It's All Coming Back

So the past few days have been spent visiting as many of the Portland area landmarks as possible. We were all pretty pooped on Sunday so we rested, only venturing out for a late, late lunch and a trip to VooDoo Doughnuts. There were some really interesting flavors like bacon and pepper. I liked the name "Old Dirty Bastard" so ordered that, which turned out to be chocolate glazed with crushed Oreos and peanut butter. It's no more than a hole in the wall, but there was a line out the door. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long as the workers really rush you in and out. No chit chatting; order and get out. Honestly, the doughnuts are nothing to write home about in terms of taste, but it was fun regardless, walking the few blocks to get there. We passed some interesting folks, a couple of gay bars and someone smoking weed right there on the street.

The girls were real troopers as we traversed the Japanese Gardens and International Rose Test Gardens (so beautiful!) on Monday. I remember going to the Rose Gardens. Rows and rows of gorgeous roses, each one more beautiful than the next. And the view of Mt. Hood is amazing. If you click on the picture of the girls standing on the bench you should be able to see Mt. Hood in the background. I didn't have my camera and had to take pictures with my cell phone. It was a super clear day and you could see for miles. Everyone was commenting on how clear it was. Evidently, that kind of weather is infrequent in the summer.

Today, Larry didn't have to work so we ventured out to Lake Oswego and 2 Mozarteum Ct., , which is where I lived back in the early 70's and honestly, the place looks exactly the same except for the color of the door. The trees have all grown up and it was hard to recognize the neighborhood, but as soon as we neared the street it started to come back to me. We stopped by the Rec Center and met my best friend, Jill, from elementary school, who I haven't seen in 33 years. As soon as she stepped out of her car I knew it was her. How wonderful to see her and meet her daughter, Cassidy, who became fast friends with my Sarah. We even stopped by her parents' house, which looked as I remembered it. I loved going to their house when I little. Her parents are doing well and I loved looking at all of the pictures on the walls of their home. I've always wanted to reconnect with her and now I can say I have and hope our friendship will be rekindled. She got a huge kick out of Larry's southern accent as do most folks who meet him who don't live in the south. I hope we get to see each other one more time before we leave Thursday.

Our next stop was Multnomah Falls, another spot I visited as a youngster, but have little memory of now. It was beautiful but crowded. One of the first spots that we've been to that felt like a tourist attraction. Not Disney World crowded, but still lots of people taking pictures in the same spot. We walked up to the bridge, not wanting to take on the mile and half walk to the top of the falls. Katie said she was "terribly afraid" of heights, but I think she was terribly afraid of hiking. We were going to venture out to Mt. Hood, but it started raining and the top of the mountain was obscured by the clouds. Instead, we came back to the hotel and enjoyed 'cocktail hour' in the lobby and then went swimming. Tomorrow's our last day and I don't know what's on the agenda. This week has flown by but I feel pretty good about our mini vacation before heading over seas. We also just got an offer on our house, which if all goes well, will be a HUGE weight lifted. Keep your fingers crossed...

The Suite Life

The girls have really taken to Portland and hotel living. We're staying at the Residence Inn Riverplace and every morning little Sarah is the first one up ready to go downstairs to enjoy the breakfast buffet. Katie prefers to have her food brought up to her as to not disturb her morning leisure time. Syd just wants to push the elevator buttons.

We've managed to get out and see a few things. Thursday, while Larry went to the Portland office, we rode the bus to do a little window shopping before taking the Max up to the Zoo. The girls enjoyed people watching along the way as Portland has quite a bunch of eccletic souls. Katie now says she is either going to go to Clemson, Stanford or Portland State. I tried hard to bring back memories of the Zoo, but it all looked brand new to me. Our first order of business was to buy some sweatshirts. I seemed to have forgotten how chilly the Northwest is even in August. We then spent the next three hours exploring the beautiful zoo. The animals were out and about because it was cool. Quite a difference from southern zoos where they are all hiding in the shade moving as little as possible. Bears, elk, wolves, sea lions, elephants, penguins, tigers, rhinos, hippos, zebras and all kinds of birds drinking nectar from our hands. I even had a couple land on my shoulder.

Friday morning we lounged until Larry came back at lunch time. We then headed down the Riverwalk to a great festival called the 'Bite of Oregon' and we definitely took some bites. It's like Fall for Greenville with expanded menus and a HUGE wine tasting area. There are hundreds of vineyards in the area and Larry and I enjoyed trying many of them, while the girls enjoyed playing the new Wii Sport Resort games. We finished off the day with some Tillamook ice cream and a dip in the pool.

Saturday we drove down to Newport and went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Agate Beach. We liked the aquarium but it was the state park that got the girls' attention. They loved exploring the tidal pools, calling to the seals lounging on the rocks and counting all the starfish. It was something to see the seals swimming in the bay not a hundred yards from us. We took Rte.101 and 99W back to Portland and were awe struck by the views in Depoe Bay, Lincoln City and the valley with all of the vineyards. So beautiful...can't wait to see more.

We're On Our Way!

It's true. The Whitfields are on their way. If you'd asked me last week at this time if I thought we'd be where we are at this moment, I'm not sure I would have sounded very convincing in my reply. There was a TON of stuff left to do and a TON of junk to toss. Thankfully, Mimi and Papa (yet again) saved the day. They came up Sunday afternoon, bringing the twins back from a two week vacation and to go to Katie's golf awards ceremony, which, by the way, she all but swept. The child left with three trophies (tournament winner, group skills winner, points winner), 3 gold medals (long drive, group tournament winner and perfect attendance)and two silver (putting and short game). The hope was to get some last minute cleaning done and spend a relaxing last couple of days together....hahahaha! Instead our last two days in SC were spent cleaning, running to Salvation Army, the dump, the bank, Lowe's and countless other places that should have been done much sooner. But as everyone who knows me and Larry knows we tend to procrastinate. And, those who know my mom and dad know they will do whatever it takes, no matter how painful and tiring and frustrating, to ensure things happen as they should. So, at 5:00pm Tuesday evening we locked up our house, dropped off two more boxes to be shipped over to China, ate dinner (covered in sweat and dirt) and said our tearful goodbyes. Not so much fun AT ALL, but we made it (I think).

Today has been a marathon day starting at 3:30 this morning. We left Greenville at 6:25, delayed a few minutes for a maintenance issue, which wouldn't have been a big deal if we'd had more than 40 minutes to make our connection at Chicago's O'Hare airport. We tried to get assistance, but the flight attendant basically told us our best option was to rebook once we got off the plane. Well, that sounded like a challenge we just couldn't pass up. As soon as we landed and had our ten bags, we were off! The girls were amazing, marching through the terminal like they owned it and BY GOD we made it. We handed the gate attendant our passes, walked on the plane and the doors closed behind us. It was a thing of beauty. Needless to say, the adrenaline rush soon ended.

We are now in Portland, Oregon. It's been a LONG day and it's only 6:00pm. Not sure what the plan is tomorrow beyond taking Larry to work, but I'm ok with that.