Venturing Into The Great Unknown

We’ve come to the end of another Food Network trip. It’s hard to believe that two weeks have passed – it seems like only yesterday we left and the days all blend into one. It also seemed like we were gone forever and I got all giggly when I saw my hubby turning into the Timmies in Nanaimo. And, for the third year in a row, he had a single red rose for me.

I started the day around 6:30 when I got news that one of my best friends gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Tristan, 7 lbs, 7.5 oz @ 5:52 this morning. I plan to give her a “hard” time and say that she could’ve waited a few more hours ’til I got back ;-).

My mum got up around seven and we headed down to the lobby for juice and coffee, then we grabbed our bags, checked out and headed to Timmies for breakfast and a better coffee (our first Timmies coffee in two weeks) and headed to the ferry. We got to the terminal with time to spare, and I wandered around the terminal for a bit before boarding the ferry. We got a spot up near the front in the open area, so we decided to just stay in the car…the dismal weather made going upstairs seem moot. We played trivia and then segued into movies we thought the other should watch, and two hours later we were back on the Island. We stopped to fill up the tank, at a ridiculous price, and headed to Timmies.

As we were turning left, I saw F coming from the other direction, turning right, and we arrived at almost the same time. We transferred my things to my car…man I had a lot of stuff…then we grabbed an end-of-trip pic (we forgot to take a before-the-trip pic) and went our separate ways.

I called my dad to let him know that mum was on her way and headed home ourselves. I got home just after my daughter arrived home from school and I got the typical response that one would expect from a 16 year-old after her mother had been gone two weeks – Hi Mum. I got a bit better greeting from Baboy, the cat – he came over, sat down and basically said – Feed me and maybe I’ll cuddle you later.

I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing and then took a nap for a couple of hours. I woke up, ate a simple home cooked meal à la F, and now I’m ready for bed again.

I will post when I have my pictures uploaded.

Talk to you all soon and thank you for sharing my journey with me.

L

Today was our last day in the States. We awoke early – too early in my opinion (5:45) – so I went back to sleep for another hour. At around seven, we went down for a bite to eat in the breakfast room in the hotel and then loaded up the car. We grabbed some gas, and a much better coffee than the hotel offered, then got on the I-5 northbound.

The weather, as expected, was miserable and rainy, and we fought the spray from vehicles most of the way up to Mount Vernon. We got off in Mount Vernon and did our last-minute shop at Wal-Mart. When we got back out of the store, the rain, that had been only a drizzle when we went into the store, was coming down quite hard. As I really didn’t feel like getting the raincoat out for my camera, I decided to forego taking pictures of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River. As we left Mount Vernon, crossing over the river on Riverside Drive, we looked over at the old bridge which was still in the river. It was surreal seeing a bridge that, only two weeks ago, we had crossed when we headed south.

We continued on up to the border and, after a 25 minute wait, made it through with no incident. We then headed to Richmond for lunch at Pho Hoa, which is an awesome Vietnamese restaurant even though it is a chain. My mum and I both had a fried spring roll (Cha Gio) to start and I had chicken pho (pho ga) while my mum had steak and meatball pho (pho tai, chin nam). I also satisfied my craving hfor a hot Vietnamese coffee.

After lunch we headed across the street to Lansdowne Centre to kill some time before we checked in at the hotel. We grabbed some Asian supplies, that we can’t easily find on the Island, and I grabbed myself a Hong Kong-style milk tea at MY Coffee. If you ever have a chance to get one, grab one – they’re very good. I also visited Anna’s Cake House to grab a slice of tiramisu cheesecake and mango cheesecake – the mango cheesecake is to die for. Chinese cheesecake is not like normal cheesecake that you may be used to – it’s lighter, melt-in-your-mouth goodness. My husband got me hooked on these Asian treats/drinks over a decade ago when we lived in Toronto – unfortunately they are not as easily found on Vancouver Island.

By the time we were done at the mall it was time to check in. We drove back across the street – I organized today to all be within one large city block – and went up to the room to relax for a couple of hours. Just before six we headed over to dinner at Cactus Club Café. We walked over by cutting across the mall parking lot, as it seemed easier than driving (I also didn’t want to lose our good parking spot at the hotel). Although this wasn’t a true Food Network restaurant, Chef Rob Feenie, who had a show on Food Network, is the Food Concept Architect for the chain. I had the duck clubhouse with yam fries and my mum had the Rocket Salad. I can’t speak for my mum’s salad as I don’t eat ‘weeds’, but my sandwich, as always, was magnificent.

We then walked back to the hotel, quite full, and relaxed for the rest of the evening at the hotel. It’s nice knowing that we are back ‘home’, even though we still have to cross the Straits to the Island. Tonight is the last night I will have to sleep with my laptop bag and purse next to me on the bed – tomorrow I will be able to cuddle hubby in my own bed…I can’t wait.

Talk to you all soon.

L

We awoke quite early this morning and headed to Jimmy’s Down the Street. My mum had a biscuit and a bowl of fruit and I had the chicken fried steak skillet. I can’t believe how good, and huge, it was. I ate about a third of it before I had to pack it to go. Driving over to Spokane and Coeur d’Alene was definitely worth the trip – both places were beyond awesome.

We then jumped on the I-90 and started the progression westward – enjoying the sun and puffy clouds. After several rainy days we were beyond happy to see blue skies – and I just love puffy clouds.

The traffic was actually quite light for Memorial Day weekend, and we made great time heading out of Idaho, past Spokane and onto SR-281, SR-28 and then onto US-2. We drove through more of the awesome countryside that we saw yesterday – and it got even better. Although I tried to get a few pictures, I am not a big fan of stopping on the side of a busy road, and was restricted to a couple of the rest areas. By the time we got to Wenatchee, we were entering the mountains and the topography changed again.

We stopped at a park in Leavenworth for a picnic lunch of leftovers, but left the town as soon as we could – the Memorial Day weekend crowds were just too much to handle. We both thought it was a cute little town, with a Bavarian feel, and plan on returning one year when it isn’t so busy.

We left Leavenworth and continued into the mountains of Wenatchee State Forest – glad that the majority of traffic was going the other way. The road followed Wenatchee River and then Skinney Creek – both of which had quite rapid waters – and then we headed up towards Stevens Pass. It was then that I noticed the snow banks on the sides of the road – definitely not what I expected when I put my flip-flops on this morning. Once we started heading downhill, the snow disappeared, thankfully.

We continued along US-2 until we reached Seattle and made a stop at Burlington Coat Factory before checking into the hotel. Instead of going to Goldberg’s Deli as originally planned, we ate our remaining leftovers in front of the television. As much as we have enjoyed this trip, I think we are both tired and looking forward to going home.

I will let you all go now as I organize our receipts and purchases for our border crossing tomorrow.

Talk to you all soon,

L

Well today was definitely an interesting day. We awoke to dismal looking skies, but at least it wasn’t raining. We had coffee and juice at the hotel before packing the car and heading east out of Portland on the south side of the Columbia River. We spent the first little while in drizzle and rain before finally finding the sun near The Dalles. I grabbed some pictures from a rest area and we continued along I-84 – by this time it was actually partly sunny.

Just after The Dalles (around US-97), we ran into wind farms on both sides of the river – I don’t think I’ve ever seen ones so big. The farms on the north side of the river (in Washington) continued for a good hour of driving. The ones on our side of the river (in Oregon) were harder to see from the Interstate, but I believe they continued for almost as long. I also saw my first American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) flying along the river near the shore.

What also surprised me was the topography of the area. I knew that Eastern Washington was flatter than Western Washington, but I didn’t expect it too look like the Badlands of Alberta. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining…I actually found it quite refreshing after the never-ending greenery and mountains that we have had recently. It actually got warm enough to take off my sweatshirt. Unfortunately I was unable to get any pictures of the landscape as I am not the kind of person that likes to stop on the side of freeway just to take a picture – okay I would pull over on a regular highway, but Interstates, not so much.

Then it came time to cross over the Columbia River into Washington…needless to say, bridges aren’t exactly something I want to go over right now. We crossed without incident and headed towards Kennewick, where we stopped at New York Richie’s for a lunch of thin-crust pizza. My mum ordered a deluxe slice (what they call Meat Combo), and I ordered a pepperoni and pineapple slice with a HUGE pickle on the side. When our slices came, mine was missing the pineapple, but the waitress was awesome and had the kitchen remake it; and let me finish the pepperoni slice that I already had (I ended up taking the remade slice to-go and will have it for our picnic lunch tomorrow).

We then grabbed coffee at Dutch Bros – at least I ordered coffee – I got a NASTY Americano that tasted like pure cream. I pulled away from the drive-thru, took a sip, and pulled a U-turn to return what they considered a coffee. It turns out that not only do they not know what milk is (I ordered my coffee with double milk and they had put in some cream/milk combo), but when they remade it, they topped it up with water. Needless to say, I was confused when I watched them. When I asked why they put water in my coffee I was told that is how they make an Americano, which confused me because I had ordered a coffee. Then they informed me that they don’t make drip coffee – why they didn’t tell me when I ordered a coffee is beyond me. I told them that I didn’t want espresso, I wanted coffee with caffeine and they them informed me it did have caffeine. For those of you that know me – you know those are fighting words. I asked for my money back and kindly informed them that espresso had less caffeine than decaf coffee – they didn’t believe me but did return my money. I headed to the Shell station just down the street and got a much better coffee (caffeinated coffee). With that crisis averted, we headed out of town.

As we were driving north I spotted my first American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) The weather stayed sunny for most of the trip up to I-90 and then it started spitting, then raining, but not as hard as the day we arrived in Portland. We continued east along I-90 and arrived in Spokane just after three. We headed down to Riverfront Park and although my mum had told me that she had no intention of walking anywhere, we ended up exploring around the falls at her suggestion. I will hopefully have some pictures to post in a day or two, but have way to many to go through first (I took almost 400 today). I was also able to get quite a few pictures of, what I believe is, a Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris). There were several kits playing around, what I think was Mummy, and there were so photogenic.

After spending over an hour at the park we headed to dinner at the Elk Public House. I had a lamb sandwich (that I almost inhaled – it was sooooooo good), and my mum had the special which was a pesto linguine with asparagus. She wasn’t able to eat it all so that will be her leftovers tomorrow on our picnic.

After dinner, we drove the thirty minutes to our hotel in Coeur d’Alene – I can now cross Idaho off my to-do list. The day of driving; however, has tired me out and I am done for the night. I will leave you with a quick picture of the falls in Spokane that I grabbed with my iPhone – I hope you enjoy.

Talk to you tomorrow.

L

Upper Falls – Spokane, WA

We awoke to cloudy skies, but at least the rain seemed to be holding off. We grabbed coffee and juice again at the hotel, while we were waiting for rush hour to end, then we crossed the street to the Max Rail station. We took the train downtown and headed to grab a ‘real’ coffee and bite to eat before attacking Powell’s Books.

For those of you out there that like to read, Powell’s is, by far, the largest bookstore that you will EVER see. Both my mum and I look forward to this day in Portland. We plan this part of the trip ahead of time; making lists of books and double-checking availability (and location) of the books. Today was no different and we both made out like bandits. All the books (except one that is still cheaper, new, than it would be, used, in Canada) were used and at least 25% off the MSRP. Some of the books were even as high as 75% off retail – I mean how can you beat that?

The hour and a half we spent book shopping made us hungry so we headed towards the food pods on SW Alder. Last year we arrived on a Friday, so most of the food trucks were closed for the weekend and we weren’t able to visit the one my mum had her heart set on. This year, I planned the trip so that we would be here during the week…man, I am so glad I did that. We went to The Frying Scotsman for fish and chips. It was the best fish and chips that I have had in quite a while – and from a food cart no less.

We finished our lunch and then headed back to the hotel, where we chilled for a couple hours. We then headed to the Lloyd Center, which is the biggest mall in Portland, and did some window shopping. We then had some dinner at Billy Heartbeats and I grabbed two pretzels for tomorrow’s snack before we headed to Pier 1 Imports. My mum and I are both fans of the recent commercials and decided to find something “that spoke to us”. My mum found a bowl and I found a ladybug whirligig for the lawn.

We then decided to call it a day and went back to the hotel where we watched some Food Network before my mum decided to turn in. Just after she went to bed I read about the bridge collapse on I-5, that happened earlier today. My mum and I drove over that bridge last Monday and had planned to drive over it on Sunday on our way back to Canada. I’m glad no one was hurt, but it makes one think…especially since it was on a major Interstate. I will try not to think about that as I drive over the Columbia River tomorrow when we head to Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

I will leave you with a picture that I took outside of Powell’s Books today. Talk to you soon.

L

Carpe Librum @ Powell’s Books – Portland, OR