Roadtripping In Our Late 70s: The Adventure Continues

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We’re a pair of Orange County, California-based retired seniors who still love traveling to places known and unknown. Top on the bucket list of husband Jovy, who will turn 80 come February, has been for as long as I can remember to take a road trip to Seattle, Washington and beyond. The problem was at 76 I still loved my work in drug prevention and would not think of retirement until I get a clear sign from God that it is about time. A bout of physical weakness after an official trip to Washington, DC in December proved to be the message I had been waiting for. Now retired, we could finally go and so the adventure continues.

We figured that creeping old age, occasional bouts of morning weakness, our children’s apprehension about the wisdom of taking a 22-day road trip and our meager retirement income would not deter us, active cancer survivors, from making this epic journey.

This would be not a first road trip for us. In the 60’s when Jovy was managing a Philippine-owned pharmaceutical company in Bangkok, Thailand, he took me and our then three-year old Thai-born daughter Teresa for a long drive from Bangkok to Chiangmai. In the 80’s, after attending a UNESCO meeting in Paris, we took off on a road trip in a rented Fiat Elf to Brussels, Brugges,Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Cologne, Bonne, Luxembourg and back to Paris. Back in Manila, he would drive long distances to enable our three daughters and me to see more of the country. In California, he would take the long but scenic Pacific Coast Highway 1 or the shorter 101 or Interstate 5, the shortest route, to the Bay Area to visit our daughter Bernadette and family. But his most fervent desire has always been to take a long road trip to Seattle by way of Northern California and Oregon if only to test the limits of his God-given strength.

Prepping for the Trip

Whether you’re taking a long trip or a short one, you will do well to plan in advance. Prepping is one third of the total experience. You also have to have clear objectives for such a high adventure. We had two: 1) to reconnect and bond with family members and friends along the way and 2) to go on a self-guided pilgrimage to see God in nature. Even with longstanding invitations to visit, we had to alert our relatives of our upcoming trip giving dates and details and prepared “pasalubong,” little gifts for everyone. We created a day-to-day itinerary with pit stops in San Francisco, Ashland, Salem, Portland, Seattle making sure that Jovy would not be driving more than five hours at a stretch. (I don’t drive at all, but that’s another story.) We researched on line must-see points of interest along the way and in the key places we would be visiting. We also booked budget inns and bought tickets for events we were planning to attend.

DAY 1

After spending the morning loading up the Prius with enough stuff for a yearlong instead of a month long road trip, we leave Orange County at 11 am. Lesson 1: Pack light even for a three-week road trip. We never learn, it seems, because we always take along more than what we need. Our biggest mistake: filling up not only the trunk but also the back seats with our stuff. We stop at COSTCO in Garden Grove to gas up and off we are to San Francisco, our first stop, to visit Jovy’s Auntie Taling. Interstate 5 can be one long dreary ride, but this time we are made us aware of how serious California’s water crisis is. Signs like “No water. No jobs.” crop up along the way. Politicians are being blamed for the crisis. The drought has really been aggravated by the lack of rain.

Auntie Taling, whom we haven’t visited in three years, is only too happy to see us. All of 93 years, she still has a clear mind and still takes her daily walk with the help of a cane. She lives in a condo on Geneva St. with her son Ding and daughter-in-law Bobel. They prepared a feast of Filipino dishes for dinner.

Day 2

We accompany Auntie on a short bus ride to Mission St. to shop at her favorite Asian store where she likes to push a cart along all aisles for her daily workout. Back in the condo, Bobel shares her recipe for making Filipino tamales using rice flour and coconut milk topped with shredded cooked chicken and slices of boiled eggs. Together, we steam 25 banana leaf-wrapped tamales to take along on our journey. Later in the evening, Ding treats us to a sushi dinner at Akage, a Japanese restaurant in San Bruno.

Day 3

We thank the Camaclangs for a most enjoyable stay and take off. We stop at a Chevron station to fill up for the long drive to Ashland, Oregon following Interstate 5 near Sacramento. Miles of golden rolling hills and clusters of farms greet us along the way. I’m almost tempted to stop for some wine and olive testing in Corning, but decide to move on. We hit Redding before noon and soon enough we enter the Mount Shasta Recreation Area with its pine-covered hills. Snow-tipped Mount Shasta looms straight ahead. Playing hide and seek with us, Mt. Shasta would appear now on our right and with a turn of the road on our left. We climb up to 4,130 feet and are warned of slowing down to descend. We are lured to take a side trip to Mount Shasta but decide that would be for next time around. When we reach Mt. Ashland, we realize we are nearing our first stop in Oregon.

We check in at the Cedarwood Inn and are happily upgraded to a bigger room with two twin beds, a breakfast nook, fridge and microwave. We dined in on foodstuff Auntie Taling made us bring along.

Day 4

We have breakfast with other guests in the open second-floor patio overlooking hills. With a map in hand, we drive to Oak Street to begin a hike along the Bear Creek Greenway, a narrow corridor of public-owned land that follows the lush Bear Creek streambed from Ashland to the Seven Oaks Interchange in Central Point. The Greenway is spread over 600 acres of pristine southern Oregon landscape covering 21 miles. We start our hike from the Dog Park parking lot joining other walkers, joggers and bicyclists. The trail sweeps through creek side woods with banks of blackberries and thickets of willows, cattails and wildflowers. Along the trail, we meet a former LA resident who relocated to Oregon confessing it is here where she feels she is really breathing. With the noon sun bearing down on us, we decide to retrace our steps after walking two miles.

We lunch at the House of Thai Cuisine on Siskiyou Blvd. feasting on phad woon sen, bean thread noodle with slivers of beef, bean sprouts and green onions. We chance upon three Filipino-Americans, a mother, daughter and son newly settled in a hilltop house in Ashland from Orange County. They all found Ashland easy to love with the husband, a pediatrician, practicing in a city hospital.

It is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that has lured us to Ashland. OSF, officially born on July 2, 1935, is among the oldest and largest professional non-profit theaters in the nation. We bought our tickets on line in March paying $96 in March to see “Two Gentlemen from Verona” at the Allen Elizabethan Theater.

We arrive early for the 8 pm play to catch the free outdoor concert on the green lawn of the theater featuring female violinists. You either camp on the lawn or stand to watch the performers. Jovy stands and I sit on a concrete divider.

After the outdoor performance, we are ushered in and are pleasantly surprised to find ourselves in an outdoor theater with a stage that reminded us of the Globe in London. No wonder, volunteers are renting out blankets and cushions. We find no need for these since we think we are dressed warmly until the later in the evening when chilly winds make us rush downstairs to get blankets only to find out they had been rented out.

We are delighted to find that one of Shakespeare’s first plays, “Two Gents” is being presented with OSF’s first all-female cast. It is amazing to see friends Proteus and Valentine played to the hilt by Christina Clark and Sofia Jean Gomez. For Director Sarah Rasmussen, the play is “about the adventure of finding yourself without losing your friends.”

Judging from street banners and names of hotels and shops, Ashland is easily the nation’s Shakespeare town with theater buffs coming from all over. The local Best Western is the “Bard’s Inn.” There’s Juliet Salon and an upcoming “Will Festival” sponsored by the Lions.

Day 5

We leave Ashland at noon for Salem some 240 miles away figuring we’d make it in 5 hours with Jovy’s kind of driving: slow but safe. It is amazing to see Bear Creek signs along Interstate 5 past Medford which has an exit that would have brought us to Crater Lake, a must-see for Oregon visitors. We do not allow ourselves to be derailed. We promise to see Crater Lake some other time. Oregon is altogether another world for us so green and so invigorating. It is so refreshing to see various shades of green all the way with pine trees, young and old, covering mountains and hugging hillsides. Grey rain clouds hover over mountain tops and soon enough it begins to rain but not for long. Throughout the trip, we would witness this play of shadow and light with the sun breaking through occasionally. When we reach Eugene, seat of the University of Oregon, we know we are not too far away from Salem.

We check in at Crossland Economy Studios, an Extended Stay America hotel, in Salem for a weeklong stay. The clean third floor studio with two twin beds, fridge, microwave, a two-burner stove with a set of plates, cups, saucers, cutlery, pots and pans, round table and chairs meet our expectations. Since we had planned Salem to be the base of our day excursions to other parts of Oregon, we figure we would cut down on eating out by cooking some of our meals. We haul in a cooler with cold cuts, bacon, eggs, coffee creamer, and water bottles. We also bring along rice, olive oil, garlic, onions and condiments.

Day 6

After a hearty breakfast of toast, eggs and bacon, we drive to Keizer, a fairly new city carved out of a part of Salem, some 10 minutes away to visit Jovy’s cousin Lina who lives at Emerald Pointe, a luxurious senior living facility. Her daughter Kim and grandson Carmelo live in a detached house in Salem. We sadly find her weak and wobbly from a recent fall and suffering from high blood pressure. Ignoring our protestations to stay put, she rides with us to Adobo Republic, the lone Filipino restaurant in the Keizer Station Mall. Kim and Carmelo join us for lunch of kare-kare, dinuguan, adobo, roasted eggplant omelet and egg rolls, Carmelo’s favorite.

We drive together afterwards to the EZ Orchards farm store to get organic fruits and veggies. Presented with a wide variety of local produce, it is difficult to choose which ones to load on our cart. We pick up some boysenberry, black berries, strawberries , cherries, kale, mushrooms and green onions. Next door is a stand serving strawberries cream pie. Fearing to be late for the evening anticipated Sunday Mass, we resist the temptation to sample what would have been a luscious sweet treat.

As visitors, we are warmly welcomed at the Saint Edward Catholic Church at 5302 River Road in Keizer on Trinity Sunday. The newly constructed contemporary wood and glass church is definitely not the same church we visited during an earlier trip to Keizer. In his homily, Father Gary, the Pastor, dwelt on the unequivocal love God has for us in giving us His only Son so that we may have eternal life.

Day 6

Lina bring us to Les Swabb, a tire store she patronizes, so Jovy can buy new tires tax-free. He is advised by technicians to get new front tires. Jovy is pleased with the fine service and the honesty of the technicians. He expected to change all four tires.

We lunch at Los Dos Amigos, a Mexican restaurant in Salem. I order chile relleno, Jovy, a taco salad, Lina, carnitas, Kim, fajitas and Carmelo, fried chicken strips.

Day 7

Jovy decides to test his new front tires by driving to Mt. Angel, a small community settled by German pioneers in the 1800s. Our first stop is the Mt. Angel Abbey, a seminary founded by Benedictine monks 125 years ago. The Abbey has become a place of peace and solitude for day visitors and those who stay longer to attend retreats. We fail to follow the Way of the Cross following the sheltered stations on our way up to the Abbey and vow to allot time to be able to do these on our next visit. The hilltop Abbey offers a panoramic view of the lush Willamette Valley

We lunch at Mt. Angel Sausage Co., home of award-winning sausages made from scratch onsite. Its Wurstfest, a raucous celebration of Fasching (German Mardi Gras) on the Saturday before Lent and its annual Oktoberfest draw a lot of visitors. I order a pepper cheese bratwurst and Jovy settles for an ordinary bratwurst and a side of German potato salad. We share a piece of chocolate cake for dessert remembering how my classmates and I relished this on special occasions at the German-run College of the Holy Spirit in the 50’s.

We also visit the Queen of Angels Monastery on our way out. Founded 127 years ago by Benedictine sisters from Switzerland, the Monastery is a community of women who seek God in a balanced life of prayer, work, simplicity, hospitality and service. We find a guide in Sister Matilde who takes us to the chapel on the second floor. Glass walls offer a refreshing view of the gardens. Icons of Jesus and His mother, the Lady of the Veil adorned the chapel. We miss getting a jar of the Monastery Mustard, the premium mustard lovingly prepared by the Benedictine Sisters, at the gift shop which closes at noon. The secret recipe for the mustard had been passed on for generations before being given to the Sisters. The mustard comes in many flavors including “Divinely Original,” “Glorious Garlic” and “Apostolic Apricot Ginger.” We definitely will order this online.

We take 213 South passing through the town of Silverton to get back to Salem. Back in our studio, we dine on sautéed kale, heated spicy sardines bottled in Manila and garlic fried rice.

Day 8

We decide to spring a surprise on our grandson Luis, who has been living in Portland since he graduated from high school. We originally planned to see him on our way to Seattle, but why wait till then. Jovy faithfully observes driving 65 mile limit on Interstate 5 to Portland often slowing down when it rains intermittently. Our GPS brings us through a labyrinth of one-way streets to the house which Luis is renting with a couple of roommates.

This is our third visit to see Luis since he relocated. We ask him and his girlfriend Maddy to suggest a fine restaurant for a lunch treat. They choose Andina, a downtown restaurant well-known for its Novo Peruvian cuisine. On our way, we are rerouted to find a parking space with the closure of most streets to accommodate the annual Gay Parade. We parked in Chinatown and watch the parade participants gyrate atop a flatbed truck, walk on stilts and dance in the streets. We decide to walk the ten blocks to the restaurant in the Pearl District.

We order the Peruvian version of paella, “lomo saltado” Cascade wok-fried beef tenders served with garlic rice and lamb shank slow-cooked in the Northern Peruvian style in a rich cilantro-black beer sauce. For dessert, we share three small pots of crème brulee each highlighting a distinct Peruvian flavor.

Driving back to Salem we stop at a rest area to get some more travel brochures. We arrive just on time to watch the NBA finals cheering for the Spurs who win the championship over the Heat.

Day 9

We squeeze in a free day without traveling miles. We decided to explore Salem, our base of operations for day trips to neighboring points of interest and the Oregon Coast. Salem, the capital city of Oregon, lies in the center of the lush Willamette River valley, 47 miles from Portland.

We were looking forward to seeing the Iris and Peony Festivals, but miss them by a week. We had a chance to tour fields of tulips in full bloom at the annual Tulip Festival on our last visit. We were simply blown away by the wide variety of the bulb.

We check out downtown Salem starting with a noontime weekday Mass at St. Joseph Church. It is surprising to see so many students celebrating their last day of school at Mass. We drove past the stately Capitol topped by a golden figure and found a one-way street leading downtown. We found lots of street parking and parked in front of a resale boutique. We walked to the Busick Court Restaurant in the historic Busick building. I order Fettucine Alfredo and Jovy, Parmesan Chicken Strips. Locals like to have breakfast at this Salem land mark.

We could have taken a Walking Tour that would have taken us to 30 historic buildings along State Street, Commercial Street, Court Street and Liberty Street, but we opted to take our own leisurely walk. The Reed Opera House at 189 Liberty Street, which once housed the Oregon Supreme Court and the State Library on the third floor and had a 1,500 seat auditorium on the second floor, fascinated us. Built 144 years ago, the Reed was the center of Salem’s early social and cultural life during its first three decades. Touring companies and minstrel shows were staged on its second floor. These days you will find a mix of stores on the street level.





Day 10

For the longest time, Lina’s grandson Carmelo had been pining to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport so off we drive on a beautiful, sunshiny day to see a slice of the picturesque Oregon Coast. We follow 22 W for 44 miles to Lincoln City where we stop for a buffet lunch at the Siletz Indians’ Chinook Winds Casino. Taking the NW 37^th Street Access to the beach, we stop awhile to breathe in fresh ocean air and walk on the sand.

Finding some photo ops on our way to Newport, we stop and are treated to a whale sighting. We pause long enough to see the big sea creature in the distance cavorting in water. We just breeze through downtown to head straight to the Oregon Coast Aquarium nestled on beautiful Yaquina Bay. True to its mission of serving as a living classroom on ocean literacy for all ages, the Aquarium is visited by 40,000 students each year. The visitor is greeted by inspiring quotations on the ocean and nature on the walls. A quote from Frank Lloyd Wright catches my attention: “Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature, it will never fail you.” I am fascinated by the jelly fishes and Lina, by the sea horses. Carlos participates in a couple of hands-on fun activities throughout the Aquarium. The indoor area is so sectioned that it is easy to find and identify sea creatures found in sandy shores, rocky shores and coastal waters. Sea lions, otters and seals cavort in outdoor pools and caves. There’s also a seabird aviary.

We also visit the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, built in 1871 soon after the founding of the city of Newport. Sitting atop a bluff at the mouth of the Yaquina River, it commands a panoramic view of the city and beyond. Decommissioned in 1874, it has been restored as a working lighthouse in 1996 with the help of the Friends of Yaquina Lighthouses.

We take the more scenic route to Corvallis, seat of the Oregon State University, where Lina’s late husband worked in the accounting department. Most of the way, we are sheltered by a canopy of trees from the sine. Lina treats us to dinner at a Chinese restaurant frequented by Lina during their 15 year stay.

Day 11

Throughout our stay in Oregon, we have been delightfully treated to displays of wild flowers along the road, hanging flower baskets spilling over with colorful blooms in city streets, and potted plants with native flowers in church hallways. We decide to spend our last day in Salem by taking a side trip to the Oregon Garden in nearby Silverton.

We decide the take a 30-minute guided tour by tram to take in most of what the Garden, spread over 88 acres of land, offers. Our guide tells us we can alight from the tram along the route at designated stops to wander around. We find over 40 varieties of roses displayed in an informal setting in the Rose Garden yet no two roses are exactly alike. Each one is God’s gift to the beholder. The Northwest Garden features plants produced and grown in the Northwest. Nothing short of amazing is the Amazing Water Garden, winner of the 2002 Honor Award for Environmental/Sustainable Design, which combines wildlife habitat and treated water recycling, two functions which area usually kept separate. A Sensory Garden includes plantings from around the world designed to activate all your senses. One of the country’s largest collection of dwarf and miniature conifers in country is found in the Conifer Garden. Egg-laying chickens make their home in the Silverton Market Garden where you will also find berries, grapes and many of Oregon’s 147 agricultural products. Artistically strewn around are pieces of sculpture, among them a stainless steel water bird, a bronze frog, a metal totem pole with various Oregon symbols and cast bronze statutes of a boy and girl. Our senses fully satiated, the constant gardener that Jovy is and the nature lover that I am walk away from a most rewarding garden tour.



Day 12

We leaves Salem for Seattle at 11 am with an overcast sky. By now, we are acclimatized to Oregon and Washington weather. Now and then it rains. Suddenly, you see patches of sun and a glimpse of blue sky. To our right and to our left, we see green hills. A roadside billboard captures it all: “Now showing on our natural widescreen.” That succinctly describes the free movable feast along our long drive. How wonderful is all of your creation God!

Midway on the Boone bridge over Willamette River, we enter leave Oregon and enter Washington. Our GPS bring us to my cousin Angelo and wife Carmen’s house in Seattle. They have four children, now with families of their own living in their homes in the suburbs. We arrive just in time to help Carmen prep for a big family gathering to celebrate youngest grandchild Miranda celebrate her first birthday.

Carmen runs a home-based catering service patronized by Filipino residents. For Miranda’s party, she’s serving pork barbecue in bamboo skewers, pancit palabok (rice noodles for long life), egg rolls filled with a variety of veggies, grilled milkfish and tilapia, and beef caldereta ( kind of a stew with olives, carrots, and potatoes). The party in the backyard, where a big tent has been set up, gets starts at noon with a water balloon fight among their eight grandchildren. Soon everyone including some adults are soaking wet and hurry up to change to dry clothes. Miranda gets to blow the lone candle on her birthday cake surrounded everyone singing the Happy Birthday song. And so the feasting begins.

Day 14

We leave Angelo’s house in Southwest Seattle skirting downtown Seattle heading towards Northeast Seattle where the daughter of our dear friend Lito lives with her family. Based in Manila, Lito takes off three months a year to visit her children and grandchildren in Seattle, West Virginia and New Jersey. We board the family SUV for Anacortes with daughter Melissa driving. Her two children, Maria and George occupy the back seats. Husband Nick follow us in his car as he plans on driving back after our island tour. On the way to Anacortes, a seaside city an hour and a half away from Seattle, Lito pulls out a variety of snacks from a bag and soda from an ice cooler as she is wont to do when we travel together in the Philippines on our yearly visits to the islands and last February to Vietnam. We check out Islands Inn which we had booked earlier for an overnight stay before boarding a ferry to Orcas Island, the biggest of the San Juan Islands.

We leave the van with other vehicles on the lower level and take the stairs to the upper level where we watch Anacortes recede and the islands appear on our left. George and Maria occupy themselves by playing. We while away the time updating each other during the hour long ride. We disembark and Nick takes over the while for a tour around the island.

Orcas Island also known as the Emerald Isle is 57 miles of curving rural roads, stunning shoreline and charming hamlets. It is noon and we try to find a restaurant to take our lunch. We chance upon a café at the Deer Harbor Marina. The children order hotdog sandwiches and we try the fish and chips. Lito discovers locally packaged caramel treats with smoked sea salt for our dessert. Since I just love anything with caramel, I buy six packs to bring home and share with our daughters.

The Orcas Pottery Shop deep in the woods is our next stop. We wander around the oldest pottery shop in the Northwest opening in 1945 in a garden setting complete with a tree house which keep the children occupied while we shopp. The creations of some 15 artisans are displayed on outdoor tables and inside a small shop. I am attracted by a one-of-a-kind, multi-colored plate which I eventually buy.

We proceed to Mount Constitution in the Moran State Park, which has a 2,409 summit – the highest point in the San Juans. Nick confesses he is not quite comfortable driving along roads which zigzag. We advise him to focus ahead. We finally make it to the top and are treated to a view of Mount Baker and Mount Rainer in the distance and while spread below on the water are the other San Juan Islands, Canadian Gulf islands and Vancouver Island. We take lots of photos while the children go on a treasure hunt, an activity highly recommended by a ranger. They get a smooth stone each for completing the hunt. Nick drives us around the rest of the island. We pass Eastsound Village, the commercial center with shops lining the streets. We decide to proceed to Orcas Village and the Ferry Terminal. Much to our dismay, we do not make it to 5 pm ferry. Nick decides to take the ferry as a walk in passenger to enable him to drive his car back to Seattle since he works the next day. We realize it would be almost 9 pm when we board the next ferry. We figure that by the time we arrive in Anacortes, restaurants will be closed. Out of Lito’s stock of foodstuff, she brings out a can of Spam which Jovy slices with his Swiss knife. Spam and cheese sticks serve as our dinner, Newton Figs, our dessert.

We are first in line for the ferry to Anacortes which leaves at 9 pm. We check in at Islands Inn at 10:15 pm. Lito gets an upgraded room to accommodate Melissa and her children. We all sleep well.



Day 15

We have hearty breakfast at this boutique inn run by women of Belgian roots who have added fine touches which one normally associates with small hotels in Europe. We decide to check out Old Town Anacortes after leaving the inn. We walk around and find an antique shop where Lito buys a blue crystal bowl for her daughter Margaret who collects blue stuff. At next shop selling vintage clothes, I get a small, leaf-shaped white plate with the figure of a bird at one end for Kirsten, Angelo’s granddaughter who is graduating with a nursing degree.

We buy rice from a Japanese sushi restaurant for our planned picnic at the Deception Pass State Park. The plan is to buy cooked shrimps at the famous Shrimp Shack near the Deception Pass. People from all over Washington drive miles for a taste of these small, sweet shrimps which are sold by the pound. Angelo stocks up on these shrimps buying at one time 120 pounds which is shared with his children Jovy buys ten pounds, a couple for our picnic at the Deception Pass State Park where we get a table fronting the ocean, some to share with Lito’s famiy and Angelo and some to bring home to Orange County to give our daughters a taste of Anacortes.

For our beach picnic, we feasted on freshly cooked shrimps teamed up with rice. The shrimps are small compared to other shrimps you get , but we’ve not tasted sweeter shrimps. We do not feel a need for anything else.

Melissa drives us back to her home in Lynnwood. We thank her for doing most of the driving and Lito for the treats. We board the Prius for the trip back to Angelo’s place. We skirt downtown Seattle which we’ve have toured in earlier visits. This time around, we try to cram in as many state parks as we can.

Day 16

Breakfast at Angelo’s home is always a five course deal: beef tapa (Filipino jerky), omelet with leftover grilled salmon, eggs cooked sunny side up, chicken and pork adobo and fried dried dilis (anchovy). It is so easy to gain pounds here even on a week’s visit. You can just imagine what lunch and dinner is like. Fact is Carmen is a superb cook and believes her mission in life is to feed her family. Hence, she cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner for her grown-up children and grandchildren EVERYDAY.

We drive after breakfast to the Vietnamese store, Central Market where Carmen gets most of her meat and veggies. I buy chicken breast, eggplants, Thai basil, a can of coconut milk and green curry paste to cook Green Chicken curry. Today, we plan to share recipes. I pull out a notebook while Carmen walks me through the steps of making pancit palabok (noodles with red sauce), lumpiang Shanghai (slender meat rolls), inihaw na bangus (grilled milk fish), guinataan mackerel (mackerel cooked in coconut milk), pork barbecue in skewers, chicharon (fried pork skin) and tapa (beef jerky) which she dries under a screen in the backyard.

Day 17

Angelo’s oldest daughter Marigie picks us all up in the morning for a hike in Lincoln Park. I wear Angelo’s gift, Puma running shoes. (We happen to have the same shoe size.) We chance upon some young campers huddled around their teen counselor for instructions. We hike up a wooded hill. On descending we find ourselves walking on the beach. A covered Olympic-sized swimming pool with sea water piped in from the ocean sits on the beach, a favorite go-to during summer for locals. We try a different route getting back to our car. We ascend a steeper hill. One gets a view of the beach below between tall pine trees. We take our time and descend to find our car.

Marigie takes us to Ivar’s, Seattle’s best seafood restaurant famous for its clam chowder. We’ve dined at their restaurant earlier on in downtown Seattle along the waterfront and here we are in their Bremerton location. She orders clam chowder, the original Alaskan True Cod and chips for everybody and jumbo prawns and oysters with chips to share.

Back home, we start packing for our homeward trip the next day with stops in Portland, Salem, Ashland and Sacramento.

Day 18

We have Carmen’s hearty breakfast and load up the car. Carmen insists that we bring some of her famous chicken and pork adobo and fried sliced salmon belly along with rice to save us the trouble of stopping at a fast food restaurant for lunch. We thank Angelo and Carmen for their warm hospitality and make them promise to visit us next month when they travel to LA.

We decide to surprise grandson Luis with a second visit on this leg of our journey. Happily, today is his day off. We drive to his house and agree to have lunch at Sen Yai (Thai for Big Noodle), the year-old Thai restaurant where Luis and girlfriend Maddy work. It one of four restaurants owned by Andy Richer, a James Beard awardee for the best chef in the Northwest. He also owns two in New York City. Having lived in Thailand for five years, Jovy and I choose to order the traditional Kuaytiaw Nam, the most common of Thai street noodles and the simplest. It has noodles in a simple broth with chicken, bean sprouts, green onions, Chinese celery and fried garlic. Luis gets Laksana’s Kuaytiaw, fried rice noodles and Maddy, Phat Sii Ew, the vegetarian version. I decide to buy AR’s book titled “Pok Pok.”

For dessert, we walk across SE Division St. to Salt and Straw, an ice cream parlor specializing in out-of-the ordinary, customized flavors. Luis insists I try the Olive Ice Cream. Jovy get the salt and caramel kind. Luis and Maddy get their favorites. They tell us that SE Division St. is the fastest growing district in Portland, the new second downtown with its restaurant row including Pok Pok, the mother restaurant of Sen Yai, a French Bakery, coffee shops, and Unfold, a yoga place.

We say our good-byes to Luis and Maddy and head towards Salem for an overnight stay at Crossland Economy Studios. Along the way, we succumb to the temptation to stop by the outlets in Woburn for some tax-free shopping. I buy sweaters for myself and daughter Ditas and tops for daughter Tess and granddaughters Gabrielle, Katrina and Ysa at Ann Taylor Loft.

We check in at Crossland and get the same room we occupied earlier for a week. For dinner, we feast on the food that Carmen cooked for us and have a good night sleep.

Day 19

We check out early for the four hours drive to Ashland. We settled for Super 8 Motel when we could not get the inn we earlier stayed in. We spent the afternoon at the Artisan Emporium where we get two birdhouses for our son-in-law Jet who collects them and later walk around Lithia Park designed by John McClaren , known for doing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. We cross a bridge across a brook and find ourselves in a green world featuring at least three kinds of maple tree, tall ponderosas and other pine trees, banks of native flowers, a huge pond and a waterfall.

In Oregon and Washington, we’ve seen a refreshing green world “charged with the grandeur of God.”

Day 20

Leaving Ashland on our 56^th wedding anniversary, we drive along Interstate 5 to Sacramento. On our last miles of driving in Oregon, we see wineries to our left and right and realize that we have not visited even one. I’m allergic to alcohol, but Jovy isn’t and should have enjoyed some wine tasting. We decide to check out Old Town Sacramento and find a parking spot across an ice cream parlor where we get two scopes each on a cone. We’re treated to a sidewalk puppet show by a male puppeteer and check out a store selling products from Africa. We have lunch at an Indonesian Restaurant where I order gado-gado, a traditional salad of boiled cabbage with a peanut sauce and Jovy, a fried beef noodle dish.

We drive to the house of Jovy’s cousin Bocoy and wife Eileen in Fairfield for a two-night visit. We’ve stayed with them ten years ago and are delighted to see that they have added a deck and a swimming pool in the back yard. They are into organic food and stuff so we had some protein powder-based smoothie with blue berries and nuts for dinner. Jovy engages Bocoy in a long conversation before finally dropping to bed at midnight.

Day 21

We attend Mass at Saint Joseph Church and have lunch at Mimi’s Café. Our hosts treat us to a heartwarming movie which turned out to be a tearjerker. Bocoy insists we try swimming in the pool this evening. Eileen removes the cover, vacuums the pool and turns on the heater to warm the water. We all dive in and spend three hours talking and enjoying the warm water.

Day 22



We leave Bocoy and Eileen for our six hour trip back to Orange County. It takes us some time to get to I-5. On the road, Jovy has to deal with big truck drivers acting like they are driving sports cars. A whole lot of motor houses and trailers are on the road, too. Jovy goes on cruise control when he sees fit and brings us home to Orange County safely.

What We Treasure Most

By the grace of God, we made it! Admittedly, the longest road trip we attempted tested our endurance, strengths and energies. Upon waking up the morning, we would seek God’s protection and at the same time asking Him to give us eyes to see Him in His grandiose creation. We saw His imprint in the breathtaking splendor of the pine-covered mountains, placid lakes, open sea, gardens, state parks, farms, vineyards, art festivals, monasteries, peaceful communities, loving relatives and friendly people. We came back spiritually renewed and physically restored.

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