Pacif Northwest #3

Pacific Northwest (Part Three)

Seaside was fine after waltzing around the small downtown. Coming from Cape Cod and having visited other places by the water and being quaint small towns, it was cute but small. There is something about ice cream and this Oregon road trip, I have to have the cold stuff every day at least once!!!!! What is wrong with me? It is not as if the weather is very warm (50's and cloudy with some spouts of sun peaking through the clouds). We decided to call it an early night. After getting potential projections to drive at least 10 hours each day for the next two days (we decide it is better to try to wake up earlier) and avoid driving at night. A good call I might add, the roads are not well lit and with the weather being unpredictable too we decide it is the best course of action.

Day three starts, we are ready and in the car at 6:30 am and gas costs from $2.43 to $2.57 a gallon for regular gas. Interested range of prices indeed. Also with this trip, we do not have any trip CDS/TAPES at all and we rely on the radio. We have heard some cool stuff and some of the radio stations we adore have a mix of music from the 80's, 90's and current stuff. At times, we will try to name that tune or name the artistic within a few notes of the opening of a song. I have to say my brother balances me in terms of my musical knowledge. The snack of our trip are the Nongshim brand Buljip Pizza snack. The songs we loved and sang along with on this trip were James Blunt's "Your Beautiful" , Cascada "Everytime We Touch", and Natasha Bedingfield "Unwritten".

In an hour, we head to Tillamook known for the their great cheese and dairy products (or so the ads for the local Creamery asserts). We get there a bit earlier than the 8am start time. We take the self guided tour and then sample some ice cream and cheese. Their sharp chedder and cheese curds are interesting. We were both enthralled with the chedder jack though. YUM. As for the ice cream at the Tillamook Creamery, we tried a variety of flavors. We concentrated on the blackberry, marion berry (only found in that region), huckleberry and black cherry. All were great and not too sweet! Granted not the healthiest of breakfasts but who cares???? This tourist attraction is right off Route 101 so not hard to find at all. Driving further along we try the scenic Three Capes Loop. After diving it for 40 minutes we weirdly enough made a wrong turn and return to Tillamook and not south the way we should have gone. Another notch of one hour we have to make up in our driving.

We head to Lincoln City another bigger town (you know with the tell tale Walmart, Safeway, Starbucks populated plazas after hitting many small homes dotting the scenery along the way). We are told to hit Depoe Bay (has the smallest harbor on the Oregon Coast). I do enjoy the areas that are along the coast (but the bulk of the time is some windy boring roads). When we do some scenery the majestic rocks, lush green trees, wild white foamed waves crashing on shore on the beaches have a nice appeal. Coupled with some light rain and people watching the waves, it can be fun. But I must say it is not a boring drive though. We aim to grab lunch in Newport and get there by 11:30am.

We choose Georgie's Beachside Grille (per the add beautiful views of the coast from the restuarant with great food). The food overall was good with great service. They are used to having tons of travelers stop in though as I can tell. We fasted on fresh bay shrimp side salad and a cup of clam chowder. The chowder yesterday at Silver Salmon was better. Not enough potatoes, the clams were good but the soup itself was not the correct consistency for me plus no offer for fresh cracked pepper was a bit of a let down. The salads was fresh leaves of green iceburg, romaine, cherry tomatoes, red onions and carrots topped with a healthy helping of sweet tiny pink bay shrimps served with a tiny thimble sized amount of thick ranch dressing. I was torn between two dishes and got the three cheese creamy sweet pepper pasta studded wtth salmon, scallops and shrimp topped off with two big pieces of garlic bread. My brother got the Halibut Oscar which he enjoyed . I think a hollandaise like sauce tinged with asparagus with a big piece of halibut with some crab. I liked my pasta a bit better. The decor was simple but typical waterfront establishment with an older crowd appeal. It was a busy and bustling place. The prices were very reasonable though.

After we head off, we are starting to face a period of rain in intervals while we head to Reedsport before heading on Rte 138 back inland to Roseburg (we want to head to Crater Lake National Park the next day). Within an hour we near Florence which has some nice vistas before you head over there after driving through a number of small seaside towns. We are recommended to check out the Sea Lion Caves but by the time we pass that area there is too heavy of a rain storm we bypass this local attraction. Making good time, we hit Reedsport and we get more gas. One of the good tips we got was to make sure you have a full tank of gas. There were truly many areas of this trip with virtually no one is around you and if you break down or have no gas (good luck) but surprisingly good radio signals to my disbelief. We gun it to Roseburg in good time in less than hour and half (than the two and half hours we thought we would need).

Once in Roseburg, we went to the local Roseburg Valley Mall, very small and I would not call it a mall. It is in the shape of a T with the big stores being Macys, Sears, Waldenbooks, Rite Aid and some smaller stores. Nearby you have a big Walmart and Safeway with tons of restaurants--Applebees, Pizza and other great American Chain restaurants. We decide to do another early night at the MOTEL 8 right off I5. We are told to double check if the Crater Lake National Park entrance is closed. Per our hotel receptionist's advice, we find out the entrance we want to use is closed until July.

We decide to take the Rte 138 scenic route to Diamond Lake and see some Falls and head back (I notice the map denotes plenty of waterfalls. Day Four--we grab some muffins which is part of the free breakfast. The morning starts out cold, black and rainy. The one time I do not open the map, we waste 20 minutes of driving going the wrong direction. After correcting this error (thanks bro for being patient) we head over to Rte 138 off of I5 exit 124. We decide to drive one hour in and then turn around since we are not heading to Diamond Lake. We are near the North Umpqua River and driving along it. We hit as high elevation as 3,500 feet. There was alot of snow and the snow drifts were pretty high. Alot of signs were alerting us to have chains and snow tires (both with which we did not have). Based on the local radio we were listening, on April 1 locals will have to discard their studded snow tires or get a $145 fine per offense. This area is considered beautiful and scenic. The majestic tall trees, windy roads and beautiful vistas are great. There are a number of waterfalls, but you must drive in and hike to seem them. My brother and I decide to turn back after an hour of driving and hit the Watson Falls (.4 to see it uphill ascend one way). Gosh I was huffing and puffing and at 3,500 FT and more maybe that is why I was feeling this way. Truth be told, I am not being honest with myself, I need a bit more cardio than what I have been having of late. At the next one we catch, we stop at Toketee Falls and there is another (.4 one way ascent). I almost slip twice on both hikes. EEKS I have to be careful at least I did not sprain my ankle. There is a cool write up on a free "hot springs" nearby but you need to hike a bit at 3.5 miles. You can take a free dip in it. My friend David (a nature aficionado) recommended it but my brother and I nixed it in favor of making back to Tacoma a decent time instead. My brother relinquished the car seat to moi to drive for an hour. The road was empty for the occasional car driving on the other side. I enjoyed the many turns and curves I had to endure before we hit I5 and I gave the driving wheel back to him. It was fun while it lasted.

From Roseburg to Eugene it took only an hour. The only place mentioned in the tourist info was the University of Oregon at Eugene was their art museum---Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. It had a great Asian art collection for Chinese, Japanese and Korean. I was more amazed with the Korean and Chinese stuff. I go to see things I have never seen before (I have been to Beijing, Tokyo and other famous museums too). One was the formal gowns of the military, Daoist priests, the various learned literati and government officials badges, great examples of textiles and some ceramics. Very lovely indeed! The Korean exhibit I am used to seeing many celadon pieces but none was found here. I caught some great pieces of scenery paintings, screens that I enjoyed and never seen before. Small in size, alot of great art packed in a tiny place.

There is an adorable courtyard and admission is only $5. We ask for a recommendation for a quick bite. First we have to weather a surprise passing rain storm. We choose HODGEPODGE on 13th Street adjacent to the campus. We get the HodgePodge wrap with pork, chicken and cheese with two sauces lettuce served with a very dry bland slaw and two tiny pieces of banana bread. For $5.75 it was alot of food and we wanted to save our stomachs for a bigger and better cause. By this time, we head within an hour to Portland and hit crazy traffic. The local radio station is talking about road rage. I find it interesting being from the Northeast. The DJ's were grumbling about how people who drive BELOW the speed limit are on the left lane. Or too many people not sure where they should go are in the speed lane stalling the traffic up. We had a good chuckle over it. It is not unheard of with drivers driving speed limit on the speed lane. I try to find the American Advertising Museum to no avail and I call the number associated with it and it turns out to be a car dealership. I am figuring it is no more????

Luckily all is not lost. I did some research to check out Pix Pâtisserie a local institution (3402 SE Division Street -503-232-24407) where the owner trained under a skilled baker in France. Oh La La! The reviews I read were spot on the size of the pastries are astronomical in proportion to the small portions you get. I guess European portions with big American prices. But the quality was great and the pastries were delectable in appearance. I had to restrain myself from devouring everything and I tried the mini glass of the berry, curry and one more meringue cookies. Let's just say I dropped a pretty penny for my pastries obssession. Culled from the website: www.pixpatisserie.com ========================================================
Amélie ~ Winner of the Patis France Chocolate Competition! Orange vanilla crème brulée sits atop a glazed chocolate mousse with caramelized hazelnuts, praline crisp, and Cointreau genoise.

Pear Rosemary ~ Pix's new favorite! Cashew cream and roasted pears baked into a pâté sucrée and covered with a milk chocolate / rosemary (yes, I said ROSEMARY!) ganache! It would be a sad thing if you failed to experience this combination.

Goûtez! Tart Ménage á Trois ~ Almond cream, chocolate ganache, and orange vanilla bean crème brulée all pile into a buttery tart shell. Oooo-la-la!!

St. Honoré ~ One could find this gâteau in 1840 in France. 163 years later you can find it in Portland. Puff pastry, caramelized cream puffs, Grand Marnier pastry cream and vanilla bean crème chantilly...Oui! Oui!

Chocolate Drenched Drunken Cherries ~ The House specialty! These bad boys have been bathing in Kirsch since June! They then take a dip in fondant and finish with bittersweet chocolate. (I got two of these and they were divine!)

Pastry chef, Cheryl Wakerhauser (a.k.a. Pix), is known for her devotion to sweets and her distinctive style that magically intertwines tastes and textures. After a short-lived career studying to be an astronaut, she trained at the pâtisserie of MOF Philippe Urraca in France. Pix Pâtisserie brings European flare and innovative edible art to Portland with an assortment of elegant pastries and handmade chocolates.
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The kind gal at the counter gave me great samples of the habenero chili and lavender ice creams. Both were great! The chili had a spice to it but the lavender did offset the spice. We ended our trip deciding to have a nice dinner. We started the trip with Korean food (I made some before he headed to Portland with some side dishes). We headed to Nob Hill in Portland which is a cute but more upscale area with tons of stores that include Kiehls, Levis with a variety of artsy and craftsy shops. There we ate at BeWon (more to come about this place later) and ended this road trip with a lovely Korean meal.

From there, we were stuck in traffic for half an hour trying to get out of Portland. Once past the border (now being 7pm) I guessed it would take us up until 9:30 or at the latest 10pm as it was a good 138 miles to Tacoma. At this point onwards, we had the worst weather yet we encountered (the weather I had feared about) on this road trip. The heavy rains with the big fat drops and backlash of puddles from the car in front of us with the lack of lighting on the highways did not help in matters. But fortunately we got back safe and sound in one piece.

I discovered alot between my brother and myself. We worked well as a team and we capitalized on our strengths, learned more about our tolerance levels and got along (first time since we both left home). Overall it strengthened our relationship and garnered a deeper respect we had for each other.