Let the Madness Begin!!

On this particular trip Shannon and I got an early start. We decided that we since we were both able to get the time off, that we leave on Friday morning to start our journey instead of the usual Friday after work.

This was a great way to go about it!! But I guess there are few people in this world that would prefer to work rather than go on vacation. Sure there are people that think that they should be working rather than taking vacation, but I would argue that is not because they enjoy it more, but rather a feeling of obligation or of necessity. I have met few others than my Father that would rather work than go on vacation and that is not a feeling that we share.

Needless to say there was no arm twisting involved in getting me to agree to take the Friday off. I know that it was not a popular decision since it was right in the middle of campaign time at my office, but I had made the plans for the trip a year in advance and months before I even started working the new job that I am working now. So I thought that was enough of a reason to not really care too much about how people felt about me not being present for that week’s campaign meeting J.

Leaving Friday morning was a pleasant change from the ordinary. It allowed us to treat Thursday evening like the beginning of the weekend. In our household, this means staying up a little bit later, snacking a little bit more, and sometimes even including a night cap or two since we would be able to sleep in slightly more than we usually would on a Friday morning. It sounds great and it was great!

After a relaxing and rejuvenating Thursday evening we woke up on our own without the usual help we get from our alarm clock. Not to say that I have any issues with our alarm clock, because as far as alarm clocks go, I think we have found a great compromise (http://www.philips.ca/c-m-li/light-therapy). It wakes us up on time like it should, but it does not do so by using the same scaring techniques used in horror films. Maybe it’s just me, but I prefer not to be woken by a simulation of an air raid siren that has me diving under my bed seeking protection!

This year we woke up at a decent time and we got ourselves collected and ready to go in record time….well at least record time in relation to how things went down on our last trip. We had a quick but adequate breakfast, enough to get us going and then we were on our way. Shannon also insisted that she be the one to drive on this occasion as a birthday gift to me. This was a lovely surprise! It is rare that I ever get the chance to be a passenger on a road trip and honestly I wasn’t quite sure about it.

I didn’t know how I was going to occupy my time just sitting there for a 6 hour drive. It didn’t take long for me to make the adjustment from driver to passenger and I have to say, it’s a welcome change to hand over the reins of the chariot every once in awhile. Thanks again Shannon for being my chauffeur!!

The trip went as smooth as we hoped it would. Traffic was a breeze since we had a head start on all of the other travelers the might have had their eye on getting into the States later that day. There were limited slow-downs in Seattle and Tacoma…much better than last year once again. The 6 hours went by very quickly.

One thing that I would recommend for any road trip is getting your mitts on some new music before you embark on the journey. It takes your mind off the other aspects of the trip that might usually get your attention when you are listening to the same music that you have been listening to in the car that you have been for the past year.

Another tip for long road trips and what you play on the radio, try new things that are not necessarily music. We have tried audiobooks in the past and that was very successful. You get so wrapped up in the book and what is going to happen next that the hours of the trip just seem to melt away.

Something that was suggested to me by my younger sister, who also road trips on a regular basis, was to listen to comedy acts. This was a brilliant idea! Shannon and I downloaded the new Louis C.K. stand up and loved it! He had us smiling and laughing for an hour straight. It is quite difficult to get aggravated in traffic when you are hearing the comic genius that is Louis C.K. I cannot believe that I have not thought of this before! All I can say is try it!

During our trip we encountered a déjà vu scenario. We must have had close to the same amount of gas in our tank at the beginning of this trip as we did the last time we went to Portland just a couple months back, because we engaged in the same “how long can we go on one tank of gas” game and we ended up pulling off at the same exit as we did on our last trip.

We rolled up to the exact same gas station as we did the trip before. The same gas station that Shannon left her only pair of flip flop sandals outside the car as we pulled away to drive the last leg of the trip. All of this was completely unplanned but strangely amusing. Shannon even went to see if they had a “Lost and Found” to see if she could recover her long lost sandals. She did this not because they were particularly special, but rather as a “wouldn’t that be crazy if they were still there” exercise.

Unfortunately they were not there waiting for us to come and save them. Though the woman behind the till was wearing a pair that looked very familiar…..I joke, I was not even in there to see. The experience allowed us to get the gas we need to finish the drive and the closure needed in the lost sandal saga. We wish you all the best in your future endeavors cheap and well used Old Navy flip flops!!

With the chance of running out of fuel no longer an obstacle we were back on the road and headed to our sleep quarters for the night. We decided to spend the first night in downtown Portland since none of our friends were going to arrive until noon the next day. So Shannon found us an eccentric, reasonably priced place in the industrial area of downtown Portland. I was happy to experience yet another McMenamin’s hotel, this one called White Eagle Saloon and Hotel (http://www.mcmenamins.com/WhiteEagle) at least until she did some further research and found out it was haunted.

I am going back a little bit in our timeline because this was something that I had forgot to mention.

During our enjoyable, relaxing evening that we spent enjoying our time together and getting excited about our trip, Shannon started to look further into our first night accommodations and found out it had a haunted past. This was not something that I took well initially. Why would I willing spend a night in a place that I know has ghosts? I don’t know a whole lot about ghosts but from what I know most people’s experiences with them are not overly positive. They involve being scared and creeped out and in some cases being sexually assaulted (http://www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org/spiritualresearch/difficulties/Ghosts_Demons/ghostspictures/sexualmolestation1). None of these are situations that I would knowingly put myself in the position to experience.

This being the case, my first reaction was to ask Shannon to cancel our reservations and book us a new spot. She responded by saying that it’s too short notice and that we wouldn’t be able to find any other place that was so reasonably priced in that area…..I wonder why they are so much cheaper than everywhere else lol?

My second reaction was to take a deep breath and come to grips with the fact that we are going into ghost territory, and I decided that I was not going to be scared, because, I mean, hey are you really going to be that surprised to see a ghost if you were told before hand that they might be stopping by? I was now more excited than nervous, and I was ready to see some crazy stuff and have more exciting stories to write about on my blog J.

So back to our trip, we made it from the gas station to the hotel with little incident and we checked in, and even lucked out and found a place to park in the busy lot… and we didn’t even have to pay. Score!

I have once again run out of time so I will save the rest of the story for another time. Hope you enjoyed it up to this point and I hope I have you interested enough to come back and hear the rest of it at a later date!

Day 2-No plan? No problem

It is a liberating feeling to wake up in the morning and have no plans, aside from seeking adventure. Most days you wake up knowing what it is that you have to do, or on those special occasions knowing you don’t have to do anything but you have a list of things you want to do. Well, this day was planned specifically to be adventurous and go in whatever direction we felt compelled to go.

It started off waking up on our own time, not going to let an alarm clock tell me what to do! My wife headed off to the shower and I was left with a predicament, what do I do while I wait for her.....then it came to me! We still had a mostly full box of “happiness” from Voodoo donuts. What was I thinking when I said “we should probably only buy two each”? Glad Shannon talked me out of that one J So I feasted! Since I didn’t want Shannon to see me face deep in the box looking like a pig in a slop bucket, I decided to be civil and contain myself best that I could. By the time she came back the box was neatly shut and carefully placed back where we had left it last night. But there was no fooling her, she knew I had been into the goods and not just because our bed was littered with sprinkles and icing sugar.....she knew even before she saw the incriminating evidence. There is no fooling her after being together for almost 7 years. I knew that she would know, and I knew that she would have done the same and she did. Didn’t take her long at all before she was “sampling” again....and that was our breakfast!

After breakfast we made our way down to the much anticipated salt pool. I do not know if all the McMenamin’s establishments have them, but I loved the one in Edgefield (http://www.mcmenamins.com/877-edgefield-ruby-s-spa-soaking-pool) and was looking forward to seeing the one in the Crystal Hotel. It was definitely different but I enjoyed it just as much. The room itself is located below the street level outside, which seemed fitting given Portland’s history and the labyrinth of tunnels the run beneath the downtown core (http://www.travelcreepster.com/shanghai-tunnels.html#.U-0WYeNdVuB). The walls we lined with bamboo shoots and salt water was continually flowing out of two giant, pipe-like faucets creating a Zen-like atmosphere driving home the point that this place is to relax. So not feeling too rebellious that morning, we conceded the point and slipped into “just right” water while simultaneously slipping into a mind-freeing state of relaxation. With no timeline to stick to, we were in no hurry to move anywhere quick. After a rejuvenating soak (remember we had a late night of drinking and eating last night) we decided to piece together a set of guidelines for the day ahead. The musts were, to replace the priceless sandals (a whole Canadian dollar from Old Navy) that were unintentionally ditched at the gas station, find a place to camp for the night, and enjoy the hell out of the rest of the day. Sounds like a good plan to me!

So we checked out of the hotel, took our stuff to the car and set about on an unofficial walking tour of downtown Portland! We started with a stop in at Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/pearl) for some drinks and snacks. Usually, I am not one to seek out such stores. I enjoy eating healthy and taking care of my body but sometimes I find those places a bit over the top. Well I was both surprised and not surprised. Whole Foods was 100% over the top, just as I suspected, however it was awesome! A bit pricey, but awesome, nonetheless. In my experience, up until that point, if a store happened to carry drinks like kombucha or yerba mate tea, the selection would not provide you with much choice. Whole Foods was quite the opposite, it gave me so much choice that I almost walked out overwhelmed and empty handed. I decided on a bottle of Guayaki Yerba Mate (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/whole-story/guayak%C3%AD-yerba-mate-helps-ache-tribe). Delicious and refreshing! I love to drink yerba mate, not so much for the taste but for the health benefits. It never occurred to me that it could be tasty too J

So with drinks in hand we were on our way. The thing about going on a walking tour with no real intentions is that 100% of the time you end up in a place you didn’t intend to go to, hence the no plans part of the equation J Sometimes this works out great, and you find gems that you didn’t even know existed. Other times you end up in the hood, the “rough” part of town. This is what happened to us. There were no real consequences other than seeing a man wearing a hooded, skin tight, half unzipped, tiger-striped onesy, but it was not the area most tourists would be drawn to. But we intended on having an adventure, and that is exactly what happened.

Then we decided to head back to the downtown core in search of lunch. There are soooo many different, and oh-so unique, places to choose from, but we remembered that last night we had made tentative plans to try the place across from our hotel, Jake’s Famous Crawfish (http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/locations/portland-oregon/portland-oregon/sw12thave.aspx). Grabbing ourselves a prime, street-side, table we went to work navigating our way through the always impressing beer list of Portland restaurants, and the food menu packed with the wide variety of seafood (and more) dishes that made Jake’s famous. Unable to find a definitive answer to what we wanted, we inquired with the waitress what she recommended. Having seen this same strategy used by friends in the past as a weak pick up line, I was a bit hesitant to ask (my wife was right beside me, how awkward would that have been lol). But I was glad that I did because the appetizer we chose was not on the menu. Simple but delicious is how I would describe the deep fried crawfish with red wine aioli. It was a great side dish for the seafood alfredo that we chose to share. Some places in my experience have not allowed you to share a main dish, but not only did the waitress at Jake’s allow us to, she also asked if we would like it in separate bowls...yes please, is what I say to that J My final word on Jake’s; enjoyable staff (our waitress forgot our beers but made up for it with a sincere apology and great all-around service), amazingly tender scallops and gooey cheese all working together to make a memorable seafood alfredo, central location, and a positive experience worth sharing with friends (and stranger reading my blog!). I would absolutely recommend it!

With our whistles wet and our stomachs full of top notch grub it was time to check some items of our list. Our next mission was to find the Old Navy in Beaverton. A short drive to the west in the, oh so thankfully, air conditioned car (his name is Zooms Z. McGee) and we reached our destination...Beaverton that is...we never did find that Old Navy. But what we missed at Old Navy we made up for at Fred Myer. Huge store, impressive selection and more name brands than expected. Shannon was not able to replace her lost sandals with another pair from Old Navy but was able to find a steal of a deal on a pair of green and yellow Oregon ducks flip flops! Go Ducks! Very stylish (at least they were until they got wet for the first time and all the design rubbed off....so that’s why they cost $3). But what she lost in sandal quality she made up tenfold when she found a replacement for a pair of shoes she loved and lost years back. It’s was good day J

Then it was off to Trader Joe’s (http://www.traderjoes.com/) the place Vancouverites love so much they needed one of their own (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/pirate-joes-vancouver) or at least something that closely resembled it.... Well Shannon and I are no different, we love us some Trader Joe’s. Healthy food at a reasonable price = not having to tell yourself “no” when you see something that looks delicious, such as the chocolate coated, peanut butter filled pretzels. Do not leave without at least two bags! One bag is not enough, and you will regret not getting more....much like we did on the second night of camping L Shannon, in particular, love Trader Joe’s so much that she will get upset with me for exploring the frozen food aisle without her. It is something we are supposed to “experience” together.

We spent more time than we should have exploring all of what Joe’s has to offer (a list to save me the trouble: http://www.buzzfeed.com/christinebyrne/reasons-trader-joes-is-the-best#32sth76) but it does not stop at the food....the liquor section is second to none. Sure they are not the Kings in an area nicknamed Beervana but for the price you pay and the quality you receive with the store brand beer and wine, you won’t be complaining. The smile on your face would give you way even if you tried.

After finishing our shopping it was off to find a place to camp for the night. With no reservation or really any idea of where to go, we left it up to the GPS to find us a place. At one point I just about made an executive decision to follow a highway exit sign but in the end it was to our benefit that I did not. Instead we followed the map to an area called Oxbow Lake and along the way we have the honor and the privilege to patron a grocery store/BBQ stand/growler fill up station/outdoor beer garden called Bigfoot Growlers (https://www.facebook.com/Bigfootgrowlers). I was blown away! I have dreamed of such a place for years! When craft breweries and tasting rooms started to become popular I enjoyed them, but kept thinking these places could be better. What would make it better? Well a grocery store/BBQ stand and beer garden is a damn good start. Those might not be my first choices if I had a place of my own, but they would be in the top 5, I can tell you that!

How was our experience there? Awesome! Awesome beer, awesome selection, awesome people, awesome atmosphere....awesome across the board! We loved it and highly recommend it! Would have loved to try all the different types of beer, but that is just not possible when you are the one driving. Enjoy responsibly J

Now to find a campsite! Not too hard. Followed the GPS to the Oxbow site, no problem there. Not having any sites available....well...that is a problem but not unforeseen. “Did you book a site?” Sure didn’t. But we needed somewhere to sleep so we tried the next one on the map. It was a long, out of the way drive, so successfully finding a site was the only option. We arrived to find 2 spots left, one for us and one for the people that arrived 5 minutes after us. Cash only for the campsite, no problem. You don’t have any change....oh. People taking the last site are headed into town to buy supplies and will get change then. Idea! What if we pay for your site and you pay us back with the change you get in town? Excellent! Pleasure doing business with ya J

With all the kinks worked out we were “happy campers”J We had our site, our firewood and a nice river to cool off beside. Life was good. No better time to crack a cold one and enjoy the evening. BUT.....this site is an alcohol free campsite....WHAT?!?! I didn’t even believe such a thing could exist (that is actually a lie, Jones Lake just outside of Hope, BC is another). We chose to interpret that rule as “discreet drinking only” and enjoyed an afternoon beside the river and an evening around the fire. Wine in coffee mugs, fire-cooked short ribs on our plates, and big fat stupid smiles on our faces.

Life was good!