Tuesday 20th July
The last words on Astoria.
What a shock I received when I was about to step out of the car at the gas station to fill up. I opened the door to be greeted by "what'll it be"? They have driveway attendants here and then when I cleaned the car window a hundred apologies were offered for me having to do it! Astoria is most definitely an unknown sparkle in Oregon.
Car filled, it was off to Portland along Highway 30.
And now the first words on Portland - it's way bigger than we ever imagined. Coming in from the north there is a woven thread of concrete highways weaving around the city skyline. Dropping off our bags at the hotel we quickly returned to the car and drove down to the Riverwalk, with a few "recalculatings" by the sat-nav along the way ... and the one word to sum this up is Bridges. They are wonderful structures as the photos show:
There were even more strung out all along the river, but out of reach of our Riverwalk stroll. Cooling water fountains that kids just adored running in and out of (and some adults too), bike hire and an ice-cream vendor pedalling the Riverwalk with cart in tow and heaps and heaps of shufflers and joggers and runners (and those who shouldn't be) and office staff pedalling home from work. Another nicety, we arrived at the car park and were greeted with "you haven't paid yet" and before we could answer into our hands was dropped a parking ticket that lasted till the next day.
And now for dinner.
Our hotel was on the outskirts of the Portland so we took in a local dining hall - the Cafe and Saloon for a Chicken Pot Pie and a Turkey Sandwich with fries.
See, its even balanced, the fries and the salad ... all good!
There were even more strung out all along the river, but out of reach of our Riverwalk stroll. Cooling water fountains that kids just adored running in and out of (and some adults too), bike hire and an ice-cream vendor pedalling the Riverwalk with cart in tow and heaps and heaps of shufflers and joggers and runners (and those who shouldn't be) and office staff pedalling home from work. Another nicety, we arrived at the car park and were greeted with "you haven't paid yet" and before we could answer into our hands was dropped a parking ticket that lasted till the next day.
And now for dinner.
Our hotel was on the outskirts of the Portland so we took in a local dining hall - the Cafe and Saloon for a Chicken Pot Pie and a Turkey Sandwich with fries.
See, its even balanced, the fries and the salad ... all good!
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