Portland, the livable city
Too soon, it was time to leave Manzanita and its relaxed, seaside atmosphere. We had an energetic couple of hours during which EJ visited a local laudromat with all the home linens while my mom and I cleaned up the place and the boys played on the beach one last time with their grandfather. Nice division of labor. Actually even cleaning house with my mom is fun.
Then we pulled a silly maneuver. Our goal was to take a scenic and rural road part of the way back to Portland. Even though signs warned us the road would be closed about 20 miles “down the road”, we paid them no attention and went on our merry way…until we found ourselves in front of impassable road blocks and had to retrace our steps. It felt like we had a car load of wanabee Missourians who would only believe things when they saw them with their own eyes. And yet we recommend highway 53, it is quite scenic.
Portland was our social stop. Our main goal was to spend time with my friends Gwen and Lisa, both of whom I met even before I came to the UO when they were studying in France. They both speak French very well and my parents have met on several occasions, both in France and in the US. So it was a big reunion. While we had originally planned to stay with Lisa, very cool neighbors of hers invited us to use their place across the street because they were out of town at the time of our visit. We were very touched by their generous offer.
Our time in Portland was a whirlwind gourmet feast. Picnics, home-cooked dinners in the garden, a cute Mexican place with a funky combo of rock music and Mexican art, Portland’s famous food carts culture, we literally ate our through the southeast section of town. The picnic was a reunion within the reunion with the aforementioned families, my "old" Portland roommate Chris with his family and my world-travelling friend Tina. We manage to see all those guys every few years coming through Portland and it feels so easy each time. We chat away like schoolgirls, our respective husbands get along very nicely and our kids do very well together even though they range from 15 to 4 years old. I must mention our visit to OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). The exhibits in that amazing science museum captivated all that motley crew, including parents and grandparents, for hours. We had to haul the kids away.
I realize that a sunny summer visit is not a realistic vision of Portland, but strolling down Hawthorne, popping into Powell’s Books and deluxe delis, one could get used to living there again. Very, very easily.
kelloucq
le 01.09.10 à 17:40
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