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!