Passport page nearly complete.

Here is our route, carefully plotted so we would arrive at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse last so the Little White Shed would be open.

As we traveled along, Matt noticed that each of the locations on our route was about 11 minutes (via car) from the next one.

When we initially planned our route, it was with a 2:30 beginning time. However, plans were altered and we started out route at 1:00 which meant we arrived at Cornelius Pass Roadhouse too early for the Little White Shed to be open.  So alas, we did not complete our passport page.

And introducing...

 

  It's the new car!  Welcome the 2015 Honda Civic.

 It's got a fancy new dashboard.

And this great feature that tells you if you are using your gas economically.  Blue bars are gas efficient.  Green bars are gas inefficient.

We hope to have many good years of driving with the new car.  Fingers crossed!

Matt is off to Gamestorm 17

With two bags full of games.

Gamestorm 17, for those not in the know, is the premier Portland area game convention.

End times for the Subaru

The Subaru hasn't been with us long (just since September) but it's time to ease it on down the road.  Goodbye Subaru.  We didn't have you long enough to haul anything. I was looking forward to utilizing your wagon capacity.  Hopefully your new owner will have better luck.

The plan.

Disparing of a repeat of last year's non-garden, I decided in late January that this year I would spend 15 minutes--and ONLY 15 MINUTES--every day working in the yard. (But not on Wednesdays. My dance card is full that day.)  I kept it up through all of February and everything has been weeded of this fall (and last summer's) weeds.  So I feel cautiously confident enough to make a plan for planting.  The Northwest Maritime Garden Guide put out by Seattle Tilth association, set me up with a nice crop rotation for my 10 beds in Leo's yard. 

Wish me luck.

Kennedy School! McMenamins Passport Reward!

While Matt's mom was visiting we took our McMenamins Passports to the Kennedy School and got all our stamps.  I discovered two bars I had never been in! And which I will certainly return to when the Courtyard Restaurant is full of families.  I loved our prizes of a bag and a journal/pencil/playing card set.

Forktown Food Tour

Matt's mother visited and we made time for Forktown Food Tour of N. Mississippi Ave. This is a tour that combines walking and eating, which all of us enjoy.  Here's our menu for the places we will be visiting on Mississippi.

At the Mee Sun Thai Eatery we had an appetizer of sausage, with exquisite Thai flavors.

Also a delicious glass noodle dish.  This is apparently a dish that has many variations throughout the country.

Our guide Kesley not only made sure we had great food, she also told us the history of the neighborhood.  Here, she stands outside the Rebuilding Center, which was a catalyst in bringing the neighborhood together. It's also a great place to buy everything you need for projects at home.

I'd not noticed before, but the cob tree sculpture encompasses all four seasons. Here we see autumn and winter.

And here spring and summer.

Check out these great details in the sculpture, like these birds.

This owl is made of some old concrete, maybe from a post hole.

Inside the Rebuilding Center.  Perhaps you need a new surround for your fireplace?

The spray paint on the wall helps the workers sort the donations.

Our next stop was Gabagool, where we got ready for some Italian sandwiches.

Aside from telling us that "gabagol" is an east coast pronunciation of "capicola" Kesley also came prepared to clean off our tables.

We had the signature sandwich, the gabagool, served on fresh-made Italian flat bread.  I am a fan of the sandwich in all its forms, and I can say that this was the best sandwich I have eaten in months. Everything tasted so fresh!

Other things available.

Our next stop was Little Big Burger, for a burger and fries.

Also some Hopworks beer.  It was such a nice day we opted to sit outside.

The remains of my burger, which I forgot to take a picture of.  It had goat cheese and was a fine specimen of a burger. The fries were perfect also.  

Next was Sidecar 11, which I had walked by many times without noticing, which is not surprising, given that it's such a slim restaurant.  This cocktail lounge is known for finding vintage liquor and hosting special parties made with said vintage liquor, such as the martinis they made with 1914 vermouth, found in the floorboards of a house.

We were first served a cucumber mule.  Given that I don't really like cucumber, I was quite pleased to enjoy how delicious this was.  I drank Matt's too!

Really great photo of all things Portland.  They also had personalized matches!  It's been years since I've seen matches at a restaurant/bar.  Remember how people used to collect them?

We also had cocktail bites of goat cheese bruschetta and spicy hazelnuts.

Our second cocktail (they were half cocktails) was a Whisky sour with Peychauds Bitters.  Also good.  You can see also the visual aids Kesley brought along.  This one shows the path of the Missoula Flood, lo those many years ago.  Because you can't talk about Portland geology without mentioning that flood.

Here's their next vintage tasting.

Our next stop was the Meadow for a salt and chocolate tasting.

Here are some Himalayan salt slabs for cooking on.

Here are shelves and shelves of bitters.  Below them are a few shelves of vermouth.

We tasted three different kinds of salt and two kinds of chocolate.  It was interesting to note the notes of fragrance that came through in the chocolate.  One of our chocolates had notes of pineapple.

Our last stop was Ruby Jewel, which was wide open on such a nice day. 

We got to sample two different kinds of ice cream sandwich.

And thus our tour ended.  It was delicious, educational and I highly recommend Forktown Food Tours.