As you might have noticed, I visited Portland last week. I am off of my January and October schedule, because of work. However, I finished my contract last week and have a little time off.
Again, I took my mom so she could have a rest from her caregiving duties.
We drove up, spent the night in Medford, then continued on to Portland. We try and stop at a wide spot in the road for a cinnamon roll for my sister. The bakery has amazing pastries, most of which I cannot eat, but my sister LOVES. It is a cheap thrill for my sister (the one setting up Recovery Ranch Sanctuary), so I try and stop. There is nothing else there except a gas station. It has been a scary place to stop in the past. They have completely rehabbed the gas station since the last time we visited and now the area doesn’t feel as scary.
We stopped in Cottage Grove for a break. My mom is a terrible navigator. Google Maps and she do not get along, so we got lost. We saw this cool painting, however as we meandered through the old part of Cottage Grove.
We are not staying at our usual AirBnB, but are staying closer to my sister. We have settled in pretty well. The house is cute and clean. The kitchen supplies leave a lot to be desired. We like to cook together, which I suppose other vacationers don’t do, so we are making do.
We also came up to help the YM settle in to his new apartment. Unfortunately, he hasn’t moved yet, so we couldn’t help him. As a result, we didn’t do very much beyond seeing friends and family and visiting quilt shops. I visited Josephine’s Dry Goods, Sewlarium, Bolt, Feather Your Nest, Knitted Wit, My Quilting Loft, Just for Fun (Vancouver, WA).
We did go out to Scappoose where my great-grandmother lived. We tried to find the house my mom remembered. When we found ourselves on a gravel road heading into a tree tunnel I put a halt to the expedition. The town looks REALLY different that my Mom remembered. I only remember riding a pony in my great-grandmother’s front yard, so I was no help. I was disappointed I couldn’t help take Mom down memory lane, but it is possible the house was so extensively remodeled that it would be unrecognizable. It was bad enough that the town was so different.
We also went to the Oregon Zoo (formerly the Portland Zoo). I am always anxious about visiting zoos, because I feel bad for the animals if the enclosures are terrible. This zoo is amazing. There was a path that visitors could follow through the Pacific Northwest ecosystem. The animal enclosures were placed strategically so you could see where they fit in. While still enclosures, they are pretty amazing – large and full of interesting elements and toys, places to hide and play. The elephant enclosure is enormous. It winds around a large area of the park so they can wander, if they want. They have a house where they can go to cool off. There also a couple of pools and lots of space to walk. It isn’t the wild, but they also don’t have poachers shooting at them. The black bear enclosure was similar. The bears could run around, go up and down hills, in and out of various structures and hang out in pools. One bear took a drink then sat in the pool so his feet and rear end got wet. It was funny. I also enjoyed all the walking, though I had to hold Mom up when it was time to go. She hadn’t walked so much in a long time.
The Zoo had an exhibit near the Condors with this wonderful sculpture.
This piece is made from plastic garbage that washed up on a beach somewhere. There is an organization, Washed Ashore, that is trying to bring awareness to the problem of plastic garbage. They work with artists to make various artworks. The artworks travel or are installed somewhere to help bring awareness of the longterm problems of plastic and garbage to people in an accessible way.
While out with Amanda in Gresham, we stopped at an antique store. I was sort of looking for postcards to send, but the ones I found of Oregon sights were too expensive for my purposes. I found a small selection of other places that were only $0.25 each and I bought a few. I also found a red Tupperware storage box that I have been looking at on Etsy. It was a good price, in good shape and I didn’t have to pay shipping.
In the window of that shop was the oddest looking quilt. I couldn’t see all of it, but it was a definite mishmash.
I see a large 9 Patch piece, then some appliqued hearts above the 9 patch section. There are also a few hearts on top of the 9 patches. There is a vine piece in the corner that may have been for another quilt. In the left hand corner is an elephant. I couldn’t tell if it was a panel or appliqued as there was too much glare. The very sad part was that this quilt was being sold for $59.99. 🙁 As strange as it is, it definitely has a story to tell.
We both needed outfits for my niece’s wedding, which is coming up this weekend. We saw a Lesley Evers shop and were both able to get lovely looking and unique (not weird) outfits for the wedding. I have shoes. SIL#3 wants us to wear hats, so I have to figure that out, but it was such a relief to get that chore (mostly) off of my list.