, where we crossed to Astoria, a former fur trading spot.  (Big Lewis and Clark area!)  The bridge over the Columbia was having (of course!) some road work, and we got stopped almost at the peak of the bridge!  Feeling the bridge move as other traffic went by made me very nervous, but fortunately, things soon began to move again.

Heading now down the Oregon coast, we stopped at Seaview for lunch at a McDonald’s, and then started heading southeast toward Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland.  Truly, there was incredible traffic heading toward the coast – campers, kayaks, boat, bikes – you name it, it was on the move!  Reminded us of driving into Paris once on the 1^st of August – the traditional day that the French take their month-long vacations – unreal! 

Stopped at a Costco for gas, just down the road from our hotel – and yes, remember we’re in Oregon, and they pump it for you!  Still very odd!  Got to our hotel a bit after 3 pm.  We’re in a nice suite at the Homewood Suites, #431, very comfy.  Had to decide between Hurricane Harvey which is about to make landfall in Texas (and yes, Jim Cantori still stands out in the middle of a hurricane and tells people to keep themselves safe … duh…)  and the Seattle/KC preseason football game. 

As it turns out, there is a Sweet Tomatoes (same chain as Souplantation) right next door to the hotel, so we decided to go there for dinner tonight.  Had nice salads and I added a baked potato; excellent, and we enjoyed it very much!  Now back in the room, and I am getting ready to post.  We had meant to stay two nights in Medford, Oregon, and do some wine tasting, but our long drive on Tuesday sent us back to the drawing board.  So, Portland area tonight, and tomorrow in Medford, and Sunday night in Sacramento.  Hopefully we’ll be able to fine a winery or two along the way!

More later!

m

xxx