Portland, Oregon--January 2012
The new Portland Distribution Center
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Here I am in the Crown Plaza-Lake Oswego, just south of Portland, OR. I was wish I was here on vacation, but alas, no. I’m here on business, at least for the next week. We have a distribution center in the Portland area and they are moving to a larger building. I was asked to fly up and help out. I’ve done this before; this is actually my fourth time helping with a warehouse transition.
This time however, instead of hoping I’ll have some time for some sightseeing, I am staying an extra couple of days, and flying Margo up, too. We are planning to visit the one Hooters restaurant in the area, see the house that was used for the Cullens in the Twilight movies, drive up to the Columbia River Gorge and see a few waterfalls, and take a ghost hunting tour. Maybe we will also find a winery to do some wine tasting and Margo has the address for Roloff Farms, from the TV series “Little People, Big World” She would like to see that. I’m looking forward to it.
The only part of our schedule that we have committed to is the ghosting hunting tour at 10 PM on Friday the 13th (good day for ghosts, huh). Margo gets in about 10:30 AM on Thursday the 12th. I have no idea what time I will be done on that day. The move is the 11th, I think. I was told to plan on returning on the 12th. So, I plan on being with Margo on the 12th. I suppose the question is when. It will depend on what needs to be done on Thursday. I’m hoping, nothing, and I can just meet Margo and the airport. That’s it for this preamble. I will likely update this a bit later, but I’m not going to have a day by day account of what goes on at work. It’s not only not that exciting, but I try to limit these blogs to the travel part.
Here I am in the Crown Plaza-Lake Oswego, just south of Portland, OR. I was wish I was here on vacation, but alas, no. I’m here on business, at least for the next week. We have a distribution center in the Portland area and they are moving to a larger building. I was asked to fly up and help out. I’ve done this before; this is actually my fourth time helping with a warehouse transition.
This time however, instead of hoping I’ll have some time for some sightseeing, I am staying an extra couple of days, and flying Margo up, too. We are planning to visit the one Hooters restaurant in the area, see the house that was used for the Cullens in the Twilight movies, drive up to the Columbia River Gorge and see a few waterfalls, and take a ghost hunting tour. Maybe we will also find a winery to do some wine tasting and Margo has the address for Roloff Farms, from the TV series “Little People, Big World” She would like to see that. I’m looking forward to it.
The only part of our schedule that we have committed to is the ghosting hunting tour at 10 PM on Friday the 13th (good day for ghosts, huh). Margo gets in about 10:30 AM on Thursday the 12th. I have no idea what time I will be done on that day. The move is the 11th, I think. I was told to plan on returning on the 12th. So, I plan on being with Margo on the 12th. I suppose the question is when. It will depend on what needs to be done on Thursday. I’m hoping, nothing, and I can just meet Margo and the airport. That’s it for this preamble. I will likely update this a bit later, but I’m not going to have a day by day account of what goes on at work. It’s not only not that exciting, but I try to limit these blogs to the travel part.
January 11, 2012
The view from my Crown Plaza (Lake Oswego) hotel room
The move is over. Thank God. It went well, with no hiccups and no major problems. I was thanked by all from the Portland center, who worked with. I walked out of there feeling like I did an good job and that I made a difference. But, I really miss Margo and the dogs. It is completely different, after a long day
to come home to the greeting I always get from Eve, Madie, Enzo, and especially Scooter. My Scooter always brings me a toy and is always so happy to see me. I’m greeted at the hotel by a dark room, and the prospect of finding dinner.
I was thinking about it earlier in the week, and this is the longest Margo and I have ever been apart, in over 26 years. Even
when I was in the hospital she could visit every day. The longest time before was when I went to Leadership School back in 2002. I think that was the best part of 6 days. This will be seven complete days. And it sucks. When a sad relationship song comes on the radio, I start to get all chocked up. That sucks, too.
But, that is all over. In the morning I meet Margo at the airport and we can see a little bit of the Portland area. The plans I
mentioned above have not changed. I did hear of a local doughnut shop, called Voodoo Doughnuts that might be worth a stop. I also heard that some of the Twilight stuff was filmed near Multnomah Falls. That is one of the waterfalls we are planning to visit. I have no itinerary worked out. I haven’t had time to think about it. Now I guess it is time.
to come home to the greeting I always get from Eve, Madie, Enzo, and especially Scooter. My Scooter always brings me a toy and is always so happy to see me. I’m greeted at the hotel by a dark room, and the prospect of finding dinner.
I was thinking about it earlier in the week, and this is the longest Margo and I have ever been apart, in over 26 years. Even
when I was in the hospital she could visit every day. The longest time before was when I went to Leadership School back in 2002. I think that was the best part of 6 days. This will be seven complete days. And it sucks. When a sad relationship song comes on the radio, I start to get all chocked up. That sucks, too.
But, that is all over. In the morning I meet Margo at the airport and we can see a little bit of the Portland area. The plans I
mentioned above have not changed. I did hear of a local doughnut shop, called Voodoo Doughnuts that might be worth a stop. I also heard that some of the Twilight stuff was filmed near Multnomah Falls. That is one of the waterfalls we are planning to visit. I have no itinerary worked out. I haven’t had time to think about it. Now I guess it is time.
January 12, 2012
The Swan House in St. Helens, OR
For not having a plan, today went pretty well. That might be a little strong saying we didn't have plan. We knew what we wanted to do, and we had all the details worked out until about noon today. I had planned to be up at 8:30 AM, getting to sleep in for the first time in 10 days. But, I guess I'd slept enough, because I was awake at 7:30. So up I got, a half hour later, after I decided that was my only real option. I had a coupon left for a free breakfast downstairs, in the hotel restaurant. So after showering and getting dressed I had bacon, eggs, and potatos. The company had put me up in the Crown Plaza, in Lake Oswego. It was a very nice hotel, and I had a a big room with a king size bed. But, now it was time to move out, and I was happy as hell.
I checked out and was on the road by 9:30. Margo's flight was due in at 10:50, and it is a 30 minute drive to the airport. So, I had plenty of time. I stopped for gas, dropped off my rental car, and was leaning against a counter near baggage claim at 10:40. When I checked the arrival board, I found that Margo was early and had touched down 5 minutes ago. Cool. She came down the escalater and we were crossing over to get a rental car 5 minutes later.
I figured Margo would be hungry and she was, so our first stop was Hooters. If you have read any of my other travel blogs then you know that stopping a Hooters has become a Hooters tradition. So 25 minutes later we pulled into the parking lot. 45 minutes after that we were fed, beered (me only), I had my requisit picture with girls, and Jessi had a shirt. So with that accomplished we decided we would drive to St. Helens, OR to see the house that they used for the Swan house, during the filming of the Twilight movies. Margo is a big fan, and since it was only about a 30 minute drive we decided to do it.
The drive was all highway, with views of Mt Hood and Mt St Helens. There was no obvious spot to pull over, so I didn't get any pictures. But, we still have tomorrow. My new GPS, that Margo got me for Christmas worked well. It took us right to the correct house, which Margo recognized right away. The owner has a sign on a tree that tells all the Twilgiht crazies to take pictures from the road, stay off the grass, and don't peek in the windows. We followed all the rules, got a few pictures, and were soon on our way.
We decided to stay with Twilight theme, and drive back to Portland to see the Cullen House. That is the house that they used in the movies, as the Cullen House. It is in the high rent district and not really visible from the road. We took a chance that serendipity would intervene and Margo might get to see something, but that was not to be. But, that was OK. We had no official plans today, we were experiencing Portland, and it got it our of Margo's system.
I checked out and was on the road by 9:30. Margo's flight was due in at 10:50, and it is a 30 minute drive to the airport. So, I had plenty of time. I stopped for gas, dropped off my rental car, and was leaning against a counter near baggage claim at 10:40. When I checked the arrival board, I found that Margo was early and had touched down 5 minutes ago. Cool. She came down the escalater and we were crossing over to get a rental car 5 minutes later.
I figured Margo would be hungry and she was, so our first stop was Hooters. If you have read any of my other travel blogs then you know that stopping a Hooters has become a Hooters tradition. So 25 minutes later we pulled into the parking lot. 45 minutes after that we were fed, beered (me only), I had my requisit picture with girls, and Jessi had a shirt. So with that accomplished we decided we would drive to St. Helens, OR to see the house that they used for the Swan house, during the filming of the Twilight movies. Margo is a big fan, and since it was only about a 30 minute drive we decided to do it.
The drive was all highway, with views of Mt Hood and Mt St Helens. There was no obvious spot to pull over, so I didn't get any pictures. But, we still have tomorrow. My new GPS, that Margo got me for Christmas worked well. It took us right to the correct house, which Margo recognized right away. The owner has a sign on a tree that tells all the Twilgiht crazies to take pictures from the road, stay off the grass, and don't peek in the windows. We followed all the rules, got a few pictures, and were soon on our way.
We decided to stay with Twilight theme, and drive back to Portland to see the Cullen House. That is the house that they used in the movies, as the Cullen House. It is in the high rent district and not really visible from the road. We took a chance that serendipity would intervene and Margo might get to see something, but that was not to be. But, that was OK. We had no official plans today, we were experiencing Portland, and it got it our of Margo's system.
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Margo and Jake Roloff
At this point in time I was thinking we should try to find one of those Oregon wineries and do some winte tasting. But, Margo thought that driving out and seeing Roloff Farms, where the reality series "Little People-Big World" is based. I'm not really interested, but I also didn't have a specific winery in mind, having done little research on this for this trip. So, I figured what the heck. It was again, only about a 30 minute drive from where we were at, so off we went. We were out in farm country, so I half hoped a winery would jump out in front of me. But, it didn't. We also didn't have a good address, just the city and street. Well, more like country road. But, we figured there would signs and we werre right enough. There was one big sign. So we pulled into the long drive, pulled off to the side, and took a few pictures of the sign, and a couple with Margo in them. You couldn't see anything else from the road, and we weren't going to drive up without them being. So we got in car and were getting everything repacked and situated so we could back, when a school bus pulled up and stopped right in front of us.
Margo says "I'll bet that is Jake (the youngest Roloff son) coming home from school."
I'm thinking "Ya, right. Jake probably gets dropped off to and from school. Surely no one on TV takes a school bus. And even if they did, they weren't going to be here right now."
So of course I was wrong. Jake appears around from the front of the bus, and Margo says
"See! I'm gonna go ask him"
"Ask him what?" I said. I'm thinking is she going to ask him if he is Jake Roloff? Or maybe if she can have his autograph?
"If I can take his picture with him!" she says as she is getting out of the car.
I got out with little time to think, and Margo had her camera in my hand. In fifteen seconds it was over, and we had both thanked the teenager. He was very nice and quiet. He probably thought he had a stalker, and would joke with his friends that he was hoping to be stalked by some girl not old enough to be his mother. But, Margo was thrilled, and this probably made the whole trip for her.
Now it was time to go back to the hotel. It was sometime around 4:00 PM. Rush hour in Portland starts at 3:00 PM, and it is bad. In my opinion it is worse than Denver. The GPS tried to route us around it, but I think it made it worse. We ended up going through downtown Portland on Burnside, and we didn't get back until 6:30 PM. We made a stop at a Kohl's store to buy Margo a new swimsuit, on the way, but most of that time was spent in traffic.
After that we decided on Shari's for dinner, and then a dip in the hotel pool and hot tub. I almost always bring my suit, and I almost never use it. This time I did and I was happy. That hot tub felt good. That was it for our half day together. Tomorrow was going to be waterfall day.
Margo says "I'll bet that is Jake (the youngest Roloff son) coming home from school."
I'm thinking "Ya, right. Jake probably gets dropped off to and from school. Surely no one on TV takes a school bus. And even if they did, they weren't going to be here right now."
So of course I was wrong. Jake appears around from the front of the bus, and Margo says
"See! I'm gonna go ask him"
"Ask him what?" I said. I'm thinking is she going to ask him if he is Jake Roloff? Or maybe if she can have his autograph?
"If I can take his picture with him!" she says as she is getting out of the car.
I got out with little time to think, and Margo had her camera in my hand. In fifteen seconds it was over, and we had both thanked the teenager. He was very nice and quiet. He probably thought he had a stalker, and would joke with his friends that he was hoping to be stalked by some girl not old enough to be his mother. But, Margo was thrilled, and this probably made the whole trip for her.
Now it was time to go back to the hotel. It was sometime around 4:00 PM. Rush hour in Portland starts at 3:00 PM, and it is bad. In my opinion it is worse than Denver. The GPS tried to route us around it, but I think it made it worse. We ended up going through downtown Portland on Burnside, and we didn't get back until 6:30 PM. We made a stop at a Kohl's store to buy Margo a new swimsuit, on the way, but most of that time was spent in traffic.
After that we decided on Shari's for dinner, and then a dip in the hotel pool and hot tub. I almost always bring my suit, and I almost never use it. This time I did and I was happy. That hot tub felt good. That was it for our half day together. Tomorrow was going to be waterfall day.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Bridal Veil Falls, Columbia Gorge, Oregon
I didn’t have any trouble sleeping in today. My alarm went of at 8:30 AM, and I kept wondering why Margo wasn’t shutting it off. It’s usually her alarm that is going off to get us up in the morning. I threw on my shorts and a t-shirt and Margo and I went down for the free breakfast. It was decent. They had scrambled eggs (a little runny), biscuits and gravy (biscuits were a little hard), muffins, juice, sausage, cereal, fruit, toast, yogurt, and probably plenty of stuff that I forgot.
We ate, I got a shower, and then we were on the road. Our goal was to head east into the Columbia River Gorge and see at least two waterfalls; Bridal Veil, and Multnomah Falls. It is only about 25-30 minutes to the first of those, Bridal Veil. Our drive there started on a major highway, in which we could see glimpse of Mt Hood and Mt St Helens. But, I still had no luck finding an easily accessible place to pull over to take a picture.
The GPS continued to be a god send. I did very little planning with respect to knowing the area, the highways, or where everything was. I usually have a map or directions getting us from one place to another. Not having this was a mistake, but not one that caused us any grief. Our first stop was Bridal Veil Falls. The website that I had found said the hike was easy, but I knew that easy for a seasoned hiker and easy for Margo are two different things. It turned out to be just easy enough for her to get to the viewing area. It was a very pretty fall, with it looking like a facial veil. The cold weather had allowed plenty of ice to form, giving this winter viewing a whole different perspective. We didn't linger long. I had mentioned to Margo that some of Twilight was filmed near Multnomah Falls, our next destination, and she like the idea of seeing more Twilight sights.
We ate, I got a shower, and then we were on the road. Our goal was to head east into the Columbia River Gorge and see at least two waterfalls; Bridal Veil, and Multnomah Falls. It is only about 25-30 minutes to the first of those, Bridal Veil. Our drive there started on a major highway, in which we could see glimpse of Mt Hood and Mt St Helens. But, I still had no luck finding an easily accessible place to pull over to take a picture.
The GPS continued to be a god send. I did very little planning with respect to knowing the area, the highways, or where everything was. I usually have a map or directions getting us from one place to another. Not having this was a mistake, but not one that caused us any grief. Our first stop was Bridal Veil Falls. The website that I had found said the hike was easy, but I knew that easy for a seasoned hiker and easy for Margo are two different things. It turned out to be just easy enough for her to get to the viewing area. It was a very pretty fall, with it looking like a facial veil. The cold weather had allowed plenty of ice to form, giving this winter viewing a whole different perspective. We didn't linger long. I had mentioned to Margo that some of Twilight was filmed near Multnomah Falls, our next destination, and she like the idea of seeing more Twilight sights.
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Wakeena Falls
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The next stop was to Multnomah Falls, just a few miles down the road. This was supposed to be the nicest falls in the area. It is the second highest (Yosemite National Park's Bridal Veil Falls is twice as high) falls in the United States. It was also much easier to view. So Margo and I tooling east on the Historic Columbia Highway when we nearly drove past Wakeena Falls. There are 77 waterfalls on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge and I didn't have time to look into most of them. I knew there were plenty of other waterfalls in the area, but I didn't know exactly where or how accessible they were. Wakeena just kind of jumped out in front of us, so we stopped and got out.
Again we didn't spend a lot of time there. We got a couple of pictures and watched as the water made its plunge down onto several ledges before coming down to us. So back in the car we went, and in less than two minutes we were at Multnomah Falls. It was easy to see why this was the focal point of the area. The falls, which were easily viewable from the highway, are spectacular. The water falls a total of 620 in two seperate falls. The upper plunges 542 feet and the lower 69 feet. There is a 9 foot drop as the water runs from upper basin to the lower falls, making up the difference |
Margo in front of Wakeena Falls
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Me in front of Wakeena Falls
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Multnomah Falls. These were the falls used as backdrop in Twilight.
There were several areas to view the falls from the lower level. Plus they had a museum, which we managed to forget, and a gift shop, which we never forget. So after Margo and I spent 10 minutes of so admiring the various angles of the falls from the lower level, and we both hit the bathroom, I wanted a better view.
In 1914, Simon Benson, a very rich lumberman, who had donated the land that contained the falls, had a foot bridge built above the upper basin. It looked to provide even better viewing of the falls, so that is where I wanted to go. But, Margo's knees object to the climbing so she was in no mood for a second climb. She volunteered to scout the gift shop and stay warm while I went to the Benson Footbridge.
The hike to Bridal Veils started out paved, but gave way to a rocky, but improved trail. The grade was reasonable steep, but there were resting places aplenty. Multnomah was completely paved, but just as steep. It really wasn't a bad hike and I was near the bridge in no time. But, about fifty feet or so from the bridge a problem started to manifest itself. This is January, and while there is no snow on the ground, and the temperature was in the 40s, the overspray from the falls was still able to freeze. While it looked very pretty on the rock, it was starting to make the footing slick. Signs had warned me of this when I first started up, but I wasn't concerned. There is a guard rail made of chain, which made an effective hand hold, and it did not get treacherous until right before the bridge. The bridge itself was salted, so it wasn't bad at all.
In 1914, Simon Benson, a very rich lumberman, who had donated the land that contained the falls, had a foot bridge built above the upper basin. It looked to provide even better viewing of the falls, so that is where I wanted to go. But, Margo's knees object to the climbing so she was in no mood for a second climb. She volunteered to scout the gift shop and stay warm while I went to the Benson Footbridge.
The hike to Bridal Veils started out paved, but gave way to a rocky, but improved trail. The grade was reasonable steep, but there were resting places aplenty. Multnomah was completely paved, but just as steep. It really wasn't a bad hike and I was near the bridge in no time. But, about fifty feet or so from the bridge a problem started to manifest itself. This is January, and while there is no snow on the ground, and the temperature was in the 40s, the overspray from the falls was still able to freeze. While it looked very pretty on the rock, it was starting to make the footing slick. Signs had warned me of this when I first started up, but I wasn't concerned. There is a guard rail made of chain, which made an effective hand hold, and it did not get treacherous until right before the bridge. The bridge itself was salted, so it wasn't bad at all.
The ice on the sides is very pretty. I would love to see this when everything is green
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I was right about the view of the falls from the bridge. It was better (how could it not be) and gave you a better perspective of just how tall it was. I spent several minutes taking picture and admiring the falls. I even took a little video. But, it was icy up there and I could also see that there was more climbing that could be done. While I'm not a fan of hiking up hill, I did like the idea that I might be able to get a decent view of the Columbia River and the Gorge. So I up I went.
It is a mile walk from the bottom to the top viewing area of Multnomah Falls. The Benson Bridge is a 1/4 of a mile up. I didn't think I was going to have the time or the want to, to make it all the way. But, I did think I could climb up far enough to get a decnt view of the gorge. I was able to do just that after another 1/4 mile. Then it was back down, careful not to fall on my ass at the icy spots, and then to find Margo She had covered the gift shop pretty well and had picked out a couple of books for her. We picked out shirts for everyone and was soon at the checkout stand to pay. I asked the girl behind the counter about Twilight sights in the area, and hit the mother load. When I conducted the little |
research that I did, I found on website that said there was a ranger that was a Twilight fan and knew all of the sights around the area where filming had been done. I don't know if this was the ranger, but she knew it all. She told us about the baseball field, which we couldn't find, the place where they filmed the prom scenes (View Point Inn), a bridge that I didn't catch much of what she said, and The Carver Cafe. This was where they filmed the diner scene. Well, hell we now had a quest. We were hungry and had a Twlight place that served food.
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View Point Inn
But the lady behind the counter advised us to call first. Even though it was only about 1:30, she said in the winter they had odd hours, and might be closing early. We called and she was right; they closed at 2 PM today, and the grill shut down at 1:45. Bummer for Margo. But the View Point Inn was on the way, so we decided that might be a good stop, even though our local expert told there had been a fire there. So we found the address via TomTom and in about 15 minutes we were there. We didn't take any pictures there, but I took one from a distance, at out next stop. You can see the fire damage pretty clearly. Margo did some reseach when we got home and she found out that the fire happened last year. There has been no efforts to rebuild because for some reason the owners had let their insurance lapse. Roll those dice.
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We made one final stop here in the Columbia Rive Gorge before we headed back to Portland. That being the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. If the view from Chanticleer Point (it's original name) is the finest of the gorge then number one would likely cause physical harm. The views are stunning. You get a true picture of how big the Columbia River and the gorge really are. The pictures I took don't do it justice. What else the pictures don't show is the wind. It was howling down through the gorge and it chilled you right to the bone. It was not long before we decided to make our way to Portland.
However we now had ourselves a dilema. We were both getting hungry, and with the Carver Cafe out of the picture we needed to find something else. We decided to use TomTom, and the first restaurant we chose was closed until dinner |
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Voodoo Doll and Maple Bacon Bar
The first restaurant we chose was closed until dinner time. The second, Shirley's Tippy Canoe Restaurant turned out to work just fine. Margo and I each had a variation of a ham and cheese sandwich. I added two glasses of wine, and the bill came to well over $50 after the tip. A bit steep, but we had a good time. Margo says their Honey Mustard dressing, which they make themselves, is the best she has ever had.
Even though we weren'r really hungry I suggested we stop at Voodoo Doughnuts to make sure we lasted until our late dinner. I had come across this place, once again, during my limited research. It's a Portland institution since opening in 2003. There are three locations, two in Portland and one in Eugene, OR. I don't know Portland so I suggested we go to Voodoo Too, the second Portland location, as I thought it was the closest one to Old Town Pizza, which is where we would be meeting for our ghost tour, and eating dinner. I was wrong. The original doughnout shop is in Old Town as well.
Traffic had not started getting bad yet, so we made there in about 25-30 minutes. Margo had no idea what to expect and I filled her in as best as I understood them. It was a weird doughnut shop. The doughnuts were all odd concoctions, but they were supposed to be very good. We pulled in to the parking lot of a very pink building. It looked like a fun place and it was. I knew that I wanted one of their signature Voodoo Dolls; a raspberry filled long john that is in the shape of, and iced like a voodoo doll. It comes with a tiny pretzel stick protuding from it. I was also thinking about trying another one of their signatures; the maple bacon bar. This is a maple glazed long john with two strips of crispy bacon on top. On first blush it doesn't sound right, but when you think about it; maple syrup and bacon go together nicely. Put them on a doughnut, and you have breakfast. Not a good breakfast, but Martha Stewart isn't running the place. A couple of drug addled Portland hippies are, so why not.
Margo thought the Voodoo Doll was also worth a try, but opted for a maple cruller as her second. I was able to talk her into a bite of my maple bacon bar, and she liked it. She even had a second bite. That's when you know she really liked it. As we were finishing our doughnuts and drinks (Likely to be different they didn't sell Coke or Pepsi. Their cola was RC Cola. Margo had a Dr Pepper) I mentioned another of the signature creations; the cock and balls. This is a large chocolate iced doughnut shaped like a penis. It is custard filled, so it, well you figure it out. Margo thought this just funny enough that she was going to buy one when she went back up to
the counter to buy a T-shirt. We spent several minutes trying to put together the right way to ask for this confectionary. Somehow
"I want a cock and balls" didn't sound right. Neither did
"Gimmie a cock and balls" or "Could I have a cock and balls"
"I would like a cock and balls" sounded worse.
Each iteration would bring both Margo and I to laughter. We never did figure out a good way to ask. I think Margo finally asked for her T-shirt and then said "I'd also like a cock and balls". You know this has to bust the gut of the new cashiers. But with that accomplished we headed back to our hotel room.
Even though we weren'r really hungry I suggested we stop at Voodoo Doughnuts to make sure we lasted until our late dinner. I had come across this place, once again, during my limited research. It's a Portland institution since opening in 2003. There are three locations, two in Portland and one in Eugene, OR. I don't know Portland so I suggested we go to Voodoo Too, the second Portland location, as I thought it was the closest one to Old Town Pizza, which is where we would be meeting for our ghost tour, and eating dinner. I was wrong. The original doughnout shop is in Old Town as well.
Traffic had not started getting bad yet, so we made there in about 25-30 minutes. Margo had no idea what to expect and I filled her in as best as I understood them. It was a weird doughnut shop. The doughnuts were all odd concoctions, but they were supposed to be very good. We pulled in to the parking lot of a very pink building. It looked like a fun place and it was. I knew that I wanted one of their signature Voodoo Dolls; a raspberry filled long john that is in the shape of, and iced like a voodoo doll. It comes with a tiny pretzel stick protuding from it. I was also thinking about trying another one of their signatures; the maple bacon bar. This is a maple glazed long john with two strips of crispy bacon on top. On first blush it doesn't sound right, but when you think about it; maple syrup and bacon go together nicely. Put them on a doughnut, and you have breakfast. Not a good breakfast, but Martha Stewart isn't running the place. A couple of drug addled Portland hippies are, so why not.
Margo thought the Voodoo Doll was also worth a try, but opted for a maple cruller as her second. I was able to talk her into a bite of my maple bacon bar, and she liked it. She even had a second bite. That's when you know she really liked it. As we were finishing our doughnuts and drinks (Likely to be different they didn't sell Coke or Pepsi. Their cola was RC Cola. Margo had a Dr Pepper) I mentioned another of the signature creations; the cock and balls. This is a large chocolate iced doughnut shaped like a penis. It is custard filled, so it, well you figure it out. Margo thought this just funny enough that she was going to buy one when she went back up to
the counter to buy a T-shirt. We spent several minutes trying to put together the right way to ask for this confectionary. Somehow
"I want a cock and balls" didn't sound right. Neither did
"Gimmie a cock and balls" or "Could I have a cock and balls"
"I would like a cock and balls" sounded worse.
Each iteration would bring both Margo and I to laughter. We never did figure out a good way to ask. I think Margo finally asked for her T-shirt and then said "I'd also like a cock and balls". You know this has to bust the gut of the new cashiers. But with that accomplished we headed back to our hotel room.
Margo's Cock and Balls
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Me in front of Voodoo Too
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c
Rush hour traffic in Portland sucks. Per capita it is the worst I have ever seen. Denver traffic gets bad during rush hour, but it moves unless their is an accident. Starting a 3 PM, if you are going in the wrong direction, and most of directions are wrong, you crawl for a few miles. Then it breaks up. Then you crawl again. Don't make the mistake of going through downtown, like we did yesterday. So what should have taken half and hour, took more like a full hour.
It was now about 4:30, giving us 3 1/2 hours until dinner. Margo crawled into bed to take a nap. She was beat and we were due to be until midnight, at least. I was pretty tired myself, but I tried to write some. I made progress for about half and hour and then joined Margo in bed. I layed down for half and hour, and my phone rang. It was Mary from work. She was in Canton, OH waiting for her mother to die. I already knew this, as she had called during my time working on the Portland move. So when I heard her voice, I knew what it was; her mother had passed. She was just keeping me informed. She was planning to be out all of next week, returning to work on Sunday the 22nd. There was nothing to be done about that. Those kind of things come when they come and they take whatever time they take. We will make do, we always do.
About 7:15 I started getting Margo up, and we were on the road, and in Old Town by 8:30 PM. I didn't know what to expect with the Portland traffic on a Friday night, but it wasn't bad. We got their ordered Garlic Curls and a small pizza. Neither of us were really hungry, so neither one of us finished our part of the pizza. It was 9:15ish when we were done, and we still had half an hour to kill. We waited around inside, they weren't busy and the waitress invited us to stay in and keep warm. I'm guessing the tours are put on by the same people who own the restaurant.
As it turned out they had about 20 people scheduled for the tour, so they split the tour and we got leave early at about 9:50 PM. The actual title of the tour is Beyond Bizzare. We were going to take a tour around Old Town and learn about the seamy side of Portland, which would include killings, and naturaly the ghosts of the violently departed.
One of the first things that Todd, our guide, pointed out was the Hung Far Low sign, which he said appealed to the thirteen year old in all of us. As you can see from my picture, my thirteen year old is still around. We were told that the restaurant is no longer around, and that the original sign fell into disrepair and was taken down. There arose such an uproar from the locals that a collection was taken, and new sign erected.
We learned about the 24 Hour Church of Elvis. There is some lady around who has rerected a number of coin operated, animated dioramas around the area. You put in a quarter and in our case a number of Barbie dolls worked out in their Barbie Gym. I'm not sure how this ties to a church or Elvis, but it does qualify as bizzare.
It was now about 4:30, giving us 3 1/2 hours until dinner. Margo crawled into bed to take a nap. She was beat and we were due to be until midnight, at least. I was pretty tired myself, but I tried to write some. I made progress for about half and hour and then joined Margo in bed. I layed down for half and hour, and my phone rang. It was Mary from work. She was in Canton, OH waiting for her mother to die. I already knew this, as she had called during my time working on the Portland move. So when I heard her voice, I knew what it was; her mother had passed. She was just keeping me informed. She was planning to be out all of next week, returning to work on Sunday the 22nd. There was nothing to be done about that. Those kind of things come when they come and they take whatever time they take. We will make do, we always do.
About 7:15 I started getting Margo up, and we were on the road, and in Old Town by 8:30 PM. I didn't know what to expect with the Portland traffic on a Friday night, but it wasn't bad. We got their ordered Garlic Curls and a small pizza. Neither of us were really hungry, so neither one of us finished our part of the pizza. It was 9:15ish when we were done, and we still had half an hour to kill. We waited around inside, they weren't busy and the waitress invited us to stay in and keep warm. I'm guessing the tours are put on by the same people who own the restaurant.
As it turned out they had about 20 people scheduled for the tour, so they split the tour and we got leave early at about 9:50 PM. The actual title of the tour is Beyond Bizzare. We were going to take a tour around Old Town and learn about the seamy side of Portland, which would include killings, and naturaly the ghosts of the violently departed.
One of the first things that Todd, our guide, pointed out was the Hung Far Low sign, which he said appealed to the thirteen year old in all of us. As you can see from my picture, my thirteen year old is still around. We were told that the restaurant is no longer around, and that the original sign fell into disrepair and was taken down. There arose such an uproar from the locals that a collection was taken, and new sign erected.
We learned about the 24 Hour Church of Elvis. There is some lady around who has rerected a number of coin operated, animated dioramas around the area. You put in a quarter and in our case a number of Barbie dolls worked out in their Barbie Gym. I'm not sure how this ties to a church or Elvis, but it does qualify as bizzare.
v
Then there was the Benson Bubbler. Simon Benson, of lumber fame, also bought and renovated a hotel in Old Town. Simon was a teetoldler and did not like alcohol or anyone associated with him to drink it. But, as he was out numbered in this area of about 20,000 to 1, there was not a lot he could do about it. But, then one day he was thrown out of a bar just down the street from his hotel, because he got upset when they would not serve him a glass of water. They wanted to sell him whiskey with the water, which he refused. So in his anger and disgust Mr Benson erected a number of drinking fountains throughout the area that ran constantly (bubbled) to give anyone who wanted it, a free drink of clean water. They are still in use today.
We were told about a number of murders in the area. A guy named Jefferson Davis (not the President of the Confederate States of America) has written several books about the ghost stories around Portland, and the violence that preeced them.
We learned about a bar that was three stories tall and was what Todd called a Disneyland of adult pleasures. There was booze on the ground floor. Gambling on the floor above that, and hookers and flop houses on floor number three. This particular establishement was one of the few that served women in the 19th century. They had their own little area, chicken wired off, to keep the men, who outnumbered the 7 to 1 during these times, from harrassing them. We were told that the strippers had electrified wire between them and the boys. But, I'm not sure I buy that.
We took a break about half way, which coinsided with our arrival at the original Voodoo Doughnuts. There was some sort of arrangement made between Portland Walking Tours and Voodoo Doughnut, because Todd disappeared into the shop, and ten minutes later came out with a dozen of their finest. I was full, but these are good doughnuts and I tried a Crushed Oreo variety. Our guide told us that the 3 original flavors, which catored to their late night customers were Asprin Covered, Pepto Bismol, and Glazed with a shot of NyQuil inside it. The health department made them stop serving those.
We learned about the Shanghai tunnels of Old Town Portland. It was told by Todd that not long after the city was plotted the town folks noticed that the Willamette River had an almost annual habit or jumping it's banks and flooding the city. This would cause a variety of damage and drive business into the ground. In order to more quickly drain the city a series of tunnels were dug. The idea was that the local businesses would have their own feeder tunnels dug to connect to the main tunnels. Todd did not tell us how the flood mitigation worked, but he did tell us that the Law of Unitended Consequences took over and a variety of nefarious activities began occuring in the covert path leading from the river to downtown.
Not the least of these was the the practice of Crimping, what is more commonly known as Shanghaing. What was said to happen is that ships captains would dock in Portland and a number of the ship hands would jump ship, or leave without permission. The ships required a certain number of men to operate that ship, and according to Todd that number was inspected and enforsed by local law. The Captains being desperate for a warm body would have an arrangement with a local bar. They would pay the bar to drug (ala a Mickey Finn, chloral hydrate) some unruly patron would making a nusisance of themselves. The troublemaker would wake up the next moring surrrounded by the Pacific Ocean on his way to China.
I read elsewhere on line that the practice probably did happen, but it was not very common in Portland, and that the tunnels were dug, not for flood waters, but to move good and fuel from the docks to the local stores, without having to fight the local traffic. I guess it has always sucked.
We were told about a number of murders in the area. A guy named Jefferson Davis (not the President of the Confederate States of America) has written several books about the ghost stories around Portland, and the violence that preeced them.
We learned about a bar that was three stories tall and was what Todd called a Disneyland of adult pleasures. There was booze on the ground floor. Gambling on the floor above that, and hookers and flop houses on floor number three. This particular establishement was one of the few that served women in the 19th century. They had their own little area, chicken wired off, to keep the men, who outnumbered the 7 to 1 during these times, from harrassing them. We were told that the strippers had electrified wire between them and the boys. But, I'm not sure I buy that.
We took a break about half way, which coinsided with our arrival at the original Voodoo Doughnuts. There was some sort of arrangement made between Portland Walking Tours and Voodoo Doughnut, because Todd disappeared into the shop, and ten minutes later came out with a dozen of their finest. I was full, but these are good doughnuts and I tried a Crushed Oreo variety. Our guide told us that the 3 original flavors, which catored to their late night customers were Asprin Covered, Pepto Bismol, and Glazed with a shot of NyQuil inside it. The health department made them stop serving those.
We learned about the Shanghai tunnels of Old Town Portland. It was told by Todd that not long after the city was plotted the town folks noticed that the Willamette River had an almost annual habit or jumping it's banks and flooding the city. This would cause a variety of damage and drive business into the ground. In order to more quickly drain the city a series of tunnels were dug. The idea was that the local businesses would have their own feeder tunnels dug to connect to the main tunnels. Todd did not tell us how the flood mitigation worked, but he did tell us that the Law of Unitended Consequences took over and a variety of nefarious activities began occuring in the covert path leading from the river to downtown.
Not the least of these was the the practice of Crimping, what is more commonly known as Shanghaing. What was said to happen is that ships captains would dock in Portland and a number of the ship hands would jump ship, or leave without permission. The ships required a certain number of men to operate that ship, and according to Todd that number was inspected and enforsed by local law. The Captains being desperate for a warm body would have an arrangement with a local bar. They would pay the bar to drug (ala a Mickey Finn, chloral hydrate) some unruly patron would making a nusisance of themselves. The troublemaker would wake up the next moring surrrounded by the Pacific Ocean on his way to China.
I read elsewhere on line that the practice probably did happen, but it was not very common in Portland, and that the tunnels were dug, not for flood waters, but to move good and fuel from the docks to the local stores, without having to fight the local traffic. I guess it has always sucked.
C
Are those orbs at the top, in the black, or just some sort of optic issue with the flash. I don't know.
The tour finished up where we had started, Old Town Pizza. As expected we were led downstairs for the real ghost hunting part of the tour. We were give an Electromagnetic Field meter, which looked kind of cheap, and turned loose to fine hot spots. We were told the basics, but Todd made clear that just because you saw the red light come on, that there was a ghost. It just meant that there was some sort of electromagnetic spike, that could be cause by lots of reasons, but he could not explain all. There was one particular post that always seem to spike everyone's meter. There was an electrical box with wires coming out of it, but all of those wires were cut and there was no power. I don't know enough about the equipment to determine if there was still and elecrtical explanation or not. What I can tell you is that I took about a dozen pictures, which we were encouraged to do. The intent was to see if any orbs, mysterious balls appeared on the picture. These are supposed to be some sort of indicator of paranormal activity. I don't know if I buy into that, but one of my pictures did contain orbs (above) and they were hovering above the pole, and Margo's meter was pegged.
When Margo and I had been eating dinner we flipped over the menu and read the story of Nina (Nigh-na), who was a prostitute working at the Merchant Hotel. Old Town Pizza is in the old Merchant Hotel building. A group of missionaries were trying to clean the city of prostitution, and they talked Nina into helping them, by providing information. Someone didn't like that and Nina ended up dead at the bottom of the hotel elevator shaft. Nina is said to be haunting the Merchant ever since. Now I don't know if this has anything to do with Old Town Pizza's basement, but a good ghost story is always fun to tell
When Margo and I had been eating dinner we flipped over the menu and read the story of Nina (Nigh-na), who was a prostitute working at the Merchant Hotel. Old Town Pizza is in the old Merchant Hotel building. A group of missionaries were trying to clean the city of prostitution, and they talked Nina into helping them, by providing information. Someone didn't like that and Nina ended up dead at the bottom of the hotel elevator shaft. Nina is said to be haunting the Merchant ever since. Now I don't know if this has anything to do with Old Town Pizza's basement, but a good ghost story is always fun to tell
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We left Old Town, after I first tipped Todd a ten-spot. We had a good time. But we were both tired. Margo was also chilled to the bone. It hadn't been a particularly chilly night, and by Portland standards, it could have been a lot worse. But it was humid, and Margo's legs were protected by only one layer. My body was sore from the hiking I had done, so we both thought another dip in the hot tub would be a good idea. It was, and sometime around 1:30 AM we went to bed.
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Saturday, January 14, 201
Margo sitting in Bella's seat at the Carver Cafe
With a 4:50 PM flight out and only things on our Saturday agenda we had no thought of getting up early. So we didn't. I made double sure my cell phone alarm was off and I stayed in bed until around 8:00. We took our time getting ready and made it down in time to eat breakfast in the got ready, checked out of the hotel and headed back to Voodoo Doughnuts.
Margo decided she wanted a larger size t-shirt. When we pulled in to the parking lot we could see there was a large crowd, which turned out to be a wedding. I guess that is not unusal for Voodoo Donuts, but I doubt I would get married there. They ended up not having a larger shirt, so Margo got nothing. I on the other hand got a maple bacon bar and was most happy with my purchase.
Our last stop of the day, for fun anyway, was the Carver Cafe. That was the Twilight Place we wanted to eat at yesterday, but was closed. After a late breakfast and a doughnut, I wasn't particularly hungry, but with our travel schedule being too full was going to work in our favor. We would likely not eat dinner until very late. Margo and I both ended up with a hamburger and fries. She also to to sit at the same spot where they filmed the movie. It was pretty cool. She is starting to accumulate quite a list of Twilight related spots. If there is a club she would have to qualify as an officer or something.
We did have one more Oregon related experience. Oregon is one of two states that require an attendant to pump your gas. The other is New Jersey. That are no self service statioins in Oregon. I knew about this, but had forgotten. When I filled my rental car, I was reminded. I took car of filling up Margo's car, while she ran inside to pee. But she did not fail to notice the attendant and commented that she did not know they had attendents. She was surprised when I said it was required by state law.
Margo decided she wanted a larger size t-shirt. When we pulled in to the parking lot we could see there was a large crowd, which turned out to be a wedding. I guess that is not unusal for Voodoo Donuts, but I doubt I would get married there. They ended up not having a larger shirt, so Margo got nothing. I on the other hand got a maple bacon bar and was most happy with my purchase.
Our last stop of the day, for fun anyway, was the Carver Cafe. That was the Twilight Place we wanted to eat at yesterday, but was closed. After a late breakfast and a doughnut, I wasn't particularly hungry, but with our travel schedule being too full was going to work in our favor. We would likely not eat dinner until very late. Margo and I both ended up with a hamburger and fries. She also to to sit at the same spot where they filmed the movie. It was pretty cool. She is starting to accumulate quite a list of Twilight related spots. If there is a club she would have to qualify as an officer or something.
We did have one more Oregon related experience. Oregon is one of two states that require an attendant to pump your gas. The other is New Jersey. That are no self service statioins in Oregon. I knew about this, but had forgotten. When I filled my rental car, I was reminded. I took car of filling up Margo's car, while she ran inside to pee. But she did not fail to notice the attendant and commented that she did not know they had attendents. She was surprised when I said it was required by state law.