The (Portland) Oregon Trail

Kris’s and my flights were right on time and we were in Portland in plenty of time to DO some stuff on Tuesday.  Because it was one of those rare days when Mount Hood wasn’t socked in by clouds, we went straight there.  There were skiers coming off the mountain – can you believe it?  Apparently one can ski from November through July here.  The snow was still really deep in many places. We went to the Timberline Lodge to look around (it’s such a neat building, built by the WPA in the early 20th century) and for a snack (/cocktail).

This was the view from our cocktails:

The lodge itself is full of interesting 1930s details that I just love.  It reminded me of the Old Faithful Lodge that I visited as a teenager.  Here are just a few: Did I mention we’re staying with my friend Ed, who lives here parttime?  (It will be fulltime once he retires in 4.5 years.)  That’s Ed.  He really gets a kick out of standing in the snow.  He' lives in Texas most of the year, so we can excuse him for that.  :)

Later we went to McMeniman’s Edgefield for wine tasting (thanks, Julia!) and dinner (Cajun tator tots!).  No photos, just memories.

Wednesday dawned and we went to the Japanese Gardens, which were pretty fantastic.  We got there just in time to join a guided tour.

We hit some food carts for lunch and I had some yummy Thai food.  Then we went by the convention center to register.  Stephanie was at the Information desk, so we waited in line to introduce ourselves.  As usual, she was extremely kind and held Kris’s sock while someone (perhaps a member of ST-2?) rushed in to take our picture:After that fun was had, Kris went to catch up with her friend Jared and Ed and I went downtown to explore a bit.  We saw a ton of public fountains, including some with Oregon animals in them: I looked for salmon but didn’t see any:

Portlandia is kind of impressive, with the trident and all.  This was my favorite fountain:And finally, I give you Mill Ends Park, the world’s smallest park.  It is an official city park of Portland and it is 24” in diameter: Back to Edgefield for dinner again.  The gardens are lovely. Next post: Day One at The Summit.