Trippin in St Pete

[2tallbill]

Multnomah Falls takes Angel Eyes breath away.



AE put together a little picnic for us to eat and we ate admiring the
nature around us. We stopped rushing so frantically once we got
into Portland. We stayed in nearby Troutdale for $59 per night rather
than in Portland for double or triple that.

I had wanted to stay in Mc Menamins crystal ballroom makes their own
beer and has concerts there nearly every weekend and they are in downtown
so we could walk around but they were sold out by the time I tried to get a
room there.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/CrystalHotel

[2tallbill]

So now that we arrived we started at a less frantic pace. Deciding to stop
and smell the roses so to speak which was probably a good plan since our
next stop was to the Portland International Rose Gardens.

I have a hundreds of photos of the Rose Garden but they all have Angel Eyes
in them and would look silly if I cropped her out of them.


Angel Eyes loves flowers and enjoyed wandering around in them.

[2tallbill]

Did, "I never promised you a rose garden" song ever get stuck
in your head? It didn't happen to me here, watching AE admire and
enjoy everything around us was a blast.

[2tallbill]

Right next to the Rose Garden is the Japanese Gardens. If you thought that
Angel Eyes would have gotten bored looking at flowers you would be wrong.



When you go in they have some granola type inform you of Garden etiquette
absolutely no eating, no loud noises, don't pick the flowers, no sudden moves
and a host of other crap. AE broke every single one of the rules within the first
20 minutes. There was some kind of edible plant that she simply walked up to
snapped off a piece and popped it into her mouth before I could say don't do
that  :laugh:

I did point out a sign that specifically said not to pick the plants and there was
a $500 fine for getting caught doing it. So she agreed to refrain from eating
any of the other plants or animals 

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes continued to flout all the other rules. We weren't supposed
to eat anything and Angel Eyes pulled out some sunflower seeds and
popped them in her mouth. I am pretty sure something that could
potentially grow into a non native Japanese plant would definitely qualify
as something not to be eaten, but I was wasting my time pointing these
things out to her so, I stopped doing it.



I figured as long as AE didn't spear a fish and grill it using an ancient Banzai
tree or something similar that I would be pretty lucky.

[STaty]

Hi! This is a very beautiful flowers and photos !!! I think that was a wonderful smell in the  Portland International Rose Gardens!! !

[2tallbill]

Hi! This is a very beautiful flowers and photos !!! I think that was a wonderful smell in the  Portland International Rose Gardens!! !

Yes, you are right. The smell is wonderful.

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

So we are in Portland and I call one of my old University buddies,
we meet with him and his girl friend and have a night on the town.
AE charms them too and the next day we take off for the Oregon
Coast. I hadn't been there in over 20 years but we travel to Newport
where I know they have an aquarium and a beach with cold cold water.

I have been telling AE that the water is too cold but she has been
half ignoring me.

We arrive at nearly dusk and air/water and wind are cold. AE is extremely
happy and she collects a bottle of water and a bottle of sand from the
ocean. Now she has water from the Black Sea, The Med and now the Pacific.

Did I say she was extremely happy, you can judge for yourself.

[2tallbill]

There is a cool aquarium in NewPort Oregon and Angel Eyes loved looking at the
various animals and sites.

Sharks!

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

So we spend the evening in Newport and go to the Aquarium and spend
hours there. Looking at all the different creatures, they had plenty of kids
things to do for little kids.

I am told that we are spending two days here so I rent the Hotel for another
night.

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

They had outside exhibits with seals, sealions and otters

[2tallbill]

We spend the rest of a lazy day wandering around on the beach.
I am told we are eating fish! so I find a place and we split a grilled
tuna and each have cups of clam chowder.



Google maps says the way back is to retrace our steps but I break out the paper
map and come up with a trip that AE likes. We go North up the Coast Highway
make a photo and cafe stop in Tillamook (where they make cheese) and take
some photos and head East all the way back to North Dakota. AE studies the
map and agrees.



When we awake the next morning AE puts together a breakfast from items in
our ice chest and packs away all the treasure that she had found on the beach.
We fuel up and off we go

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

I am driving along and keep seeing these beautiful yellow wild flowers that
I know from experience smell divine. I pull the car off the road and AE says
what's the matter? As I go tromping up the hill and pick some of them for
her. I acquired lots of boyfriend points doing that.

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

We drive along and I see the 45th Parallel sign that we are exactly halfway
between the North pole and the equator. So I pull two U turns so that we
can document that accomplishment.

[2tallbill]

The Weather along the Oregon coast in the Spring changes every 15
minutes, we had sun, rain, sun, rain.

[2tallbill]

Angel Eyes had her bikini under her clothes and was determined to give
swimming a try. I tried to explain that the water was too cold but she
assured me that it was warm. She had been in it up to her calves the day
before.

I stopped at a sandy beach because I didn't want her to try it at one of the
rocky beaches and she jumped out peeled off her clothes and pranced around
in and out of the surf having a great time. I had fun just watching her, then
just as I knew it would a big wave barreled into her and she took a tumble 
and got all the way wet and after a few more minutes it was time to get out.

An older English woman was on the beach and said that it reminded her when
she was young swimming in the North Sea. AE kept telling me it wasn't cold
as she swapped out her bikini to her clothes inside the car and had goosebumps
from head to toe with a giant smile on her face 

We continued driving along the coast highway, although much of it was well inland
and we couldn't see the Ocean, it still beat returning on the same path.

My car has seat heaters and I turned on AE's heater till the goose bumps were
gone.

[2tallbill]

Once we got to Tillamook, we split an order of fish and chips and
each of us had a cup of clam chowder and AE had hot tea.

I had seen a few signs and old cobwebs of memories of some scenic beaches
near there. I asked her if she wanted to spend 30 minutes while I tried to find
them and she thought that was a grand idea.




Treasure!!!

[2tallbill]

[2tallbill]

One minute sun the next minute was rain

[2tallbill]