PDX - Where are the Roses?

When in Portland, I had the pleasure of early morning free time and took advantage to walk along the Willamette River from downtown and go south along the river (upriver). My mission was to find roses since this was the end of the infamous Rose Festival http://www.rosefestival.org/. Where were all the roses? I wanted to stop and smell one! I did not see ONE ROSE. I was horrified. I saw beautiful flower gardens in the Waterfront area, but not one rose as I walked around this "city of Roses".

What intrigued me on my walk, was the various modes of transportation available in the city. I did see every type of transportation known to mankind including electric cars with electric car plugin posts, a submarine at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the USS Blueback (SS-581), dragon boats practicing, bicycles, and more boats. Portland is known as a city with the first electric car dealership which opened last September 2007. http://www.eco-motion.com/ They even have "plugins - bring your own extension cord" like parking meters.

I noticed a tram that connects the Waterfront to OHSU http://www.portlandtram.org/index.htm. Portland is a great town for using various modes of transportation, as long as you have a raincoat handy!



I will be back and will be in search of Roses in the City of Roses!

PDX - Roll Out the Red Turf Carpet for the Celebrities

On Wednesday, June 18, Marjorie and I attended the event of the year (who cares about a Rose Festival anyway...). We had a birdseye view of the celebrities exit their stretch limos and make an entrance on the Red Turf Carpet at the Hotel Monaco.

(Hotel Careyfornia eat your heart out!)

Portland's Next Top Dog Model event was THE see and be seen spot in town. Complete with CosmoMuttini's, we admired the contestants, brushed shirt sleeves with the celebrity judges and enjoyed the evening. We sampled exotic cheeses, vegetables and chocolates. (All contestants are Rescue Dogs http://www.oregonhumane.org/dogs/index.asp.)

Judges included Channing Frye of the Portland Trailblazers http://www.channingfrye.com/blog/, Eliuk, Dallas (most decorated goalie of professional Lacrosse) of the Portland Lumberjax http://www.portlandjax.com/team_profile.php?id=11, DR Doug from Charlie FM, Kimberly Maus, Debbie Woods, Leslie Ann Butler and "Art" the dog! Winners included "Tulip" the young bulldog winner in the large dogs, and Alfie, a Yorkie/Papillon mix won the small dog contest. (You have to check out Alfie's link.... Make your reservations now for next year's event!)

ORD - Get the Party Started?

As two planes pass in the night (literally Carey and I passed in the air he from the Windy City and me to the Windy City), I found myself in Lombard, IL. I decided to take a walk along a sidewalk outside the hotel and see where it might take me.

On my walk, I was astonished to find one of the more unique bloggable items I've discovered in a suburb. Party Girls on the Go! Let's get the party started at Sweet and Sassy! I thought, what fun! This would be, ... well, what would it be??? Where is Marjorie when you need her. (Scott was not into riding in the pinkmobile no doubt about it!) So, finding the webpage I determined quite quickly being a "Diva for a Day" or "A Night on the Red Carpet" is NOT something I'll be doing in the near future :) I'm a little too old for this adventure. http://www.sweetandsassy.com/packages.php

I walked around, looking for a dining establishment for dinner. There were a number of places like Kona Grill http://www.konagrill.com/, Weber Grill http://www.webergrillrestaurant.com/index.html, and Joe's Grill along with the PF Chang's and McCormick and Schmick's. I'm still not sure the name of this restaurant, but I had to wonder what restaurant will advertise they have real wine, real kitchens, real glasses, real plates and real food :) Was it REALLY worth eating there?

SEA NSY PUB & Fonts on eBay

The past week started with a trip to Seattle and a drive from SeaTac to Port Orchard, WA. Due to the horrible weather (wind, rain, wind, rain), it was difficult to get great pictures other than the horizontal rain along the way. Dean, Eric (picture included) and I dined at a restaurant with a lovely view of the harbor before our presentation. The restaurant overlooked Puget Sound, Kitsap Harbor and the Ship-Submarine Recycling Program . http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/puget_sound-nsy.htm. Spent nuclear fuel is shipped by rail to the Naval Reactor Facility in the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), where it is stored. The fuel is not reprocessed.

The coincidental item to be noted is I was just in Arco, ID and passed by INEEL last week, Friday, June 6 (see previous blog). Now I know what really does go into the Atomic Burgers in Arco and where it comes from! (Just another good reason not to eat meat :)

After a day trip to Seattle, I ended the day in Portland, OR and headed out to Pueblo, CO the following evening via Denver. PUB is the airport code in Pueblo, CO which flies planes close in size to bush planes (Great Lakes Aviation), thus driving is highly recommended from Denver to Pueblo. In Pueblo at the bank, a staff member showed us a bit of nostalgia. She brought out her original CFI LaserPro documentation manual. As one might imagine, we started talking about eBay and wondering how much this vintage piece might go for, or what we could sell it for and how big of a vacation we could take if it sold!
My search on eBay discovered one vintage item, still available for sale! Let the bidding begin!

Levee Breaks on the Winnebago River

Not my typical travel adventure story, but an adventure story based in the area around my hometown. (I was in Iowa over Memorial Day dodging tornados but nothing really bloggable other than the Parkersburg, Iowa tornado category EP5 that landed 30 miles south of Rockford, Iowa.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-storm27-2008may27,0,917663.story)

Today one of the levies on the Winnebago River in Mason City, Iowa broke, and along with the rain, caused massive flooding with record river levels.
View Larger Map

My parents live on "a hill" one block from the river bank, so they seem to be ok at the moment. It should be noted that Rockford, Iowa is actually at the confluence of both the Winnebago and the Shell Rock Rivers. The Winnebago was the focus of the infamous River City in Meredith Willson's "The Music Man". As you might know, the river wasn't more than a creek, but today proving the story and Meredith true, it is a big old river!

In the picture with just "river view" next to this text, there is a dam in the picture to the right where the waves are which is usually exposed. It has a 12 foot drop. The river is about 1/4 wide from this view in normal conditions. My father took all three photos in Rockford. Here's a link to the local news (and I really mean LOCAL) nothing like big city news :) http://www.kimt.com/news/local/19644369.html

SFO, IDA, BOI - Wine, Potatoes, Lava

Thanks for missing the blog! I've been busy and will get back in the bloggable spirit pronto. What can I write about dodging tornadoes and driving up I-44 from Oklahoma City, OK through Springfield, MO that hasn't been written? Usual hotels, bad food, way more car time than one wants, bad airconditioning, slow and low watt hair dryers - simply non bloggable! Finally a week that is bloggable :)
How often can one start in Santa Rosa, CA on a Monday evening and have a fabulous dinner with Todd, Scott and two great referenceable customers at Equus http://www.fountaingroveinn.com/equus_dinner.html with two bottles of Jordan 2002 and 2004? Abbondanza! Then, work and end the next day with a quick tasting at http://www.rossobianco.com/ followed by a patio dinner at the Hilton and an evening walk around the trail and "Round Barn".

Jetting off from San Francisco, and it's brisk, clear and windy June day, how can one refuse to end up in the potato capital of the world honoring Mr. J. R. Simplot who passed away in late May 26, age 99, in Idaho Falls, ID? Born in Iowa, he lived quite a life and was on the Forbes Top 400. (Simplot had many attributes of fame : semiconductors & Micron Technology, selling potatoes to McDonalds and others. ) Dinner? Of course, baked potato soup at the Brownstone Brewpub along the banks of the Snake River with a glass of cheap cabernet. Who else would be open at 10pm at night? I really like Idaho Falls, love the Snake and outdoor activities galore. The town is also home to Idaho Falls Chukars!

Having a long but productive day at a bank in Idaho Falls, what could be more fun than to round off the week driving from Idaho Falls, ID to Ketchum, ID looking for Demi, Ashton and Bruce's homes via hot spots of Arco, ID?
We passed the home of INL and the Atomic Burger. http://chefmoz.org/United_States/ID/Arco/Pickles_Place959994725.html, both keeping our nation safe. https://inlportal.inl.gov/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=255&mode=2

On our long drive, I forced Eric to stop so we could walk a little at the Craters of the Moon National Park and toured a lava tube cave which was well worth the diversion on the trip. http://www.nps.gov/crmo/ See that smile? It was worth the extra hour's stopover.









To round out the day, we enjoyed a cocktail at the Roosevelt http://www.therooseveltgrille.com/ with dinner at the Pioneer http://www.pioneersaloon.com/ with fresh wild Alaskan King Salmon and a bottle of Silver Oak 2003 - the wine tour week :) More adventure awaits! Stay tuned, June will be a wild ride :)

MCI: Stuck Seat Belt & Rental Bumper Cars

Blogging has taken a back seat to spring events of regular travel in usual places. On my drive toward the Kansas City metropolitan area, I stopped for gas at about 9:30pm in the evening, hoping to arrive at my hotel at 10:15pm. After getting back in the small, nondescript Chevy Cobalt LT, I fastened my seat belt. I decided it would be best to get the hotel directions and phone number from my briefcase in the trunk. I attempted to unfasten the seat belt and could not do so and tried again. I turned on the car interior lights and tried again. When the seatbelt would not unfasten again, I took a deep breath and well - tried again. At this point after 3 failed attempts, I did wonder if I was on candid camera. I began to think about panic mode, but realized since I was fairly close (30 minutes) to the Kansas City Airport car rental area, perhaps I would call ahead and ask for help and drive there to figure this out.

After several attempts with an interesting assortment of tools, I finally said "Ok - I'm done. Can you cut me out of this thing? I'm sure insurance will figure this out, but I need to leave and get a car and get to my hotel. They conferred, called someone, and proceeded to get a "blade" and cut or rather saw the seat belt so I could get out. Yes, I had a few panic moments. Yes, I thought "What am I going to do? There isn't a drive thru window at WalMart to ask them to sell me a knife. Maybe I could call a cop and get them to help?" Maybe I should have stopped to ask if they had this Seat Belt Cutter? http://www.emergencyseatbeltcutr.com/

Thinking the next day was going to be better in my new stylish Chrysler Sebring, I was driving to my business appointment, when out of the blue while parked behind one car at a stoplight, another car comes up behind me and bumps my bumper such that I bump into the car in front of me and poof - the ordeal turns into no car damage, the driver behind me leaving scene fast, making a left turn quickly after backing up, and me walking up to the woman with the two YIP YIP dogs running around in her car screaming hysterically that she's got whiplash and yelling at me. A guy in a BMW dials 911 out of the goodness of heart as he hears the woman wailing in the car. He gets her to drive to a parking area in strip mall where I then call 911 and ask kindly how far away is that police officer? Long story short, the kind officer determined this was a "civil matter" and not worthy of traffic ticket as there appeared to be no damage to either vehicle. He allowed me to exchange information with the husband of the wailing woman and yapping dogs.

Perhaps this all means - back to the Van Cabs for me!