Rest of the Photos (Part 2) + Pacific Northwest

 

We started our second part of the trip from San Francisco around night time only to get lost in the Bay Area (typical) for about an hour. By 1-2 AM, I was driving in pitch black darkness with the only light being my headlights. Slowly the roads got curvier and my eyes heavier. I knew it was time to call it a night even though our initial goal was to cross the Oregon border that night. I woke up L and asked if she could drive. After about 30 minutes of her driving, she said we need to get a room because we were in no shape to be driving. To ensure our safety we picked the motel with a female front desk. Without having no idea where town in California we were in, we checked into our little Motel 6, took a shower and knocked the heck out (with the a/c on nonetheless). 

We woke up next morning quite early, each in our own bed, a memory I fondly revisited during our time in Portland (airbnb homes usually 1 bed). We woke up frozen. The combination of wet hair from the shower the night before and a/c being on had created what I can only imagine Alaska to feel like.

Stepping out into the bright light, we became aware that we were in Weed, California. Weed is beautiful. Clear blue sky dotted with wispy clouds and Mount Shasta in the background. 

After hours of driving, we finally entered Oregon. Hello trucks transporting lumber and lush green trees!

By mid-day we were almost in Portland, but had to make a detour when we saw a sign for The Enchanted Forest, a tiny theme park based on fairy tales. Now if I was twenty years younger, this place would have been ideal, but still quite enjoyable being the young spirits we are. 

We finally made it to Portland, or more like Beaverton. Why Beaverton? Well to buy a laptop each and a digital camera for L. Then we made it to Portland, or more specifically the hills of NW Portland where our first airbnb home was located. Notice how quickly we made ourselves at home (picture above). We then drove downtown to feel the Portland vibe. Made a quick trip to Whole Food to pick up some snacks and well, funny store... 

At the check stand, I noticed a book titled "Curious Gorge." Having studied Spanish more years than was necessary, I immediately read "gorge" as "jorge." I thought, "hm, very progressive of Portland to sell a book in Spanish in Whole Foods for what I can imagine a small Latino population (well compared to LA)." I exclaimed to L, "Wow! Look they even sell Curious Jorge (hor-hay) in Spanish!" L had to break it to me that it was in fact "Curious Gorge" for the popular Portland gorge. Oops. But does that mean I am fluent in Spanish because my mind was thinking in Spanish?

We drove back to our house on the hill and left again for dinner. We walked down the hill to McMenamin's for dinner and called it a night.

The next morning, I woke up to find L gone. I prepared myself for the day ahead, unsure of where L went, and sat quietly while watching Portland news on the telly. L comes in with a bag of bagel (everything bagel & lox cream cheese) for us to eat. She had just taken a stroll down to 23rd to find us breakfast. Good start to the morning!

We met up with L's friend CD and ended up having lunch at Fifth Quadrant where I had a tuna melt (once again I was in the middle of my annual summer pescatarian diet/journey). After lunch we walked around the neighborhood surrounding Fifth Quadrant, stopping by almost every single shop including Queen Bee Creations and Lark Press.

Next on our list was the Columbia Gorge. Oh, it was gorgeous! So green, so lush, so crisp! The weather was a bit overcast and dewy which was perfect because L and I were trying to escape the California heat we are so used to. Our first stop was the Vista house which had great views of the gorge. We then drove further and stopped at the many waterfalls that dot the gorge including Latourell Falls and Bridal Veil Falls. Two nice opening acts to the main attraction, Multnomah Falls. Typical tourist spot, but definitely not a trap. It is beautiful and majestic. I felt like I was blanketed with nature, with living things, with life.

We ended the night with a nice dinner at The Farm Cafe. I had a mental list of places I wanted to in Portland and The Farm Cafe was one of them. The restaurant itself was an old Victorian house with a really nice, homey, yet bit gothic. We shared goat cheese salad and I got the goat cheese ravioli. Yum.

 

The next day we drove to Washington for a day trip to visit Seattle and Tacoma. Due to the crazy traffic, we made it to Seattle later than we had originally planned. But that was fine because we were there for only one thing and one thing only, the seafood bisque and dungeness crab roll from Pike Place Chowder (like the last time we were in Seattle). We were gone the moment we finished up our meal.

Having many, many, many aunts, I always gave them nicknames (Seattle Aunt, Korean Aunt, Scrooge Aunt, etc.) and on this trip to Tacoma, L and I were visiting Tacoma Aunt who is the eldest child from our dads' side of the family. Although I had spoken to her several times throughout the years, the last time L and I had seen her was in 2000 at our grandma's funeral. She's hard to get a hold of! The last time I was in Seattle with my parents, we called to meet up, only to have her return our call a week after we were back in LA. Then there's the last time L and I were in Seattle. We planned on buying her lunch and just catching up, only to have her hang up on us and ignore our subsequent calls. 

So you can tell it's hard to make plans to see each other, but finally this time we  were able to touch bases.

I assumed we were going to see Tacoma Aunt and her son, our cousin (which is weird because he's closer in age to my dad than us), but much to our surprise, our 2nd cousins (nieces?), or simply put cousins showed up. There was Big C and S who L and I hadn't seen since 1997! Nuts how time passes by. Anyways, we wanted to see our Tacoma Aunt because her health wasn't too well, but even with her frailness, her personality was exactly the same. She's a bit crass but in a good way, the way that makes you laugh. Seeing her was great and it brought a lot of old memories as well. One memory that I enjoyed feeling was seeing all my grandma's Catholic trinkets on my Tacoma Aunt's wall. It was comforting because it reminded me of the little shrine that my grandma had next to her TV, full of Catholic things that I would once in awhile touch and put back quickly when I was reminded that these in fact were not toys. Tacoma Aunt's health wasn't too good but she was in great spirits. We caught up and seriously hearing her voice and seeing her was great.

For dinner, all of us minus our aunt went to a local Korean restaurant. I realized how Korean restaurants not in LA (and I've been to many including Berkeley, Oakland, Vancouver, etc) don't feel Korean to me. There's a quietness which is rare in Korean restaurants. Anyways, we ate our food and went back to our Tacoma Aunt's house to hang out. We eventually left with our cousins to go to a noraebang. After hours of singing, L and I drove back "home" to Portland.

Back in Portland, the next day, we met up with CD again, but this time with his GF at the Saturday Market (like last time). Rather than just browse like last time, this time around L and I supported the local artists by handing over our cash. L bought a bunch of cute t-shirts, pouch, wooden puzzle, stationery and Cajun seasoning, while I bought some organic skincare and some delicious jam. Then we all went to 23rd to do more shopping. The day ended with L and I leaving NW Portland and checking into our 2nd airbnb home in NE Portland. Yes we wanted a little taste of west and east Portland.

For dinner we found a pho spot on Yelp only to find it closed. So we instead went to Sizzle Pie which was another place I wanted to eat while in Portland. Sizzle Pie was so good! The pizza is New York style with a bit of flair like vegan pizza (which I tried and wasn't bad). This is where I also discovered Aardvark's sauce which is my new favorite hot sauce! Put that shiz on everything.

The next morning we were welcomed with typical Portland weather. Light drizzle really complements this city. We got our pho we wanted so badly the night before and we both concluded that it wasn't as good as pho in LA. Anyways, today's main attraction was The Grotto. The Grotto was also magical. As I walked around, the thought of my grandma kept on creeping on me. She would have loved this place. For some reason I can't shake off the love (?) for catholic imagery and traditions. It's nostalgia. When I was little, my family and I would go to morning mass with my grandma. After mass, she would buy me a donut and I would always sneak in sips of coffee from her cup. I guess memories tend to have that affect on you where you visit a religious sanctuary by choice, not by force.

After The Grotto, we had scheduled to meet up with an ex-hippie. Huh what? Yes you heard me right! Long story but we were going to the house of an older ex-hippie lady that L had exchanged e-mails with when we were looking for airbnb place back before the tip. Some minor confusion, so we ended up staying elsewhere, but she still invited us to have lunch at her house. Random, right? 

Ex-hippie served us apertifs and digestifs at her home. She told us about her life in the 60's as a teacher at an Indian reservation and how she believes her fat is a reincarnation of her aunt. She was quite entertaining and she did make some good food. Oh and she had an impressive garden where most of her ingredients come from.