Ashley Shares Portland with Us

Tasting Teas

After an interesting week in CA, we took a short flight from Sacramento to Portland, OR.

Our "soul daughter" Ashely Brown (daughter of our long time friend, Anita Brown) was on hand to greet us at the airport and then bundle us into her car for the short trip back to her home.

Ashley is an indefatigable host and guide.  She loves Portland and Oregon and delights in showing it off to visitors like us.

A beautty in the Rose Garden

A trip to the Saturday Farmers' Market on the grounds of Portland State University was the beginning of a whirlwind of activities.

We have seldom enjoyed a market more, with all its wonderful fresh fruit and produce and its myriad food tasting opportunities.

After loading up our baskets and bellies, we headed to the Smith Tea Room for a tea sampler.

Sue and Ashley are much more into tea than Larry, but we all enjoyed the experience and the calm and welcoming atmosphere of the tasting room.

The Washington Park Rose Garden

Then it was off to Washington Park to see some of Portland's world famous roses.

They certainly lived up to the hype.  It was really a joy for the eyes and nose.

A beautiful Portland Saturday, the Park was full of people, seemingly from all over the world, and we cannot remember ever having seen such beautiful rose gardens.

Ashley & Sue in the Japanese Garden

Also located in Washington Park is a lovely Japanese Garden.

It provided a totally different garden experience, with it formal layout and many shades of green.

Giant Sequoia Bonsai'd

But the highlight of that garden, at least for us, was a temporary exhibition "American Bonsai,"  featuring the incredible bonsai creations of Ryan Neil, who studied bonsai in Japan for several years and then returned to America to create his own uniquely American bonsai.

We marveled at the artistry and creativity he displayed, using only trees from the American West.

One that particularly appealed to us, especially after our visit to Kings Canyon, was a giant Sequoia, thought to be 150 years old, but only about five feet tall. It was like you were a giant gazing down on the General Sherman tree. Wow!

Ashley and her friend's baby

To enhance our visit, Ashley planned a Memorial Day picnic and cookout and invited friends and neighbors, including what has to be the happiest of babies.   (By request we can send you a video of his "Stevie Wonder"moves--it will uplift you and make you laugh forever.)

It was a delightful, sun filled experience of wonderful people and of Portland, including some great food.

Ashley is lucky to have such friends and we felt special to be introduced to them.

We "Perched" for a few days on the Oregon coast

On the Tuesday after Memorial Day, we made the short but scenic drive out to the Oregon Coast.

Ashley has discovered a delightful little cottage called "The Perch" which does just that on a cliff overlooking the town of Oceanside.

View towards the Pacific from "The Perch"

From the tree shaded deck, you have a perfect view of the beach below.

The Oregon Coast, with its rocks and cliffs, is a shock to those like us who are more familiar with the mid-Atlantic beaches.

The beach below "The Perch"

Oceanside is just a few miles from Netarts--home of  world-famous Netarts oysters. Both of us really love oysters, especially raw.

During our stay, we feasted on these fat and briny oysters every day--once we learned to shuck them--thanks to a U-Tube video.

Larry at Tillamook

Nearby was the town of Tillamook, home of the famous cheese and ice cream. We toured the Tillamook Cheese Factor, learned a lot about the history and process of cheese making, got up close and personal to a life-sized cow model, and, best of all sampled their delicious cheese, fudge and ice cream.

Their peanut butter swirl ice cream can't be beat!

One of the many fabulous views at Cape Meares

Our favorite discovery, though, was Cape Meares State Park--just a five mile drive from our cottage in Oceanside.

The landscape is breathtaking--giant cliffs, covered with old growth forest, jutting out into the cold Pacific, seeming to go on forever.

More Meares--a photographer's dreamscape

The cliffs are home to a large variety of birds such as  loons, cormorants, murres and oystercatchers.

We loved looking out to sea and watching the many birds floating, diving into the water, or nesting on the distant cliffs.

The Octopus Tree

As we walked along the hiking trail that hugs the lookout point at Cape Meares, every turn in the trail seemed to bring a different and more beautiful view.


We also took the short hiking trail into the woods to see the Octopus Tree, a 300 year old Sitka Spruce with multiple trunks.


Supposedly the native American tribes used the tree for ceremonies and multi-tribe gatherings.

Sunset at Cape Meares

Just the week before we had visited Yosemite, one of the most visited parks in the world, and it is beautiful, but we much preferred the wild beauty, and much less touristy Cape Meares.  Highly recommended!

The Oregon Coastline is so picturesque and enchanting.

A picnic by the sea

On our last day we enjoyed Cape Lookout State Park where we stopped for a seaside picnic lunch; there were a few places where you could dine with the ocean practically lapping at your feet.

View from our picnic table

And with an incomparable view only a few steps away.

We hated to leave the park and the seashore, but Ashley was expecting us back in Portland.

Also, we had made plans to meet up with our long time friend, Teresa Cunningham Byrnes.

Dinner with Teresa (David and Michael collaborating on the photo)

We first met Teresa in Alexandria more than 40 years ago but had not seen her since she moved to Portland 35 years ago; nor met her husband, David,  and son, Michael.

Thanks to the Internet. we were able to reconnect when they invited us to a homemade pizza night in their beautifully restored early 20th century Portland home.

What great fun it is to re-establish old friendships. We had a delightful evening together, and so did Ashley.

Our welcome to the Nike campus

For several years now, Ashley has worked as a building designer for Nike, the giant sportswear company which is head-quartered in Portland.

The lovely Nike campus

We were anxious to see the company's campus so she took us for a tour: impressive and beautiful.

A trip to the company store, provided us both and Charlie with new Nike sneakers.

Nothing can beat wine in the afternoon

Our last outing took us to the Willamette Valley to visit several wineries and sample their wares.

The vines of Willamette Valley

Our favorite--both for location and for the quality of their wine-- was Raptor Ridge Winery where we enjoyed our tasting on a beautiful balcony overlooking acres of grape wines and the snow topped Mounts Hood, St. Helens and Rainier in the distance.

It was a delightful end to an incredibly fun and varied visit to Portland and environs.  We were so impressed and thankful to Ashley for her superb hospitality.

We'll be back!

On the Road Again: California

Central Valley California

Eddie and Elma in downtown Visalia, larger town close to Dinuba

After about three months in Denver, we are on the road again, this time just for a short trip, including California and Oregon.

We flew into the Sacramento airport, rented a car and drove down the California central valley to visit with our friends, Eddie and Elma Gonzalez, who live in a small city called Dinuba--about 30 miles from Fresno.

Eddie with some of Abe-El's produce

We first met Elma and Eddie three years ago in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and have kept in touch since.

Eddie and Elma were both born in Nueva Leon, Mexico but didn't meet until both their families came to California when they were teenagers. They met picking tomatoes.

Eddie has worked for the same farming company for the past 43 years; he now supervises all of the crews who pick the fruits and vegetables. Elma worked as a school secretary and together they raised three beautiful & successful daughters.

Squash field

For us, their story seems like a testament to the American Dream and epitomizes the hard work of so many immigrants to our country.



The owners of the company where Eddie works are now changing their business plan and doing less farming and more food processing.

Many of the vegetable fields are being converting to oranges--especially the little Cuties that have become so popular recently--and other tree crops.

Enjoying one of the great Mexican restaurants

The Gonzalezes were surprised at our interest in their area and our desire to see the fields, but they were happy to drive us around the countryside.

We had never visited the Central Valley and were really unfamiliar with the incredible agricultural production.

We were so impressed with the large farms and the fruits and vegetables that they produce--all dependent on the water runoff from the Sierras.

Our three day visit flew by (at least for us).  It was lots of fun being with Eddie and Elma. They treated us like royalty, and we had some wonderful times together, especially over some great Mexican food. We hope they will let us reciprocate by visiting with us in Denver.

Sequoia National Park

Lake in front of Montecito Sequoia Lodge

We left Dinuba and headed to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks.  It took us less than two hours, even though the last hour was through steep hills and mountains with lots of twists and turns. 

The two parks were created separately in the early 20th century but are now administered as one as they are contiguous.

Our first stop was our hotel, the Montecito Sequoia Lodge which is just a few miles inside the park. What a funky but fun and convenient place.  

One of the grand sequoias

The rooms remind you of a Motel Six, but your rental includes all of your meals--and what great meals they were. Despite being served buffet style, they were surprisingly tasty--almost gourmet and plentiful.

You eat communally and in the three days we spent there we met people from all over the US, Germany, Spain, Japan, and Russia. 

Often we met some of our fellow lodgers as we traveled through the parks, and it was very helpful to get viewing hints from them. We loved the Parks and would happily go back.

Gorgeous sequoias

As the name implies, the park is home to the giant Sequoias, and they were truly magnificent and awe-inspiring.  It is really quite humbling to stand in front of a 2500 year old tree and contemplate the history it has witnessed and survived.

Size comparison--amazing trees !

Although much of the Sierra Nevada forests, including the sequoias, were extensively, one might say brutally logged by the end of the 19th century, there were some visionary politicians and civic minded citizens who recognized the natural treasure that this land represented and fought to save some of the forest for future generations. For that we are truly grateful.

Grizzly Bear Falls

As wonderful and awe-inspiring as the sequoias were, the grandeur and scenery in Kings Canyon is not to be believed; it is glorious--and was a complete surprise to us.  

When we planned this trip, our first goal was to see Yosemite, but since Kings Canyon and Sequoia were so close to the Gonzalezes we decided to pay them a visit as well, without really knowing what we would encounter.  

We are so happy that we did.

Waterfalls.  Wildflower strewn alpine meadows.  Glacial canyons. Spectacular views. Scary mountain roads. Lakes, streams and rivers. Peaceful and serene hiking trails.

There was so much to see and do.

Happy tourists

Our last day in the Parks, we packed a lunch and soon after yet another great breakfast, we set out for the floor of the Kings Canyon and to drive to Road's End.  

As we left the Lodge, it was spitting rain and snow and the temperature was in the mid-thirties, but the road was clear and there was little traffic to contend with.

For the first half hour or so, we drove along the ridge line and through some pretty impressive forests--although some of it had been touched fairly recently by fire.  (Remember last year's Kings Canyon Fire--evidently it was one of the biggest in California history, but it had not registered with us until our visit to the Parks.) 

Despite the fire damage, the scenery is beautiful--and fire is a natural phenomena that makes for a healthy and diverse environment.  Without fire, the sequoias cannot reproduce; something the park managers didn't understand until a few decades ago.

Soon you come out of the forest and you see an incredible river valley, many thousand feet below you and a narrow ribbon of a road that takes you to the bottom.  As you gradually descend the eastern slope, the temperature climbs, it becomes drier and the scenery and plant life change dramatically. It is a trip of less than 50 miles but a world apart from the rain forest of the Western slope and home of the sequoias.

Zumwalt Meadow in Kings Canyon

Three hours and many "viewing" stops later we arrived at Road's End: the road actually dead ends here. But your reward is that there is a peaceful picnic area situated along a beautiful, swift flowing mountain stream.  

We enjoyed our lunch looking at the river, under a canopy of Ponderosa pines and watching the antics of the resident Western Blue Jays. It was truly idyllic. 

From the picnic area, a path leads to Zumwalt Meadows, one of the most beautiful and serene places you can imagine.  The meadow is really more of a bog or swamp with grasses and rushes and all kinds of insect and bird life.  Because there are so few people, you can stop and listen and hear the wind blowing, the insects buzzing, and the birds singing.  The video below will give you some idea of the tranquility of the place.  (You can see a video by clicking on the picture caption above.)

Our hike around the meadow took about an hour, partly because of the boulder field that you have to negotiate for some of the way, but also because we kept stopping to enjoy the vistas and quiet majesty of the place.  After the hike, we reluctantly climbed back into our car to make the return trip back to the lodge.

Wild flowers (notice fire damaged trees in background)

Our last stop was at the top of the canyon off a closed road  that leads up to a picturesque alpine meadow.  (One of our fellow lodge guest had told us about it) It is filled with thousands of wild flowers, many of which were new and unknown to us, and the songs of the resident birds.  

We climbed the steep and rutted road slowly, but our reward was a great view of the entire Kings Canyon valley and much of the surrounding countryside.  It was a great finish to a wonderful day.

Coming back to life after the burn

Spring 2016

Spidey loves gardening

We are comfortably settled in Denver.  With the routine of our daily lives, we forget to update the blog, even though in retrospect, we have been pretty busy.  So we have several to post and this is the first of several.

As is usual during our time in Denver, we are delighted to spend time with Charlie.  He's four and the changes and development are fun to watch and enjoy.

Language development is always a challenge.  At four, we notice that he is now comfortable with time and understands past, present and future--but sometimes his language skills don't always keep up, especially irregular past tenses.  Doesn't every past tense verb end in 'ed' ?

Mowgli (ignore larrge foot)

He sleeped over with his friend Oden the other night and cutted his finger and bleeded.

A few weeks ago, Oma, Opa and Charlie went to see Disney's new version of The Jungle Book. Even though the movie comes in at close to two hours, he was transfigured for the entire time.

When we got back to the condo, he asked Oma if he could be Mowgli and if she would make him Mowgli pants and hair.



We won't reveal the secret to the costume, but needless to say his Mom and Dad do not want him to wear it out of the apartment--but when he is visiting with us, he whispers to one or the other of us, "will you call me Mowgli forever ?"

Mowgli with hair and apron

He even insists on wearing his Mowgli costume when helping Oma or Opa cook.

And now we have Batman

Other superheroes, like Spiderman, Batman and Ninja Turtles make their appearances, depending on what is clean at the moment, but the Jungle Book is definitely a favorite right now.

First day of "Train to the Plane"

Getting onboard

If you read this blog with any regularity, you know what big Denver boosters we have become.




In late April, the city opened up its "Train to the Plane" rail line, and on Opening Day, April 22, the three of us waited in line with a lot of our fellow Denverites, to catch a free ride on the new train.

Larry's Mom with new Great Grandson, Gus

Thirty-seven minutes from Union Station to the airport--leaves every 15 minutes and for us seniors only costs $4.50 each way.

Larry used the train a week later when he flew to visit his Mom in Georgia.

His Mom will be 88 this July, still lives on her own and drives around her small town, Danielsville, to church, the grocery store, etc.

Larry's sister Sandra lives just a half a mile away, so is there whenever she is needed and his brother Dale and sister, Glenda are close by as well. Their being there makes our being 1500 across country easier.

Gus, his Grandma, Glenda with Bradleigh and Dad, Brian

While in GA, Larry and his Mom were able to visit with his sister, Glenda, and Glenda's son, Brian and to see the newest Great Grandson, Gus, and his big sister, Bradleigh.

Brian and his family had just moved into a new home and it was an opportunity to visit and see the new addition(s).

NC Ladyslipper

Larry also attended an English Country Dance Weekend at the Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, which is about a two hour easy drive from his Mom's home.

Although Larry still enjoys Scottish Country Dancing and attends classes a couple times a week in Denver, we are both finding English enjoyable--a little less active and easier on the aging body.

Springtime in the NC mountains is always beautiful and one of the favorite and most interesting sights as you walk through the woods is the Pink Ladyslipper (a native orchid).

Larry at Denver's Botanic Garden

Springtime in Denver can be a die cast--one day it is 75 or 80 and the next day there is a blizzard.

This spring we had a full blown blizzard that shut down the city and brought two feet of snow to the surrounding area--and that was just one of the four snow storms we had in April.

More Denver Botanic Garden with close-ups below

Still Spring does triumph over Winter eventually and we always enjoy spending a mild spring day in the Denver Botanic Garden.

What a treat and what a great boon to the city and its citizens and visitors.

Pretty scary !!

Besides the Botanic Garden, we have a fantastic Art Museum which we enjoy.  Recently they have had a special exhibit of Japanese Samurai paraphernalia placed in rooms with enlarged (huge) photos of portions of silk screens.

The detail on both the armor and the silk screens was amazing.  Who would have thought that going to an exhibit, basically, of armor could be so engaging?

As we always say, come visit !