Trip to Portland, Day Nine and Ten

Two days of driving home to Phoenix. It was cloudy and raining the first day, sunny the second. We stayed overnight again in Sacramento. A trip that was supposed to take 20 hours took 24 hours. The first day, we had a low oil warning light come on and decided to get the oil changed at a Walmart in Cottage Grove, OR. The second day, we hit bumper to bumper traffic outside of LA, between Calimesa and Banning. We still don't know what that was all about, no accident, no road construction.

I don't think we'll drive again to Portland, but we'll definitely fly!

Trip to Portland, Day Eight

The day after Christmas, we decided to brave the roads and take a drive. We were going to head for the coast, but turned around after driving for 1/2 hour due to snow. So we drove the opposite direction to the Columbia River Gorge.

We stopped to see three waterfalls. The largest was Multnomah Falls. We walked up a short, icy path to the bridge.

We found a little Japanese restaurant near the hotel and thoroughly enjoyed the sushi. Later, we shoveled out an area next to the road by Miriam's apartment, so that she could park in her usual spot. It was invigorating and wet! Then it was time to say goodbye.

Trip to Portland, Day Six and Seven

It was back to Trader Joe's to pick up appetizer type of food for our usual Christmas Eve fare. We spent some time in the exercise room in the afternoon and then headed to Miriam's little studio apartment to eat and open presents.

This morning we had a leasurely breakfast at the hotel, and then drove very slowly through the sloshy, snowy streets downtown to the homeless youth center (http://www.pearmentor.org/home.html ) to sing Christmas carols with a few members of the Flash Choir (http://flashchoir.blogspot.com/ ) that Miriam belongs to.

After a lazy afternoon hanging in our hotel room, we had a delicious buffet at the Crowne Plaza next door, and then played three games of Settlers. It was a great Christmas.

Trip to Portland, Day Five

It was time to venture out so we drove at a snail's pace to downtown Portland. We took in the vibrant life of an active city - light rail, shops, the homeless, someone deciding to ski down the sidewalk. Powell's is a large independent bookstore with lots of character. We wandered around and got a cup of coffee/hot chocolate.

There's a farmer's market every Saturday, but the last week before Christmas, it's the Festival of the Last Minute (a perfect description of Miriam).

We drove all the way to The Grotto to see the Festival of Lights, but when we got there, it was closed. Ah, well, the story of our time in Portland. Since Oregon is known for its microbreweries, we had brews and food at the Bridgeport Brewpub in the Hawthorne area. Afterwards we went to the Bagdad Theatre, a popular pub and movie theatre, built in the 1920s. We ordered a pitcher of beer and watched, "Burn after Reading," a Coen brothers film.

Miriam went back to her apartment and we called it a night.

Trip to Portland, Day Four

Miriam has been staying at the hotel because she couldn't drive back to her apartment. So we decided to help her get chains. The day was spent calling auto part stores to see if they had any chains in stock. Then Phil drove Miriam and her friend/co-worker, Alexis, to the store to purchase chains. After a quick lesson in putting chains on the tires up in our hotel room, we had to dig her van out of the snow.

Then Miriam (er, Phil) put the chains on the tires.

Miriam was able to drive home, feed her cat, change clothes and return to the hotel for her shift. Phil and I took an invigorating walk in the neighborhood. Applebees and Trader Joes are open, but all the other nearby businesses are closed. It was a quiet evening, reading, playing Settlers on the computer, and watching HGTV.

Trip to Portland, Day Three

They say it's the worst snow storm in 40 years. The problem with Portland getting snow is that they are not equipped for it. None of the highways or streets have been plowed. And it continues to snow. Chains are required. (View from our hotel window.)

What do you do on a snowy day? Go shopping. First we had to scrape off 1/4 inch of ice off the windows.

There were a few brave shoppers at Washington Square Mall, but only half the stores were open. A lot of restaurants are closed so we picked up some instant food at Trader Joe's which is only a few blocks from the hotel. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the hotel room.

By evening we were a little antsy, so we took off for a movie. There were two other people in the theatre with us, watching "Quantum of Solace." The streets wre deserted. It's been a quiet day.

Trip to Portland, Day One and Two

"You're going to drive to Portland?" That was the question asked most after telling people we were going to visit Miriam in Portland for Christmas. I knew what they were thinking - you're crazy!

We were up for a road trip. Airline tickets were expensive, plus we'd need to rent a car. We figured we could easily pack Christmas presents without worrying about the weight of luggage. Besides, we love road trips.

We left Phoenix on Friday around 6:00 am, driving I10 into California. The mountains around Palm Springs had a distinct line of snow on top.

Not much traffic in LA, which was a relief. We headed north on I5. Although the stretch through the San Joaquin Valley was pretty non-descript, we saw a beautiful double rainbow.

After 11 hours of driving, we spent the night at a Four Points by Sheraton hotel in Sacramento, making use of my employee discount.

We didn't get an early start on Saturday, leaving around 8:00. The drive through northern California was gorgeous. Although there was snow on the mountains the road was clear. Here's a picture of the range near Mt. Shasta.

Soon after driving across the Oregon border, it started to rain and was raining all day long. When when got to Salem, about 60 miles from Portland, it was snowing. So we pulled to the side of the road, along with all the other cars and semis, and put chains on the tires.

Driving about 25 mph, we finally made it to Portland by 8:00 pm, about 3 hours later than expected.

Pulling into the Holiday Garden Inn, where Miriam was working and waiting for us, was such a relief. We made it! Miriam checked us into our room, and decided to stay the night in a hotel room herself. It's so good to see her again.

Thanksgiving in Santa Fe

Taking advantage of a long weekend, we took off on Thanksgiving morning to drive to Santa Fe, through cloudy skies and rain. By the time we reached the outskirts of the city, it was snowing, big, beautiful flakes. Our dinner of green chili chicken soup, salmon wraps and Margaritas wasn't exactly the usual Thanksgiving dinner, but it was good and comforting.

We're attracted to the architecture of Santa Fe and all the art galleries.

We took a walk in the neighborhood that night and also the next morning.

I was intrigued by the winding staircase in the Loretto Chapel.

We took a drive to the San Ildefonso Pueblo in the afternoon,and drove through Chimayo, known for weavings and the El Santuario (a chapel of miracles).
The next day, we toured through the Georgia O'Keefe Museum, enjoying the many stories told by a docent. Then we headed north, taking the High Road to Taos, and stopping a several art galleries.

We got to the Taos Pueblo just before closing. The lighting on the buildings was phenomenal.

We missed taking a traditional ofuro (bath) at the Ten Thousand Waves Japanese spa. Guess we'll save that for next time.

Our neighbor, Jane (3)

Despite the best efforts by Fox News, there are some people who do not buy into their culture of fear. One of those people is Jane.

Last Wednesday, Jane woke up at 5:00 am to go to the bathroom. As she headed back to her bedroom, she noticed the light was on. Then she found a man filling a bag with her jewelry. She yelled, “Get out of here or I’ll call the police!” The phone was next to her bed so she couldn’t get to it. The man then yanked out the phone and fled the house. To get in, he had removed the door knob on the side kitchen door. One of Jane’s neighbors is installing a security screen door to prevent future break-ins. Jane didn’t seem a bit afraid, only perturbed. She told us, “As my 5 year old great niece said, shrugging her shoulders, ‘Life isn’t easy. These things happen.’”

3 hikes

Taking advantage of the cooler weather, we've gone on a hike for the past 3 weekends.

Two weeks ago, we hiked a loop trail in Cave Creek Regional Park, just north of Phoenix. It took us about 2 hours.Last Sunday, we drove further out of Phoenix on 89 near Rye, south of Payson and took the Barnhardt Trail. The climb took us into the Mazatzal Mountains. It was a gradual climb and very pleasant.The leaves on the trees were changing color and gave a great Fall feeling.The hike took about 3 hours.

Today we took 89 again but only 1/2 hour out of Phoenix to the Ballantine Trail. It was a much more rigorous hike, climbing up and up, but had great rock formations.

We were surrounded by cacti: saguaro, prickly pear and cholla.The most exciting part of the hike was coming across a tarantula right in the middle of the trail.We hiked for about 4 hours today.

I don't know if I'll be up for a 5 hour hike next weekend. We'll see.

Antelope Canyon

We went with our group of friends to Page last weekend, to hike through Antelope Canyon. It was a fantastic trip!

sign of the times

from http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/cartoons.html

The Date

We’ve been waiting for months to go on a special date. Mostly we were waiting for the weather to cool down. Yesterday’s high was in the 80s and it cooled down into the 70s in the evening – a perfect night. Miriam, Lauren & Aaron had given us some gift certificates for Christmas, and we used them all in one evening.

Our date began at the Phoenix Art Museum. We enjoyed the Asian exhibit, with some contemporary Chinese scrolls. I was fascinated by a piece called Mass (Colder Darker Matter) 1997. It was made with wire and the burnt wood from a Texas church which had been struck by lightening.

We also enjoyed walking through a small dark mirrored room which had (computer controlled) LED lights suspended from the ceiling. It gave the feeling of looking through space to infinity. Very cool.

Pizzaria Bianco is a restaurant located in the historic Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix. We were warned that we’d need to wait for a table, so we arrived a little after 5:00. The hostess told us there was a 2 hour wait. Nothing new for this restaurant. People arriving after us had to wait 3-4 hours. So we sat on a bench outside, nursing a glass of wine and enjoying the parade of people at the “rainbow” event going on in the pedestrian streets in front of the restaurant. A little light rain didn’t even spoil the fun, and the double rainbow after the rain seemed to fit the night. The wait was worth it. The antipasto was so good and the pizza is incredible.
After dinner, we took a walk and toured the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown – a beautiful new Starwood hotel.

We used our last gift certificate for dessert at the Compass Room, a rooftop-revolving restaurant in the Hyatt Regency. The floor does a complete circle in 55 minutes. It was so pleasant to enjoy coffee, tiramisu and flan while viewing the night lights of downtown.

Even if you’ve been married for 33 years, a date is still a great idea. Thanks, kids!