Portland, Oregon: Dave and I crammed-in so much during our four days in Portland. Lunches and dinners with friends, saw our financial planners, helped Lisa's godmother get a new cell phone, Bought DT a new (tax-free!) iPad Air with a keyboard, and ate way too much. After our meals with friends, we would return to the RV and catch the last few innings of the Dodgers or Giants baseball games.
Monday started with Lisa's godmother, taking her to the phone store, setting-up her new phone and then Nancy took us to lunch. Great to see her again. Monday evening we went to Tamra and Steve's for dinner. Natalie (their daughter/our goddaughter) joined us with her husband and their black lab, Lucy. Tamra and Steve have a new rescue puppy. Since Natalie and Jake have a Lucy, they decided to name their new puppy Leo. Makes total sense! Just so I can totally confuse you all, our granddaughter Lucy's godmother (Jen, Lisa's BFF from high school) lives down the street from Tamra - and Jen stopped by to say hi. Jen has a dog named Leo as well. And well, dang, that is just a lot of godmothering!
We were served a feast. Big appetizer platter, cocktails, roasted potatoes and asparagus, a lovely tossed salad, and Steve grilled beef tenderloin. For dessert, Tamra baked a limoncello cake. Such a fun evening and so nice to see everyone and meet the pups.
Tuesday we drove up to Vancouver (Washington) for lunch with Captain Jim and Mary at Wildfin, on the Columbia River. They looked so well and are enjoying splitting their time between the Pacific Northwest and Arizona. This is the second time we have met them at Wildfin - a very nice place in a very nice setting. The city of Vancouver have made a huge investment, and so many developers have stepped up to build shops, restaurants, and apartments along the waterfront (previously abandoned docks, silos). All very nice (probably very expensive), and so much public space, paths, gardens, parks, splash parks, etc. A very pleasant afternoon with our dear friends.
We spent Tuesday afternoon back with Nancy and then met Kathy & Woody, and Mary & Steve at Pizzicato in Beaverton for dinner, and chatted until we closed the place down (8p!).
We had lunch with our brokers Wednesday. I asked them to drive all the way out to Dundee, Oregon for lunch at Dundee Bistro. One of our favorite restaurants, and it really is out of the way, but since we were closer than the usual 1100 miles, they agreed.
Since we had a big lunch and no dinner date, we stayed-in, watched the Giants AND the Dodgers and I made a nice appetizer platter instead of dinner:
On Thursday Dave golfed with his cousin Jim and friend Matt. He was away all day and I enjoyed my time alone quite a bit. (Rude!) We are leaving in the morning, so I cleaned the RV (that doesn't take very long in this small thing) and prepped a crockpot meal for our drive tomorrow. The weather is going to grow cold and wet, so something "stewy" sounded good. All I have left in the freezer is chicken, so we may sprout feathers by the time we return to La Quinta. Bawk Bawk. Needlepointing also occurred.
Cousin Jim stopped by our RV to say hello to me after golf this afternoon. Always great to see him. The cousins enjoyed their round and spending time together. We will see Jim & Nancy in the desert this winter.
Dave was wiped-out after his golf (plus he rode is bike for over an hour this morning before golf!), so we stayed-in, watched the temper-flared Dodgers, prepped our campsite for departure tomorrow. I made sandwiches for dinner, and served them on paper plates. Fancy!
We will drop-off the rental car and head south in the morning. We are taking a route straight down I-5, taking our time, and will see Sister Gina and Brother Steve in Sacramento on the way home.
Until my next update, I remain, your home again, home again, jiggety jig correspondent.
Campground Information: Sun Outdoor Portland South (Exit 286 off I-5 in Wilsonville). Previously Pheasant Run RV Resort, the new owners have spiffed it up a bit and there do not seem to be so many live-ins. Nice park, lots of trees, indoor pool/hot tub, laundry (and pet bedding laundry), bath house. Full service paved pull-through and back-in sites. Small store. Free wifi, fitness center, pet area and dog park, playground. Though 1/2 mile from I-5, there is some freeway noise. Lots of shopping nearby, including Costco. We paid about $86 per night.
So great to see you guys!
Really enjoyed the conversation and lunch
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