Portland Trip: Day One and Two

Ah, summer vacations. Long past the days where we can look forward to three blissful months off of doing nothing in particular (save those souls with grown up teaching positions) the grown up us has to plan a measly week or two away from our soulless jobs and try to cram in three months of bliss into it. There’s a lot of pressure on our grown up summer vacations. They have to be good and exciting, yet lazy and relaxing. Depending on the type of person you are, you’ll have a list of all the necessary things that must happen on your vacation for it to qualify as great. Depending on the type of person you are you may even have designated time slots that simply read: Relax Time.

It was about three years ago that I really started planning a specified summer vacation. I had previously just taken my vacation anytime in the year where I felt I needed a one. Recently I realized that I NEED a summer vacation as much as I need a Christmas break. It breaks up the monotony of work days and generally makes me a saner person. When I got the invite for my buddy, Bux’s, wedding I immediately decided to take my summer vacation around the event. Plus, it would be in Portland, which is awesome.

Without going into gas prices (because I couldn’t say anything that hasn’t been said before) let’s just say that I decided to take the Amtrak train to Portland because 1) Even with a sleeper car, the cost would be only $50 more than driving there and back and 2) President Bush’s little stim-u-lie package was just enough to fund the cost. Before you give me a speech on how flying is faster than both the train and driving, let me gently remind you of my aversion to flying…or more specifically, heights. Kevin also wasn’t able to come with me (or when we are frank, I couldn’t come with him because of the flying thing) because his youngest brother was getting married on the exact same date (and oddly, the exact same time when factoring in the time zone difference) in Virginia. Congrats to Ryan and Liz by the way!

OH and three paragraphs down and on a completely unrelated topic, Kevin proposed to me the Saturday before I left. I will give details later, I promise. I just wanted to let you all know because I just realized that I hadn’t mentioned it yet. There, consider it mentioned.

Portland Trip: Day One\Day Two

Most people don’t really enjoy hearing about how a person gets to a destination. I realize this…but I also don’t care. It’s my blog after all. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to. Hee.

I caught the Pacific Surfliner in Irvine on Wednesday morning at about 8 AM. The train was busy and I had decided to bring the world’s most awkward suitcase. It’s huge and it’s heavy. Basically it’s the type of suitcase that would fit a small child comfortable and strangely feels like there is one inside too. I only brought this suitcase because Bux’s wedding was a camping affair so I had to bring supplies…sleeping bag, pillow, sleeping mat, as well as all my camping clothes. Loaded up, I had a huge difficulty lifting the thing so I blow a kiss to the person who invented luggage wheels. You are awesome, whom ever you are. Anyhow, on the Pacific Surfliner they don’t have a luggage rack on the bottom floor so I was required to drag the luggage beastie up a very small aisled staircase to the top floor and attempt to stow it in a rack that already was quite full with other people’s luggage. I am not proud; I know that I showed some serious plumber’s crack trying to maneuver my bag in. Sorry Wednesday’s Pacific Surfliner heading north to LA passengers. But really, you could have helped a girl out.

Once in LA, there was an hour layover before the Coast Starlight was ready. I almost missed my train waiting for it. I’m so stupid sometimes. I was out on the platform and I could have sworn the train waiting there had Hawaitha on it (which I could have sworn was another one of Amtrak’s trains) so I didn’t board. I just sat there waiting for some mysterious train to arrive, smoking my cigarettes and checking my watch. Finally, at about two minutes before the train was suppose to leave, I asked one of the train people when the Coast Starlight was going to get there. The lady looked at me like I was on crack and jacked her thumb to the train she was standing next to. Two minutes people and I would have missed it. I would have been standing on that platform for an hour with the world’s most awkward suitcase.

Notice the train there on the right? Yeah, that's the Coast Starlight. Totally missed it.

Once on the train, things started to improve. My little sleeper room (and it is little, a bit like a half of a walk-in closet) was cozy and my concierge guy, Tom, was pretty cool. He is a smoker too so whenever there was a stop where I could get out and smoke, he’d knock on my door and let me know, though half the time I was already by the train car door, pawing at my skin with the look of death in my eyes waiting for the train to stop.

Just by coincidence, an old high school friend of mine (also going to Bux’s wedding) was also on the same train with his girlfriend. We had our lunches together which was nice as I really don’t like eating with strangers. I always feel like I have something stuck in my teeth or something. I had also loaded up my laptop with tons of television and movies so I spent the 30 hour train ride holed up in my very small closet-room. I typically only came out for meals, bathroom breaks, smoke breaks and … well, that’s it. I know it’s kind of sad in a way; I missed a lot of beautiful scenery. But never has 30 hours via train gone so quickly.

The train arrived the next afternoon in Portland about 2 hours late. It was 6:05 when I got in and the rental car company that I had a reservation for closed at 6. 5 minutes. Beth had flown in earlier that day and spent a good deal of time getting to the train station to meet me. Of course because of the car rental, we had to take a taxi BACK to the airport to pick up the car. I’m proud to say that this is probably the biggest tragedy of the entire trip so…not so bad when put in perspective.

After getting the mini van (with Texas plates! The drivers of Portland hate us!) we started out on the hour plus drive to the coast to get to the hotel in Tillamook. It was dark at this point and I was tired so poor Beth had to drive the entire way. We were concerned about running into something along the dark road…like elk…or Satsquatch. Thankfully we didn’t run into anything but a fallen tree (not run in, but passed) and by 10 we were in the hotel room with wine doing best friend catch up.

Texas plates! BOO!

Portland Trip: Day Three

Beth and I woke up the next morning and spent a good two hours getting ready. There was a lot of ironing and hair styling and makeup applying. We were going to be going camping in a few hours, we had to look good. It would be the last time in awhile.

Since it was just down the road, we first headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Their cheese is pretty well known in a lot of the country but Beth, straight from the dairy state, had never heard of it. She also made the comment that she lives in WI and never went to a cheese factory…she had to come to Oregon to see one. Typical…you never see the sights you live around. Anyhow, the factory was pretty neat and they have some awesome ice cream and (duh) cheese. I think we might have spent more time in the gift shop then actually checking out the factory which is…typical. Hee.


Mmmmm....Cheese.

After the Tillamook Cheese Factory, we headed down the street to Blue Heron. This was actually one of my favorite stops. They had a $2 wine tasting, a free sample of cheese, and a bunch of farm animals. It was a really odd collection of farm animals too. They had your typical cows, horses, and chickens but then they also had llamas, emus, and a…peacock.


Beth bounds with her cheese maker.

Later in the afternoon we started to head down to Cape Lookout State Park where the wedding would be held the next day. We made a quick detour to check out the state’s largest waterfall…or so someone told us. I’m sorry that I have no idea what this waterfall was called but it had a beautiful foot path to get there.






NEXT TIME…CAMPING, WEDDING, RECEPTION…