Playing Tourist in Portland

Uncle Don and Aunt Mary had plans to come to visit us in southern Oregon.  But then we went and moved to Salem.  Actually, movers got scheduled for the week that they were slated to arrive.  So instead, I met them in Portland for most of their trip.  I arranged a super fun few days which concluded on the last day in Rogue River.  They returned to Seattle on the day that the movers arrived.

Here's how the weekend played out.  I picked them up at The Benson where they were staying and we drove to the Blossoming Lotus for a phenomenal vegan lunch.

We went to an art exhibit at Portland State University.  We walked all over campus trying to figure out where this place was.  It was super small and the display was really lame.  But the sculpture out front "Farewell to Orpheus" was neat!

Next we went to Powell's.  OK, this stop was mostly just so that I could have an excuse to buy a bunch of books for myself!

Then to Base Camp Brewing for a quick beverage.

We were ahead of schedule so I tucked in a quick visit to an artsy jewelry shop, Betsy and Iya, where an old friend makes and sells some pieces.  I did some Christmas shopping here.  We met Josh and Hannah for pizza at dinner in east Portland.

The next morning I took Josh and went to pick up Uncle Don and Aunt Mary.  We spent a lot of time at Portland State University, again, but this time for their phenomenal Farmer's Market.

Then we headed up to St. John's for lunch (no picture) and then back to Portland for some wine tasting at the Teutonic Wine Company.  It was our first wine tasting experience paired with heavy metal music.  Interesting to say the least.

We got to the Lan Su Chinese Gardens just as it was starting to drizzle.  Still a really neat and beautiful inner-city experience.  We dropped Josh off after the gardens.

It was pouring down rain, but the Soma Kombucha Taproom was a run place to wind down before dinner.

We met up with Josh and Hannah, again, for dinner.  This time for Indian food at The Sudra.

After dinner we all went to the Doug Fir Lounge where we watched Native Harrow open for the Great Lake Swimmers.  Both were really great bands and the venue was perfect.

The next morning we left Portland and started our drive to the bottom of the state.  We stopped in McMinnville for coffee at Flag and Wire.

And then lunch in Corvallis at Little Morocco.

South of Corvallis, we got some hail and some rain which made for beautiful skies.

We stopped off at Becker Vineyards outside of Roseburg because the place is just so great.  Delicious wine and friendly people.

We finally got to Rogue River where Dohnele and the kiddos had a huge dinner for us.  And the next morning, the movers arrived.  We turned in our keys that afternoon and moved out to Dohnele's dad's place in the Applegate!