Portland Take 2

 View from the cable car going from OHSU to the lower campus.

 Street food......yum!

 Spicy BBQ Korean Pork - tastes like Filipino food.  Very yummy.  It didn't hurt that we got free samples outside too to lure us in.

 Quite possibly the BEST chicken taco I have ever eaten. La Jarochita got my vote.

 Elliot enjoying his beef taco.

 Chocolate Sandwiches at Addy's Street Car (as seen in the magazine).  It was very good chocolate - not super sweet, with olive oil and sea salt.  A nice dessert.

 Bike sculpture in downtown Portland.

 Back view of some street carts.

 The photo below is my new Mecca.  A ginormous bookstore with both used and new books.  Elliot and I spent almost 2 hours in this wonderful land..... and if we'd have more money we may have spent longer.  We both left with some goodies and then headed to the knitting store, KnitPurl.  Knit Purl was super cool and I was able to pick up a new yarn only carried at a few stores in the US, Shelter by Jared Flood.  More on that (and Bry's Hat) later.

 As seen on Food Network.....

 Ok, off to work.  Have a nice day!

Vacation - Two

PORTLAND, OR

November 9, 2010
I made it to a new state and a new airport today!  Bry and I have a mini-competition going to see all 50 states.  We're fairly even, but one locale he had me beat on was the Pacific Northwest.  I had never been to Oregon or Washington State.....but that was about to change.  One of my good Medical School friends, Katie, and her fiancee, Elliot, moved out here for Pathology Residency at OHSU.  When I was planning the trip to SLC I thought I'd just tack on Portland - and it worked out.  Her fiancee was able to take off of work to show me around both days I was there which was awesome.

Our first stop was the Rosarium - a lovely place even on a drizzly November morning.

I managed to snap a few photos of the happy couple :                  

The next stop was the Arboretum, within the same park complex.  We had a good time hiking through the gorgeous landscape while Katie skipped lectures.  We also stopped at a local mansion.

Alas, she had to go to work for the afternoon so Elliot and I dropped her off at OHSU. OHSU is atop a large hill overlooking the city.  The view is fantastic!  We rode the tram down the hill - it's free to go down but you must pay to go up - they didn't figure that we'd have an OHSU parking pass.  We left the car for Katie and went by foot to catch the streetcar - also in the free zone.  By this time I was starving so the first thing we did was to hit up some street food......

To Be Continued........

Vacation - One

Salt Lake City:

November 5 2010
Bry and I got to the Milwaukee "International" Airport by 5:30.  It was really funny to me that Bry had NEVER flown out of Milwaukee, nor been IN the airport. (Yet we've been in tiny ridiculous airports in the middle of the South Pacific!)  We grabbed a bite to eat and got on our flight to Denver.  Again, Bry had NEVER been in the Denver airport.  Then a short little hopper flight to SLC - we got free-graded up to some nicer seats too which was comfy.  I got a lot of knitting done en route and we enjoyed the time to just catch up with each other.  The free cookies weren't bad either!

 David and Nancy's Home

David and Nancy (Uncle and Aunt) picked us up at the airport.  We enjoyed the scenic drive home to Utah Valley including a trek over the Point of the Mountain in David's new toy.  A lot more businesses and houses have gone up since I left - not the quiet Highland, UT that I remembered.

We ate some snacks and drank some wine or vodka before hitting the hay.  On Saturday morning we woke up, breakfasted on some amazing cheeses and meats (or donuts if you are like Bry).  Then we went out for a hike in the Pleasant Grove Canyon.  The waterfall hike is one of my favorites, short but steep with a huge reward at the top.  We had a great time chatting and catching up with Nancy and David.  And the views weren't bad either.  Following the hike we headed for some Cafe Rio, a Brazillian restaurant that is sadly lacking in the Midwest.  Love love love their food.  We split two burritos between us for lunch and sat back to knit (or watch football).

After the game we headed to some friends' bar, 'Bout Time.  There are three locations in the Salt Lake Valley - West Jordan in Jordan Landing, in Taylorsville and one at Old Mill in Holladay.  We went to the Holladay location.  These bars are relatively new and serve some amazing bar food as well as Wasatch Brewery Beers.  Bry had the Polygamy Porter, just 'cause and I had an Apricot Hefeweizen which was very tasty.  All of the food was good - salty bar food.  My favorite items on the menu were the Bacon Wrapped Olives and the Scotch Eggs.  You can check them out on .Facebook

 Mount Timpanogos

We got to catch up with lots of old friends and had a terrific night.  Sunday morning we went to church at Prince of Peace.  This was my church home for 4 years.  It was really good to see the old faces, and so many new faces too.  Church in Utah seems to be so much more important to people because of the strong LDS environment.  I had plenty of LDS friends, but Lutheran friends were rare and I had a lot of great times with these people.  After church we headed back home and went up into the American Fork Canyon which is "our canyon", about 2 miles from the house.  We got some terrific photos of Mount Timpanogos and the gorgeous surroundings.  The fresh air and amazing views......Bry was sold.  SLC is definitely on our list of places to move.

Bry had to leave on Sunday night so I took him to the airport.  It was fun to drive those weirdly familiar roads again.  He had a safe flight back home, complete with Packer game updates courtesy of Nancy!

Monday Nov 8
The rest of my stay in Utah was spent seeing more friends.  I met with my friend, Erica, and met her 2.5 boys (#3 due in March).  We had a good time catching up and had lunch at Applebees.  Monday morning David had taken me to my old college, Utah Valley University.  That had really grown since I had left - a new huge library complete with a Starbuck's Bistro.....good thing it didn't exist when I attended there.  I felt like I was back in college again - pretty strange.

After lunch I dropped Nancy off at the airport (after shopping for some clothes) and then headed downtown.  I tried to find  a knitting store but ended up walking around in the rain/snow.  Then I headed over to West Jordan for some more 'Bout Time food and Monday Night Football.  After football and saying goodbye to good friends Paula and Elaine I headed up to WVC (West Valley City) to spend the night with my friend Heather.  We stayed up until Midnight catching up and sharing stories.  Her youngest son, Jonny, was born just before I left UT and I am his god mother.  Poor kid, he woke up to his "fairy God-mother" wearing glasses, messy hair and sweatpants!  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the cutie because my camera staying in the car overnight and was all fogged up due to the cold.  I had a lovely morning with Heather and Jonny - went to Black Sheep Wool (the one I had tried to find before) and picked up some yarn.  I can't wait to show you the Turkey Hat that I've got going for the niece/nephew for Thanksgiving!  Jonny also requested a Turkey hat.....we'll see when I get around to it.  We lunched at Jonny's favorite restaurant, McDonalds, and then I had to get to the airport.  Back to Denver I went, then on to Portland, OR.  But more on that later - I'm going to explore Portland Day #2 in about one hour so I need to go get ready.  Have a good day!

New pillows

 This is our new quilt that my mom made.  I just made 4 new pillows for the bed and they turned out great!

This is a washer full of sweaters for felting.....like I need another hobby!

The next post will be from SLC, UT.  Going home!