Washington & Oregon Days 5-8

After a few days in Seattle, we hit the road and drove down to Oregon. Our first day and night was spent in Portland. And our first stop there, like any good glutton(s), was to the original Voodoo Donuts. Rich selected a donut that looked like a child dropped theirs in a box of Captain Crunch Berries. Ry chose the pretty, pink sprinkle-covered Homer Simpson, and I got a mango-filled donut since I'm sucker for anything mango-flavored.

Then we cruised the city on foot, and spent the next day wandering around their large Washington Park area. We also did some book shopping at the massive and heaven-sent Powell's bookstore (oh my God! I could live in there).
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Our longtime people, Jason & Melmet us at an indoor park (Playdate PDX) so Ry and his very first friend on Earth, Ty (of course) could spend some QT together.

After a few days in the city, we drove north west out to Seaside to see our friend's charming, New England-esque seaside town.

That night they took us to a brewery built over a favorite hang our spot for massive sea lions...amazing!

And our accommodation could not be beat...Jason arranged for us to stay at an oceanfront condo a mile from their casa located in the heart of quaint Gearhart...a tiny gem I quickly fell in love with. All I lack is the $3-4 million to buy own little slice of heaven there near the beach!  We even had our own little fireplace burning that night for Ryan to experience (it was 50 degrees every day there, so I'm guessing it was about 40-45 at night).

I went on an AM run in the wind and drizzling rain through neighborhoods ther where every house looked like it was transplanted from the Hamptons, and every block seemed to have it's own little meandering river for the many elk and deer that live there.

Best part of the run? Running on the beach in front of our condo! I could have run for miles, searching for sand dollars that had washed up on shore...since the sand was pretty hard packed (heaven on the granny knees). But at the point that I got to the beach, my hands were so frozen that I could barely move my fingers and I was well out of drinking water. It was also unnerving to be without cell service for two hours...so it was time to let Rich and Ry know that I was still alive.

Apparently not only Jesus can walk on water....

We had brunch at our friend's casa, where he whipped up an amazing farewell brunch for us (we had sampled some of his own hand-dug razor clams and crawfish the day prior). Brunch had, amongst many other locally-sourced, organic delights...sauteed freshly picked mushrooms. FRESHLY PICKED MUSHROOMS. I learned that I've been missing out on so very much that country life has to offer.

When I was his age, I crammed into the backseat of the car with my 2-3  of my sweaty brothers trying not to puke from motion sickness. This kid reclines on naturally soft down-filled blankets with his own tablet.  :-)

Though we were in Portland during the 5-6 days of nightly protests, and were even in spots that would be vandalized later, we managed to avoid the political unrest that was brewing in both Seattle and Portland while we were there. I will say that there was definitely a hazy, 72-hour period post-election where we both walked around in a bit of a fog and disbelief (though the 800,000 Trump/Pence signs we saw everywhere outside of the city should have been a big fat red flag that we lived in a progressive bubble).

The day after the election, I remember going on a run in Oregon in the boondocks and a jerk on a Harley rode up to me and screamed something foul at me just a few feet from my face. I remember attributing the verbal 'attack' on the recent fervor/momentum behind racist attacks, but truthfully, I really couldn't say. It wasn't the first, second or third time I've had encountered racist as#hats, and it won't be the last (though it's admittedly very, very rare). I just thank my lucky stars that most people in this country and nearly all in my small social circle (and I do believe we still outnumber the as#amp;hats) are more socially progressive than embittered racists. I've also made an effort to not give them much thought or energy because, really...why? So although I don't click on or share news stories or videos of alt-right groups spewing racist propaganda, it doesn't mean I'm burying my head in the sand. I will continue to vote for candidates who I believe, have open minds and arms to the immigrants (that we all hail from).