
J and H at their home from home in Salem
Okay, this is an excuse post. I had planned on blogging two days ago but the dog ate my iPad . . . no, I dropped it into the toilet while I was brushing my teeth at the sink . . . no, no, I left it on the car seat and Michael sat on it . . . no, no, and no, the truth of the matter is that we spent the last two nights at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon, and they do not have WiFi. I know, any of the other three excuses seems more probable; but, the last is the reason for my tardiness. More about the hotel in another post.
I could have given this post the title of “Back to Reality.” After our days at Kingston, Edgefield, and Sisters with their huge rooms and beds and many amenities, life in our little slice of suburban paradise seems a bit, well, less regal. I think our entire house might fit into one of the cabins at Five Pines. In spite of our somewhat more compact space, we have made good use of our time here at home base.
Saturday marketing was a delight and resulted in bags full of local yumminess for last Saturday’s dinner. Visits to Redhawk and Cubanismo wineries provided lovely vistas and tasty tastings. Dinners with friends on two evenings provided interesting conversations from different points of view. Rambles through Salem provided distractions as diverse as WPA murals, capitol visits, and woolen mill milling about. We also fitted in a trip up to the big city of Portland for a walking tour of “the best of Portland” with the bonus of a lovely lunch at Nel Centro and free time to browse at Powell’s Book Store.
We’ve had some very pleasant times sitting on our back deck enjoying our very self-contained view, the obliging weather and some of the many bottles of wine Heather has purchased from the Roth’s grocery wine department (one more trip and I’m certain they will offer her a loyalty card).
- Eat your heart out London
- Best of Portland: H, M, J, Starbucks and Nordstrom’s
- H and J in Portland with bear