Skip to main content

Day 10 – Fabric, Donuts and Beer

Due to our adventures in gastronomy while traveling, we usually eat a light breakfast of yogurt, berries and granola.  Today was our first breakfast out.  Sean recommended Blue Star Donuts instead of the usual Voodoo Donuts.  At Blue Star there was a selection of about 15 gourmet donuts.  We tried the Lemon Poppyseed, Meyer Lemon Key Lime Custard, and Blueberry Bourbon Basil.  While we were enjoying our selections, one of the employees pulled out a blow torch and started caramelizing the tops of donuts so we had to try the crème brûlée donut too.  It had a great crunch on top, but our favorite was the blueberry donut.  A hipster walked in and ordered a dozen assorted for a mere $39.50.




I have been shopping online at Fabric Depot for a few years.  It wasn’t until last week when we were planning our trip that I realized they were in Portland.  We arrived at 11 AM on a Monday and the parking lot was packed.  I walked into the converted auto dealership and was immediately overwhelmed by the selection.  The place is so big that they just added a café (they should really add a brewery for the husbands).  There were long lines at the cutting table and ladies had bolts of fabric stacked in shopping carts.  Turns out they were having a 40% off all fabric sale.  I felt compelled to shop quickly and get in line until I realized I could just take pictures of the fabric lines that I liked and order online.  No standing in lines!



We met Sean for lunch at 10 Barrel Brewing in the Pearl District (Portland is so big that they need to name all the trendy neighborhoods).  We enjoyed a sampler of their brews and a plate of steak & Gorgonzola nachos.  I liked the Double Squishy IPA and Shawn had the Nitro Apocalypse.



We woke up this morning and it was 46 degrees in the RV, but it was a clear sunny day with a high of 70.  While driving we were able to see both Mount Hood and Mount St. Helen.  Living in a city with two rivers, I have come to appreciate bridges.  Sacramento is skimpy when it comes to bridges, but Portland boasts 9 bridges over the Willamette in downtown alone.  Kudos Portland!


In the evening, we went to Sean’s house in Sandy on the outskirts of Portland.  It’s amazing what fifty foot pine trees can do to improve the look of a strip mall.  Sean and his wife live in a cute townhouse in a hilly neighborhood.  A nice mix of suburbia and nature.  We went to their local brewery Bunsenbrewer.  The menu is the periodic table of beers and all their beers are named after scientists.  I enjoyed a beaker of Bill Nye Rye PA.





Tomorrow we begin our travels south heading for Silver Falls state park.  Hopefully we will find a break in the weather for some hiking at the falls.  We could use a little exercise after Portland.

Daily Ratings & Stats

Blue Star Donuts – 5 stars
10 Barrel Brewery – 4.5 stars
Bunsenbrewer – 3.5 stars
Fabric Depot – so huge it cannot be rated by mere stars

Steps taken – not nearly enough
Loads of laundry done - 3

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Boulders, A Castle, and a Bunch of Churches and Fancy Buildings

I was probably a little harsh about the B&B last night.  We got up this morning and Norman and Stephanie had prepared a lovely "Kiwi Lite" breakfast for us.  It is their take on the continental breakfast, but Norman said he can't call it that if they're not on a continent.  The table was laden with fresh raspberries, rhubarb, fruit salad, granola, toast, yogurt, cheese, butter, cream, custard, and jams.  Then they passed around hot cross buns.  We shared the tiny dining room with two couple from China.  One couple from Hong Kong spoke English and told us about their trip.  They left their one year old son with the grandparents so they could take a 2 week holiday. On the way from Oamaru we stopped to view the Moeraki Boulders on Norman's recommendation.  The boulders jut out from the beach.   Scientists explain the boulders as calcite concretions formed about 65 million years ago. Crystallization of calcium and carbonates around charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on Retiring

Early this morning while lying awake in bed, I did some mental math and realized I will be retiring from my career in IT almost exactly 30 years from the day I started my first job out of college.  It is a bittersweet experience.  While I’m excited about the next chapter in my life and our big adventure moving to Idaho, I’m also sad to bring my IT career to a close and leave my work family.  I have spent 40+ hours per week for the last 30 years solving problems, writing code, implementing systems, learning new technologies, meeting with customers, counseling staff, reading email, and attending way too many meetings. To help me through this change, I started thinking about all the things I won’t miss, like those meetings.  People compliment me on my copious note-taking in meetings.  Here’s the truth, I started taking notes in boring meetings to keep from falling asleep and then it just became a habit.  I started with legal pads and saved the loose l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sounds Like a Fiord

At 7:00 AM we were standing in the rain waiting for our bus to Manapouri and our final destination of  Doubtful Sound in the Fiordlands.  We switched to a ferry to cross the lake, and then back to a bus  to finally reach Doubtful Sound.  The sound got its name when catain Cook got close to its entrance in 1770.  Fearing he would not be able to sail his ship Endeavor back out, he noted that it was Doubtful. We travelled through the fiords for 3 hours.  The rain was a curse and a blessing.  There are only a handful of permanent waterfalls in the sound, but when it rains there are waterfalls everywhere.  If it had stopped raining (which it did not), our guide said the waterfalls would be gone within 4 hours.  So we had low visibility with the rain and mist but lots of waterfall sightings.  The pictures do not do justice to the beauty and vastness of the fiords.  You'll just have to trust us, or better yet plan a trip! We g...
1 comment
Read more