My Portland Vacation, Part I

I arrived in Portland about 4 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday. My buddy Mark—whom I'd met, along with his partner, Rodger, at GB5—picked me up at the airport. Rodger had been visiting his ailing and now recovering father in California, and he got back home on Friday, while Mark and I were out at Sauvie Island, buying berrries and giving M&R's Chesapeake Bay retriever, Mac, some exercise in the Columbia River.

The first evening, Mark insisted on treating me for dinner even though he and Rodger were putting me up for two nights. I had a delicious burger and homemade fries, with a side of broccolini, at Pause. Mark loves the fruit cheesecakes at this place. I had a good flourless-chocolate-pistachio-cake dealie. We both took about half of our dessert home.

That night, we hung out, chatted, and watched a little TV. (I must start recording RuPaul's Drag U. The dragulator is too much fun.) And I petted on Mac.

Mark had me give Mac a couple of Milk Bones when we first got home. Mac can be territorial, he said, and feeding him would immediately put me on his good side. I'm sure the snack helped, but Mac took to me right away. He knows a dog nut when he sees one.

I shocked Mark by sleeping in until 8:30, which should have felt like 11:30. I'd woken up about 5 or so, used the bathroom, and wondered whether I'd be able to fall back to sle—ZZZZZZ.

For breakfast, I had spelt toast with two kinds of homemade jam: raspberry and blueberry-marionberry-boysenberry. Both of them were awesome, but because I liked the raspberry slightly better, Mark said we'd make that kind while I was there. As regular readers of Mark's and Rodger's blogs know, they freeze and can lots of foods made from Oregon's finest produce every year. Late July to early August isn't the optimum time for berries, which is when I would have liked to have gone to Portland, but I couldn't really have gone earlier in the summer given my move.

Here's the jammy toast. (On Saturday morning, I had toast with strawberry freezer jam.)

After breakfast, Mark and I went to Sauvie Island. Mark threw sticks and floaty toys in the river for Mac to retrieve. It's what Mac lives to do; he gets all excited when you say the word river.

 

 

After a while, at Mark's suggestion, I walked up the beach to the clothing-optional area. It wasn't terribly warm yet, but I took off my clothes anyway because a) I didn't want to look like a lurker and b) it's been a long time since I've gone to a nude beach and I love the sensation of being naked outside. There wasn't much eye candy around. I thought I'd see some on the way back toward Mark and Mac because on the way out, I'd seen a promising-looking, bearish clothed guy walk out of the woods toward the beach, but he still had his clothes on when I next saw him. Maybe he was new to this and was shy. Or maybe he was waiting for it to get warmer. *shrugs*

On the drive from the beach to one of Mark's usual produce providers, we stopped to check out a nest with osprey in it. As regular readers of their blogs know, the guys enjoy bird-watching too. It wasn't the optimum time for that activity in Oregon either, but Sauvie Island is a great place for it.

I got out of the car to take a photo, and the momma osprey flew off the nest and kicked up a fuss. She didn't swoop down and claw at me—though I almost wish she had, because that would have made for a really interesting story—but she squawked a lot and even followed the car down the road a little ways. Mark said she must have been thinking, "I scared the shit out of those guys."

Mark said many pairs of bald eagles nest on the island too. The osprey often build their nests on manmade platforms above utility poles. The platforms were constructed there to encourage the birds not to nest directly on the poles.

We got our berries at The Pumpkin Patch, which felt like my kind of place. (As regular readers of my blog know, I'm a farmers market nerd.) Mark wasn't going to let me pay, but I threw my credit card down early, like he'd done at Pause. We got raspberries, of course, for the jam.

And I grabbed a box each of blueberries and marionberries, which I realize now I forgot to try. *sigh*

There were also some cheap, big-ass bags of beets suitable for pickling. Or making a vat of borscht.

Comments

[buddy bob]

Did you find our homes yet? And jobs? And that elusive Alison?

[Bill Hawley]

I'll ask Mark to get on all of that.

[Mark H]

You're too kind about your visit. WE loved having you here, and enjoyed it all! BTW, the jam YOU cooked DID set! Successssss! Must get it ready to send to NYC !!!!