Oregon to California

Portland is the largest city in Oregon. I arrived on a Monday evening. Most of the week was taken up with studying for my Staff Review for work (which I passed). It’s also home of Powell Books. An amazing book store with both new & used books. I spent several hours there late one afternoon. And my suitcase was a little heavier on the way home! I definitely want to go back. So much to see and do there. My hotel was downtown- which was a little sketchy with a lot of homeless people. Also, I didn’t get a chance to see it but apparently there is a world’s smallest park!

On my nephew Chris’ suggestion, I also tried a Pinot Noir from Williamette Valley - one of the premier Pinot Noir producing areas in the world. It was amazing. Definitely going to look at tasting more of this region’s wines.

I found some great food - including Grits & Gravy (a down home diner with fantastic grits) and Mother’s Bistro & Bar. On my last day, we drove up to Vancouver, Washington to Dosalas - a restaurant on the waterfront of the Columbia River. Great food, beautiful decor and amazing bar. I got an smoked Old Fashioned and just look at this presentation:

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/8200d4_7178bb87cbec418eb4aef0c4eff83af8/360p/mp4/file.mp4

Next up was a quick trip to Costa Mesa, California. I flew in to the John Wayne Airport. Costa Mesa is in Orange County, California. Costa Mesa is west of Santa Ana and Irvine, and south of Long Beach. I drove down to Newport Beach but couldn’t get down to the coast. I did drive through a charming downtown area of Balboa Island.

Now that I’m finished with training for my job, I’m off and running. More travel ahead. More adventures. More places to explore. Although it’s sometimes hard just getting a little taste of these places. My list of things to go back and see is growing! I am truly loving the Pacific Northwest.

As always, thanks for reading.

Gypsy Jules