VISIT WITH FRIENDS MARTI AND NORM IN SPRINGFIELD, OR

September 20 – We left Portland this morning and stopped in Springfield, OR to visit with great Pickleball friends Norm and Marti. There is a vacant lot next to their development where we were able to park the motorhome overnight. That made it really convenient for us to visit.


Last year Norm and Marti bought a house in their hometown, Springfield, OR, right off I-5 heading south.

Here Marti is proudly showing off the well-stocked pantry. She called it their “tornado shelter”

Since it was not raining, we took a little drive along another part of the Willamette River. Marti pointed out it was the only River in the United States (?) that runs North, through Portland!!

We stopped at the Fish Hatchery but no fish today.

We stopped at the Historic Lowell Covered Bridge over the lake where Norm and Marti did a lot of water skiing some years ago.

Marti and I were practicing our photogenic pose. We need more practice! HA HA

After our drive, we joined them for delicious Fajitas and a few exciting games of Euchre. We said our good-byes after a really fun day with old friends. We look forward to seeing them again in Arizona.

September 21 – We left early Tuesday morning, heading for sunny California. As soon as we crossed the Oregon border into California, the sun came out!! Hallelujah!! Driving down I-5 in California, we passed Mt. Shasta. What a spectacular sight!!

A WEEKEND IN PORTLAND, OR - DAY 1

September 18-19 – We were so tired of the cloudy, rainy Oregon coast that we packed up and left Saturday morning. The plan was to head inland and south as far as we could get, but as we approached Portland, it was not raining and the sky was much brighter. Let’s stop in Portland for the weekend. We stayed at the Portland Elks about six miles east of the Willamette River on I-84.

By the time we were set up, a light rain started. We decided to do a little touring anyway. We were told the one thing we must do is see the International Rose Test Garden. It was beautiful, even in the rain.


A rose archway into the garden.

So many beautiful roses!

I got a little wet!!

Did you ever see soooo many petals on a rose?

These roses are so slick from the rain they don't even look like roses at all!!

I took a picture when we first arrived. This is the view we saw.

Here is the picture on the front of their brochure. This is how it should have looked – beautiful grounds, city skyline and Mt. Hood in the background!!

A WEEKEND IN PORTLAND, OR – DAY 2

September 19 – Between showers on Sunday afternoon, I talked Ken into driving me to the waterfront so I could take a walk along the Westside Riverwalk along the Willamette River. It was most amazing – the SUN was shining for about two minutes!!

We parked near the Salmon Street Springs.


Same fountain, different look.


There was some kind of Neptune Festival going on in the Waterfront Park.

The Hawthorne Bridge was in the raised position as I passed under.

The I-5 Bridge seemed to disappear into the tall buildings.

When I returned, going in the other direction, the Hawthorne Bridge was closed after letting this barge pass under.

Portland, the City of Roses.

The Portland Spirit has daily lunch and dinner cruises with magnificent views of the Portland skyline and bridges, but not on a day like today!!

I saw rowers on the river. They didn’t really look like a rowing team so I suspect it was a tourist thing.

There was a Run/Walk Race downtown on Saturday, and a Marathon on Sunday, so it was impossible to navigate the downtown streets this weekend.

The Portland Maritime Museum was an old paddlewheel boat. We would have loved to tour it, but by the time we got there, it had just closed.

The Portland Saturday Market was also open on Sunday, but it was closing time there, too.

The end of my walk was at the Burnside Bridge. How many bridges does Portland have??

I can’t believe it!! It didn’t rain at all for my 90 minute walk along the River!

TT LTR SEASIDE, OREGON

September 17 – We arrived at TT Seaside, OR on Friday, the 10th. We found several Pickleball players on Saturday morning. We have been playing every morning; however, yesterday (Thursday) it rained all day and has not stopped!

Here's the group (from left to right) -

Chuck from the TT La Conner Tournaments; Faye and Ken; Marty whom we met a couple of years ago at TT Chesapeake Bay; Julie and Phyllis from TT La Conner; Larry a new player; Dick whom we have known for years; and Peg another new player.


We have been to Seaside several times in the past and just love this area. However, this time around, it has been overcast every day, so we have not even been over to the Boardwalk along the Pacific. Today, between showers, I drove over to the turn-about and took a few pictures.

The End of the Trail for Lewis and Clark!

The mountain shrouded in fog!

Overlooking the great Pacific Ocean!!

LADIES PARTNER SWITCH TOURNAMENT AT TTN LA CONNER, WA (Correction)

Correcting previous article posted for -

Monday afternoon, August 30 – The Winners of the Ladies Partner Switch Tournament should have read:

Third Place: Julie
First Place: Ione
Second Place: Judy. I think Judy deserved to be First because she is the only one of the three who had to play with me, and still she was a winner!!

My apologies to the Ladies!!

HOW CAN WE FIND MY CHICKEN WINGS IN CHEHALIS, WA??

Thursday, September 9 – We left TT La Conner yesterday morning and spent the morning at Freightliner in Mt. Vernon, WA where we had our front air bags replaced on the motorhome. We finally left Freightliner at about 2 PM. That did not leave much time to drive to a place to stay, so it worked out perfectly for us to stop-over at TT Chehalis, only 150 mile south.

I particularly wanted to visit Chehalis again because, when we were last here in 2003, we happened to have lunch at a small, unpretentious Chinese Buffet in one of the little old towns in the area. I LOVED the chicken wings, baked crispy and heavily sprinkled with black pepper. I had never had them before or since. How could I remember chicken wings for seven years??? I don’t know, but I knew I had to try to find that Chinese Buffet again!! By the time we had set up and found satellite, it was too late to go out, so we extended our stay for another day.

We did not have a clue where to begin our search. My first thought was that it could not be in Chehalis because Chehalis was a big town (three exits on I-5). It must be one of the small towns nearby – but which one?? Then I remembered there was some kind of park or museum across the street!! Ken remembered there was a railroad track nearby! Then we remembered there was a packing house across the street, because they had been loading carrots by conveyor belt off the trucks!! So what did that tell us?? Nothing!! We’d have to go to the Visitor’s Center.

Then I saw this picture in the Thousand Trails handout!! “Ken, I think this is the museum that was across the street from the Buffet! That’s why we were down there!!”

We keyed the address into the GPS and set out to the museum. When we were within one-half mile we saw a big shopping area -- K-Mart, Wal-Mart, GroceryStore, Etc. This could not be the place!! But we continued following the GPS directions and came upon Old Town Chehalis. After a couple of blocks, Ken said, “Well, there are the conveyor belts!” They were packing corn this time.

A drive around the corner and there was the Lewis County Historical Museum from the picture! I had been following Lewis and Clark that year!

And across the street!! Royal Buffet, American Chinese Restaurant!!!

We went in and were greeted at the door by the Owner/Manager. He welcomed us and helped the waitress find us a booth near the window (so we watch the traffic and conveyor belt!!). I was impressed!! We told him we had come all the way from Virginia to eat their buffet. We had been there seven years ago and remembered the black pepper chicken wings. He said ownership had changed about three times since we were here but they still have the wings!

We discovered his name is Jin. Now where do I know another good-looking Asian whose name is Jin?? It was in LOST!! Of course.

We really did enjoy our lunch. I thought the chicken wings were good, but not quite memorable as before. We will probably eat here again -- not for the wings, but because of Jin!!

VETERANS MEMORIAL MUSEUM, CHEHALIS, WA

Thursday, September 9 – After having the Royal Buffet, Ken wanted to go to the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis. We usually do museums in half hour or forty-five minutes. We spent the entire afternoon at this one. They almost closed the doors on us.

The displays were numerous and very interesting because they had such a personal touch, dealing primarily with Veterans from this area of Washington and their part in the various wars.

I found Betty’s Blanket to be very impressive! It must have taken years to create.

The displays covered all the wars from the Revolutionary War to Iraq, with a special display covering 911.

We found the panel covering the Korean War during which Ken was stationed in Germany as part of the German Occupation (1953-55).

And the display about The Gulf War, “Operation Desert Shield”/”Operation Desert Storm”!! Ken’s reserve unit was activated to serve during 1990 – 1991. We were very fortunate. Some of Ken’s unit went to Germany, others were scattered to various locations, but Ken was stationed at Fort Lee, 45 miles from home!!