Pagano Perspective

Exe-CUTE-ive Summary of Oregon Trip by Zane

ozmama1 — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 00:12:59 +0000

Day 1 — Airplane! I want an orange dinosaur! (but we bought a pink centipede)

Day 2 — I’m on the Big Bus. My ear HURTS!

Day 3 — This mountain is broken. I got a mini volcano!

Day 4 — I want to feed the fish!

Day 5 — We’re not in New Jersey anymore…

Day 6 — The clouds are on the ground

Day 7 — Mooooo!

Day 8 — BIG trees and I ate Snowball Jr. (Yummy! — don’t cry, Livi)

Day 9 — The Beach!!!

Day 10 — Wheeee, a BIG slide

Day 11 — The octopus ate the crab!

Day 12 – They’re making CHEEESE, and I ate pink ice cream!

Day 13 — I want to go home! I toasted marshmallows on the campfire.

Day 14 — Let’s splash Mommy in the pool. Bye, bye Big Bus.

Day 15 — I rode the trains with Daddy.

Day 16 — Home

ozmama1 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:38:25 +0000

Our flight wasn’t until 1:15 so we headed to VooDoo Donuts for their early morning special — sometimes you can get as many a 5 gallon bucket for $5. We went with the slightly more modest large pink box of dinner plate sized glazed donuts. We ate only one and a half before turning them over to the appreciative hotel staff. The donuts were as good as they were large. Our last adventure before heading to the airport was to visit the farmers market a few blocks from the hotel in the park near Portland State University. It had the most beautiful produce and flowers I had ever seen — unfortunately, we were leaving. Tim got separated from the rest of us in the crush of organic foodies so we returned to the hotel after searching and screaming his name. Since I didn’t have my wallet, Zane was upset that he never got his cherries or cranberries — so he earned the privelidge of pulling Daddy’s hair once he returned to the hotel as a punishment for getting lost.

Oddly, we had the same taxi driver take us to the airport as took us to Cruise America to get our RV. Although we didn’t purchase much more than a small cooler, somehow our stuff barely fit in the cab — we had to bungee the trunk. The flight was long, but uneventful — or relatively so when traveling with Zane. We arrived at Newark Airport with $58 in our combined wallets — just enough to get us a cab home and tip the driver. We were home before 11PM, but none of us was tired as we were on Portland time so we ordered a pizza and watched the Upside Down show — a Zane favorite, who knew that it was on so late? Finally, we all went to bed around midnight — happy to be home with largely only fond memories of the trip remaining…

Day 15 — Back in Portland

ozmama1 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 16:03:21 +0000

Our first adventure of the day was finding our restaurant for breakfast, Kenny & Zuke’s, near Powell’s bookstore. I had remembered the address as Stark and 9th (but it was actually Stark and 11th). After circling the block, we called the handy-dandy Heathman conceirge to get us on track — I could get used to 4-star hotels. After some pastrami, eggs, and latkes — at least for me — we headed to Powell’s, the world’s largest (or so they claim) independent bookstore, a mecca for new and used books. Olivia bought the 7th (and final) Harry Potter book — she read the first six over the course of the summer — while Zane got a Thomas book, the back-story on many of the trains. Tim and I were out of luck as Powell’s was just not Zane’s kind of place. The girls and boys then split up. Tim and Zane took some trains around town — transportation is free in the downtown — while Olivia and I headed to the Chinese Garden. I highly recommend that you visit if you are in Portland and take the guided tour at 12 or 1; our guide Frances was awesome. I learned that the Chinese call the odd tree in Debbie & Whitney’s backyard a Phoenix tree. Next Olivia and I snuck to VooDoo Donuts for an appetizer before tea at the Heathman. Tea was lovely, served in an appropriately wood-paneled and tufted atmosphere. The sweet treats were good, especially the scones; the savories weren’t quite to our tastbuds. Olivia nick-named them among other things, pistacio yuck-yuck and salmon poofs.

We expected to find Tim and Zane asleep in the room when we returned, but they were out and about so Olivia and I went shopping. I picked up a squirrel purse at Columbia and a replacement watchband at Swatch — and some free perfume samples at Nordstrom. We decied to have dinner at the Heathman restaurant — even yummier than the Big Dog. Olivia and I ate light as we had had tea not long before. Zane was fascinated by using the ladies’ room — whatever it takes to get him potty trained.

Day 14 — Ditched the Bus

ozmama1 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:31:19 +0000

We were trying to determine the best strategy for getting the RV packed and cleaned while occupying the kids — and keeping it clean until we arrived in Portland. Tim suggested that we drop the RV off a day early. Despite the higher cost of another night at the Heathman vs a KOA, I jumped at the opportunity to get out of that rolling cage a day early. Tim took the kids to the playground while I packed our belongings, then I took them to the pool and for a shower while he cleaned the bus. (The pool & shower wouldn’t get the bus dirty — the playground could). Suffice to say that I don’t recommend three family members in a KOA shower room when the youngest has just learned how to unlock doors — Olivia managed to keep her sense of humor even when Zane peed on her foot. At least we were in a shower…

On the drive from Astoria to Portland, we once again experienced “The Crescent City Effect” — when your destination seems to be getting further away rather than closer. We finally arrived at the RV rental place at 4:30 — just before closing. The inspection went smoothly, but we waited and hour and 15 minutes for our taxi to arrive as the shade we were sitting in dwindled. We were packed into the cab like sardines with our luggage; I was in the way-back of the van. The air conditioning died 3 blocks into the ride. When we finally arrived at the Heathman, I practically lept from the cab — banging my calf and developing second bruise nearly the size of Nebraska. We had dinner at the same nearby Italian restaurant as the night we arrived. I don’t remember the name but will forever think of it as Exhausted Pasta.

Day 13 — Astoria and a new “President”

ozmama1 — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:30:50 +0000

Zane took an early nap as we drove through Astoria. Ever the opportunists, Olivia and I visited the Flavel Mansion — home to a Columbia River captain in the late 1800s. We had full access to almost all the rooms, and their lives were well-documented owing to the diaries of one of the captain’s “spinster” daughters. From there, we headed to Fort Clatsop for the final Junior Ranger badge — this one had an interesting twist. Because Lewis and Clark camped a number of places along the Columbia for each one you visited you could improve your junior ranger “rank” — from Private up to President if you visited four locations. Olivia wanted the challenge — including selecting to do the age 13+ version of the booklet. I forget the second location we visited, but the third and fourth were Dismal Notch and Cape Disappointment, respectively. When I called the ranger station at Cape Disappointment to learn when they closed, I mis-heard 9PM instead of 5PM. We arrived with only 30 minutes for Olivia to complete all the requisite questions, but she did so in the nick of time and was awarded the “President’s” badge. We celebrated that evening with a campfire and s’mores.

Day 12 — Tillamook & Cape Meares

ozmama1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:07:14 +0000

This morning we played on the beach at Lincoln City — Tim and Olivia flew kites. Zane attempted to collapse the sand river bank of the River D (the world’s shortest river — 120 feet) single-handedly. He splashed, laughed, and made friends with children with better (any) sand toys. North to Tillamook — home of the Cheesemakers (no kidding, it’s their main industry and the local high school mascot). We counted mile by mile with Olivia keeping Zane awake so that she would be insured a tour and an ice cream cone. They had a great observation area where you could see the cheese being made, trimmed, and packaged — very cool. This of course was followed by some cheese sampling — and purchasing. For you easterners Tillamook is also known for ice cream. In reverse lunch fashion, we each had a cone/dish — to be followed later by cheese and crackers. Tim said the Tillamook ice cream was his best Oregon meal to date.

We continued on to Cape Meares and saw the Octopus tree (a Sitka spruce with candelabra limbs — which did look like an octopus) and the exterior of the lighthouse — we have a knack for arriving at lighthouses at closing time. We ate our Tillimook cheese and crackers with grapes on a picnic table — later when Zane awoke from his nap, we continued on our scenic loop. Although we passed the Tillimook factory again, I was surprised the no one got a second cone. It was late, but we drove on through Cannon Beach (lovely but not welcoming to RVs — the Glen Ridge of the Oregon shore) and to Seaside for dinner at Doogers. We are now at the Astoria KOA — a huge operation.

Detour: The trip is starting to feel long so I asked Olivia how long it felt like to her that we had been traveling. She responded, “My life.”

Day 11 — Corvallis & Newport

ozmama1 — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:01:56 +0000

We left Eugene and drove through Corvallis to Newport. Corvallis is also a college town, home of Oregon State University. Some attractive mission-style architecture in the Willamette Valley — although much of Oregon has been a pre-fab design wasteland. Newport was fun. First we went to the OSU Hattfield Aquarium. I loved the touch tank more than the kids did — starfish, sea cucumbers, sea anemones, skates, abalone, and flounder! I also have to admit that I enjoyed the octopus feeding. Mia the octopus pounced on the crab, stunned it, then injected something that liquefies its flesh — her grip spared us the ugly details. Next we headed to the Oregon Aquariumto see the seals, sea lions, otters, murres, and puffins. They had some great tunnels to walk though — you felt almost like you were swimming with the sharks. There special exhibit was Odd-Water — strange looking species of fish. Local glass blowers included colored glass species in the tanks — very Deanna-y. Lincoln City — another KOA, another playground, more mac n cheese…

Day 10 — Eugene

ozmama1 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:16:53 +0000

After gassing-up in Reedsport ($180!), we went to the visitor center to see if there was a junior ranger badge to be earned at the Dunes. Because it is a national recreation area and not a national forest, there wasn’t. We decided to skip the Dunes (and the drunken ATV riders per the locals) and head east toward Eugene — a favorite town of Jamie and Karen that I was considering as possible retirement spot. En route, we went to an Elk viewing area and actually saw a number of elk — once we drove 8 hours to Elk County PA to meet Leila and Steve and saw only one elk — and it wasn’t in the “viewing area.” The proprietress of the house we had rented led Leila to believe that we were situated in the middle of an elk herd — we were in a double-wide trailer with cable. Thus, I am forever suspicious of wildlife viewing areas — but today we got lucky.

We stayed at Premier RV Park north of Eugene — it had a pool and a fish pond (not that we took advantage of either). It was deluxe; Tim joked that he felt like a kindergartner that had wandered into the high school. The RVs were large with many amenities and piloted by senior citizens. The roads and pads were paved, the lounge had upholstered furniture and continental breakfast, and the bathroom was nicer than home — even the fan emitted a pleasing, relaxing scent. There was however, no large Little Tykes plastic playground equipment and Zane inquired when we were returning to the “other” campsite (with the plane swing). Nice overall, but left us feeling a bit like aliens.

We drove to Eugene and parked at the mall — malls are a good thing when your drive an RV — near the park and walking trails. We walked along the river, passed the rose and community gardens to Skinners Butte playground — definitely the best playground we’ve ever visited. New with much of the equipment modeled after local sites — the town hall, the forested mountains (BIG slide), a grist mill, funicular, stage coach, etc. Zane had such a good time that when we were walking back to the big bus, he escaped and ran back to the playground — I was caught off-guard and wearing flappy sandals to his speedy Thomas sneakers. He made it all the way back to the big slide before we reached him. I hid under the bottom and nabbed him when he slide down; Olivia was back-up and climbed the slide to corner him if necessary — always an adventure!

Tim’s back was bothering him so I offered to hire a bike taxi to take him back to the RV (everyone even the homeless) ride bikes in Eugene; Tim perservered on foot. Minor mishap at dinner: Tim went to grill some burgers at the common grill. Zane went with him (as all good men should) and fell backward off the picnic table and sliced his toe angering a nest of bees — one of which stung Tim on the hand. Ah, a restful vacation…

Day 9 — Bandon Beach, Cape Blanco & Snowball takes a Vacation

ozmama1 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:14:38 +0000

Today was one of the nicer days of the trip. We drove up the coast on 101 to Bandon and spent the morning at Bandon beach — lots of big, beautiful sea stacks. We made sure to hit low tide so that we could explore the tide pools — although they were as vacant of residents as the hotels around here. Zane encouraged us to explore a sea cave and the kids both made sand castles — a bit of sunburn for us all. I’ve been using the book “Fun with the Family in Oregon” to guide some of our choices for points of interest and dining. As a result, we went to the Station restaurant in Bandon which feature photos of and model trains. I didn’t consider that Zane would want to hold them all! Olivia and I went to check out the kites in the giftshop next door — I should have just plunked down $25 and purchased one, but I hesitated and Tim and Olivia ultimately made the $80 purchase of two kites (one Nemo and one delux-o in a kite shop by the boat basin. Sigh.

While Olivia and I were in the original gift shop near the Station, Zane ran from the restaurant. In the subsequent chase, Snowball was left at the restaurant. We realized our error about 10 miles out of town and called to ask the restaurant to hold Snowball until the next day when we would be driving north again.

Next we headed to Cape Blanco, the western-most spot in the 48 contiguous states. While Zane napped, Olivia and I toured the Hughes House, built in 1898 then we drove up to the lighthouse and Tim & Olivia flew the Nemo kite. Later we saw a pod (?) of whales swimming off the coast, interestingly near a group of sea stacks that resembled a pod (?) of whales. Driving out of Cape Blanco we saw a flock of turkeys — Tim commented that it was the first and probably only time that he saw whales and turkeys within 10 minutes of each other. We took a short drive to the Bandon KOA, our favorite campground thus far on the trip. Zane enjoyed “piloting” the airplane swing on the playground; Olivia was his frequent co-pilot (aka swing pusher). They also had a hamburger and hot dog stand called the “Big Dog” with a basset hound logo. It’s a sad commentary on our culinary adventures in Oregon, but we had our best meal so far at the Big Dog — very yummy burger and fries. The campground was having an ice cream social to benefit kamping for kids with kancer — a good excuse to pack in some additional tasty calories. Before we headed out the next morning, Tim and the kids went for a swim in the “heated” pool. Zane was shivering after about 15 seconds. I made hot chocolate for everyone and we headed on our way north.

Day 8 — Redwoods & Sand Dollars

ozmama1 — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:20:58 +0000

We started this morning with a walk through the redwoods the Something-Reed trail. The trees were awesome — in the true sense of the word. We took some photos where we all look small — no mean feat. So that Olivia could complete her Junior Ranger badge, we visited the Crescent City beach. I’m glad we did as the shoreline of the Oregon coast is quite rocky and not great for splashing in the water. Also, Olivia and I found several sand dollars — a few completely intact (at least for now). Previously I’d only seen them in gift shops — typically converted into some sort of Christmas ornament. At the ranger station, we saw the biggest pine cones ever — Coulter cones weigh up to 5 pounds. We took an ice cream break at Slugs and Stones Ice Cream Cones in Brookings. The ice was OK, but the theme was good. They had actual slug races and a few sundaes that featured gummy worms. Olivia had one and gave one of her worms to Zane. He named it “Snowball” and treated it like a pet for much of the afternoon, dragging it through all sorts of sources of dirt and germs. We stopped in Fred Meyer that evening and the kids and I picked up some groceries. Zane must have gotten hungry as he devoured Snowball about half way through the shopping trip — Petabalism? Olivia pretend to sob now every time he mentions that Snowball is dead. The event did give rise to a name for the pink and green rubber centipede that Zane purchased at the Oregon Zoo — Snowball Senior. The reason Zane has named his seemingly unsnowball-like pets “Snowball” is that his current favorite book is “Henry & Mudge and Annie’s Perfect Pet.” Annie’s pet is however a white bunny named Snowball…