Blogs from Oregon, United States, North America - page 103

When I saw the sign marked “Rest Stop”, I pulled over. North-central Oregon was starting to look like west Texas, and my mind was starting to wander. The signs kept promising “Port” this and “River” that, but I hadn’t seen any water so far. Besides, that ham wouldn’t last much longer unrefrigerated, and I was hungry. I hopped onto a picnic table, made myself a sandwich with a not-quiTe stale baguette, and surveyed the rest stop. This was new territory, subtly different from Idaho and Eastern Oregon. A self-important shaved head guy with hip sunglasses stood blocking the sidewalk, talking loudly on his cell phone. “She’s just lucky she wasn’t actually using any illegal substances.” A dusty minivan pulled up and emitted 5 or 6 sobering reminders of why white folks ought not to marry first ... read more

May 3rd 2009 My last entry to travelblog was in 2007. It is now June 2009, been two years. Well, lots have happened in our lives and travel was not a top priority I first saw the tulip fields in the tamil movie "Anniyan" in the song "Kumari..", it was truly spectacular! However I have since then seen many friends visiting Tulip farms in Seattle. When we moved to Portland and found out that they have Tulip farms, it was one thing we wanted to do. With a 10 month old, we were looking for easy things to include in our travels and this fit right in. After researching a bit, I found the Woodburn tulip farm , less than 40 miles from where we live. Karthik's parents were visiting us to help with little ... read more

I do declare...Pug owners are the best! Lindsay and Lucy (pug owners of course) took Heather and I to Portland's 9th Annual Pug Crawl hosted by Mac Tarnahan's Taproom to benefit the Oregon Humane Society this spring, celebrating "Pugstock", Pugs, Peace & Love. This was a legit 'festy' with vendors, contests, music, fashion show, a pug kissing booth, doggy massages and beer, of course. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of putting costumes on dogs, however I think they all actually really liked it. This was so much fun and I'm for sure going back next year! ... read more

Hello everyone, and thanks for checking in. It is T-3 days until I depart for the Philippines, following a route that has Janelle and I leaving from PDX at 2:23 pm on Tuesday, the 19th. From PDX, and after a 10.5 hour flight, our next stop is Tokyo, Japan. After a 2.5 hour layover at Narita, we begin the 5 hour flight to Manila. I'm hoping to check in from Narita with some great stories and photos. Currently, I'm taking a break from packing; paying bills that will be due while I'm gone; making copies of my passport, driver's license, and debit card; charging camera batteries; and making sure I have all my technology accounted for. As I was calling my bank to ensure that my debit card would not be frozen at its first extra-United ... read more

Today is the day I have to say goodbye to the cabin and, even worse, to Oregon. In spite of the rain for most of my stay, I have enjoyed every moment I have spent in Oregon. I cannot say enough about the people I encountered on my trip through this beautiful and eclectic State. Not once was I treated rudely or greeted by someone who wasn't smiling. This speaks volumes for the kind of people that reside in Oregon. I will give you an example of an encounter: One day, I had pulled over to do something. I don't even remember what I was doing. I looked up and a man had pulled up beside me. In Alabama, this might be good...might no be so good. I was ready for the "might not be so ... read more