5:30? They open at 5:30? What’s up with that? I want coffee now!
It’s 5:00a.m. and I’m  sitting with Murphy in a parking lot outside a not-yet-open Starbuck’s in Portland, Oregon. Gotta pee. Sneezing my head off, itchy eyes. I think I must be allergic to the entire Willamette Valley. I go to Viet Nam for a year and I’m pretty sure I didn’t sneeze once. I come here and my brains are leaking out my nose.
Okay, I’ve had my whine. Thank you for your patience… or shall I say endurance?
I stayed at my sister’s for a little over 2 weeks. Much longer than I’d planned (‘plan’ being a relative term on this venture), but she needed help in organizing for an upcoming move and since organizing is rather my forte, I was happy to help. It was actually pretty darned fun and I enjoyed spending time with her. It’s been years since we’ve had so much time together and, happily, there’s more to come.
But, as I said, I’m in Portland now and visiting with my adorable granddaughter, Dominique. We strolled around for a while and saw some cute goats….

 

 

 

 

 

….went to a park and made wood chip angels

 

 

 

 

 

… and pretended to be dinosaurs snarling at each other.

 

 

 

 

Speaking of which, Dominique has been a dinosaur aficionado for approximately half her life…. and she’s seven.  Here she has spelled out ‘Velociraptor’ using sticks, twigs and pinecones she found at the park.

Smart girl.

We also planted sunflower and chive seeds, read books, went with Georgia and Jim to a mall where there was a carousel, a Ferris wheel and all sorts of fun things to do.  Basically, I had a wonderful time with my dear, sweet, intelligent, funny, caring granddaughter.  It was extremely hard to say goodbye.  I miss her very, very much.

……two days later……

Just a few quick pics – I’m in Ontario, Oregon, on the Idaho border and my sister and I will be getting on the road soon.  Not a lot of time to write, but just want to let you know what’s up.  Georgia and I left from Portland and headed east on Highway 84 along the Columbia River.  Our first stop was at a place called McMenamin’s Edgefield.  She’d been there a few times before and wanted me to see it.  McMenamin’s is sort of an Oregonian gem.  Years ago, a couple of brothers started buying old, run down buildings and turning them into beautiful restaurant/taverns all over northeast Oregon.  The Edgefield establishment, built in 1911, had once been a poor house.

 

Now it’s this lovely place with gardens and art all around.  After a most delicious breakfast, we strolled around the grounds.

 

I have a thing for water towers.  There was one outside my apartment in Chico and I loved to photograph it at different times of day.  I like the industrial look of them.

 

 

 

 

That’s Georgia enjoying the beautiful vegetable garden.

Anyway, I’ve been to a few McMenamin’s over the years and it’s always been an enjoyable experience.
So, on down the Columbia River Gorge.  Lovely.  Some pictures turned out, some not so much.  Here’s one Georgia took with her phone camera….

….and here are a few more we took along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a brewery we saw in The Dalles, Oregon. I just really liked the art….too bad I didn’t get the whole thing in the shot.  Ah well, that’s what you get with back-of-the-motorbike pictures.

 

 

I can’t remember the name of this dam just east of The Dalles.  I have mixed thoughts about dams but I have to admit, it was pretty impressive.

 

 

 

We stopped in Pendleton, Oregon at the wool mill.  Both of us being fabric lovers, we just had to.

I felt like a kid in a candy store.

I didn’t buy anything, but it was still fun to look.  Also, we watched a video about how the wool is processed.  Really interesting.

Eastern Oregon is much drier than west of the Cascades.  It’s beautiful high desert.  Big, big open sky.

I’ll take it!

 

It was another long day of driving.  Stops along the way, yes, but lots of driving.  I wanted to make good progress that day so the next day’s journey to my brother’s house in Idaho Falls wouldn’t entail so much driving.

By the time we reached Ontario, we were both aching (literally!) to get out of the van.  Just exhausted.

So, it’s the next morning now and I’m hurrying to get this post finished.  Wanna get on the road.

Amusing sighting of the day – I saw a kid wearing a t-shirt that said, simply, “Irish…ish.” I really liked it. Being an American mutt, I’m Irish…ish, too.

Idaho, here we come.