profile
with "last leg") we experienced a nostalgic return with family &
a side trip down memory lane to Mendocino. Much has been written
to disparage the quality of American cars. Our rented Pontiac V-6
was a very good car...although its dashboard display/message
display kept nagging me with messages such as "due for scheduled
oil change" and "auto light system off". I thought the rental
car service should have seen to whether the engine oil needed to
be changed...not me. I wasn't about to pay the expense of having
the oil change, I was only responsible for making sure the car
had enough oil.
Mt. Shasta was amazing. It seemed to come out of nowhere.
We finally arrived in Ashland, Oregon...home of the revered
Shakespeare Festival. Regrettably, we didn't attend a
performance there. It was the height of the theatre/festival
season and we were spent from our drive from the California
coast. I slept like a baby. Our friends from Bezerkley
shared a house with us and we had our usual fruit-laden
breakfast before continuing on to Portland, a city dear to
my heart. We resumed driving up "I-5" at breakneck speed...
even school buses passed us as we did our best to observe
the speed limit. Americans shouldn't complain about fuel
prices and economy as long as they continue to drive like
maniacs. Driving with restraint, my V-6 Pontiac got 30 MPG.
Our drive to Portland was uneventful...I like to avoid events
when driving at highway speeds. Approaching Portland, Oregon
is an interesting experience. One drives along a highway
lined with evergreen trees, thinking "There's supposed to be a
city here somewhere." Then there it is when you least expect it.
It's easy to wonder why someone would put a city here. It should
be a park. It's interesting to know that the name of the city
was decided with the toss of a coin. One of the city's fathers
was from Boston...another was from Portland, Maine. They
decided to flip a coin to determine what to name the new
settlement. Portland won the toss. Thus, it bears the name
today. I suppose that New York could have just as easily
become New Amsterdam (which was its original name).
I love Portland...always have. It's the most civilized city I
have ever lived or worked in. It's also full of odd characters,
unusual places and style. Sorta like San Francisco without the
pretensions. Oh...and its got lots of bridges and a decommissioned submarine on the waterfront. The Adams family
were our gracious hosts while we were there. No, not THE Adams
family, of course, but David and Kim Adams, longtime Portland
residents. They were kind enough to show us around the city
I love so well and help me to keep myself from going into a
state of "road rage" at the Avis car rental place when I tried
to return the Pontiac. Portland is not by any stretch of the
imagine a "car friendly" city. It does everything possible, it
seems, to discourage car traffic in its downtown district. A
sometimes baffling maze of one-way streets criss-cross city
centre. Lotsa buses, though. A beautiful park is located in
the midst of the city and there seem to be rose gardens all
over the place. Gorgeous Washington Park with a view of Mt.
Hood (on a clear day...the "American Mt. Fuji") is a stone's
throw from downtown Portland. I loved living there. Only
Mendocino and a re-built knee could draw me away.
Portland is the home of Jakes Famous Crawfish Restaurant. I
will write more about Jakes in my bi-lingual section of this
website...the story involves moose heads and oil paintings
with bullet holes in them, wild crayfish running amok in the
vegetable cooler, naked sous-chefs in potato sinks...that sort
of thing. We went to Jakes with the intent of eating catfish
and "crawdads", which are seldom found in Japan. And eat them
we did...almost a full bucket of "mudbugs" (we saved some for
Dave Adams). Eating crayfish is a learned skill, almost an art.
Separating the tails from the heads is one thing...sucking the
tomalley from the heads determines who is a true crayfish
afficianado (sp?). It's not a pretty sight except for true
crayfish lovers.
The next day we took the Portland ~ Seattle Amtrak train.
Portland's Union train station is one of the jewels of the
entire Amtrak train system. It even houses a good restaurant!
The classic brick station is located near the junction of the
Columbia and Wilamette rivers and is like stepping into another
era. Towering ceilings soar above the lobby, marble floors
beneath, a tasteful giftshop, carefully tended wooden benches,
I felt like I was going to greet my grandmother, not depart for
Seattle. The ride to Seattle was bucolic and peaceful. We could
see majestic Mt. Ranier near Tacoma and skirt the shores of
Puget Sound on the way. Seattle and my Sis awaited us.
