Newport to Portland

This day starts out differently than the others so far on this trip, because we actually have to be somewhere at a certain time - we're picking up Nancy at the airport!

But first, our customary morning coffee and gallop down the beach. The morning was so gorgeous with the pictures to match, so I'm just going to throw them all up!



Back up the stairs to our little room.

As we're driving I see this sign:


Which seems curious, just sitting in the middle of nowhere til I see this next door:



Balance, my friends, balance...


Trees!

Given the need for speed (t-minus 3 hrs til Nancy's flight lands) I decide on AM/PM coffee for breakfast. I'm peckish while in the store and make the terrible, awful, gastrointestinally disastrous decision to grab a sandwich too.

Good!!!BAAAAAAD!!!

It was all smooth sailing until I approached Portland airport, and then.....


whhaaaaaaaaaaaa?!?!



Ohhhhhhhh.

So I was a little late to pick up Nancy, but really, who here is surprised?

After grabbing Nancy we headed to downtown Portland and out home from the next three nights, the Hotel Vintage Plaza. VP is another in the Kimpton chain of boutique hotels, which is the same chain I stayed at in San Francisco and will again in Vancouver. The one in San Fran was awesome, and the VP followed suit.


The lobby


The seating area and lobby



Looking up from the lobby - the center was open all the way up to a skylight with rooms situated in spokes out from the middle.



Our very nice room


They left a little bear on my pillow


And since I am a Kimpton member (I signed up, for free, when I was in SF) and they knew I was bringing Zack, they left a package of cookies and dog-related stuff for Zack, a cookie for me, and a little giving me 20% in their highly related restaurant downstairs. Nice!

After settling in and relaxing for a bit, we decided to go search out dinner. We set off with no particular plan, stopping in different spots as we walked. Nothin quite hit our fancy. There was a couple bars with burrito menus, some diners, some swankier looking eateries, but... nothign caught our fancy. Everything seemed grey (and I'm not talking about weather) and sedate and boring.

So we trudged back to the hotel and brought down Zack and got a table outside the Vintage Plaza's Pazzo.

This turned out to be an awsome decision. We started off with a bottle of wine, and an appetizer of prosciutto wrapped asparagus.



All of the entrees looked amazing, so we decided to get two and split it. With the server's approval, we ordered up:


Pork shoulder braised in milk, over big giant beans and topped with a slaw of celery, radish and leek and i think parsley or cilantro? Can't remember. I do remember that we just touched the pork and it fell apart, which means it was aaaaaaawesome.



And pappardelle pasta with lamb ragu and mint. So. Freaking. Good.

One of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time. We were pretty stuffed but the very friendly server talked us into getting a half order of their specialty dessert, pistachio semifreddo


which was really semifreddo layered with chocolate cake and topped with roasted, salted pistachios.

Oh - and a side of Fleet Week:

Tee hee.


Nancy likes...... the asparagus! Not the sailors. Nooo....

After dinner we decided to wander and find an after dinner drink. The Spanish Coffee at Hubers was recommended, but they wouldn't let us drink it at their outside tables. Apparently the tables are not for sitting. Ok. So instead we walked until we came across Rock Bottom brewery where we sat outside and had a couple of amaretto coffees.


The view down the street from Rock Bottom

On the way back we passed:




The train


A bucket of seals


Me kissing a seal




A coupla beavers (tee hee)


A woman pushing her dog in a stroller.


The flowers at Pioneer Square



What happens when someone when someone with pale skin and a proclivity for bruising carries a heavy bag around all day - those are broken blood vessels, btw. Sexy.

As we got ready for bed we noticed that people across from the hotel were camping out. I know our arrival in Portland was probably the most exciting thing thats happened there since... oh... I don't know, ever??? But camping out to catch a glimpse seemed a bit over the top



Hmm.. we'll have to sort out this mystery tomorrow....

Gold Beach to Newport

Ah, a typical morning on the Oregon coast, and we're proud to be a cliche as we take our routine trot along the beach as the coffee brews back in the room. I've lumped alot of todays scenery photos in with yesterdays blog, but here's one I fogot:



Blaire Witch Beach. Bwa hahahaha.

Several interesting items we've learned in the last few days:

• For most of our ride up the coast in Oregon, the highway has actually gone through each town instead of having exit ramps that branch off the highway into each stop. So you'll be jetting along the 101at 60 or 70mph and all the of the sudden you're slowing to 35 and passing Subway and Shell and Mo's Crab Shack and always, always, Chan's/Chen's/Mings/Weng's Chinese Diner/Buffet/Take Away/Restaurant/Place.
• You cant pump your own gas in Oregon. It's illegal. I know that now bc I experienced an ass-clenching level of embarrassment when I pulled into a fill station to get some ass (bloggers edit: This should read GAS. Thanks Dad.). A big dude blocked my door and we had an exchange that went something like this:

Me: Hi
Dude: Hello there
M: How's it going?
D: Fine, you?
M: Not too shabby
(long awkward silence)
Me: So.... Can you move so I can get out of my car please?
(additional silence in which Dude rues non-Oregonites, the Oregon legislature for passing such laws, and himself, for not studying harder in school and applying himself to his full potential so he wouldn't be working at the Gold Beach Chevron)
Dude: You can't pump your own gas in Oregon.

Award. Feelings. Inside.

But I give him my card and he gives me my gas and Zack a cookie, and yippee!

• Which brings me to my next note - people in the NW are friendly. They give my doggy treats. He approves.

We start towards Newport, making a sharp right turn when I spot Woof's Dog. Bakery (http://www.woofsdogbakery.com/). I got Zack:


Doggy peanut butter cups


Doggy ice cream cone cookie


Zack was pleased with his PB treat and agreed to keep watch for the next leg.



I like bridges.

I've been planning to stop at the Sea Lion Caves (http://sealioncaves.com/home/) since I started planning this trip, so I got super excited when I saw the signs just North of Florence, Oregon.



Theres a shop that serves as the entrance way, and of course is stocked with a ton of gifts that nobody needs. And popcorn. Because what is sea lion watching without popcorn? You pay your entrance fee ($11 for adults) and walk out back. There's a lookout down a path to your left, and the right hand path leads to an elevator which descends several hundred feet to the cave.



A view from the lookout - its hard to see, but all those brown bodies are sea lions!


Biggest snail ever on the path to the cave elevator.


Descending to the cave


Deep in the cave - the water flows in from the ocean, and the sea lions swim in and hang out on the rocks. See center.


Close up of said rock... wish these pics came out lighter, but flash is understandably prohibited.



They had a sea lion skeleton on display. Spooooky!



In true NW style, it started pissing rain as soon as we left the Sea Lion Caves. Thank goodness it wasn't too far the the Hallmark Inn in Newport, OR.

The Hallmark is a beautiful series of ocean front buildings, separated from the water by a steep walkway and a large stretch of sand. My room was on the ground floor with sliding doors out onto the patio, the grass area and the stairs to the beach.


The view from my "patio".


Stairs down to the beach.


The hotel from the beach.


Another trio of crabs. Dead crabs. Pooooor crabs.

After a long walk on the bitch (Bloggers edit: I don't know what I was on when I wrote this. Should say "beach". Again, thanks Dad....) I was feeling a bit icky, probably from the rain and long days of travel, so Zack and I cuddled into bed, ordered some room service (a delicious medley of seafood with fresh sourdough bread!!), watched some tv, and fell asleep.