Awake: 6:00am Temp 56 Overcast then sunny breaks Overnight @ Portland, OR
Kathy does 4 laundry loads today…& we do a mid-morning e-mail check.
@ 12:15pm Dick & Christine pick us up to have lunch @ Le Happy, a French
restaurant on the Northwest side of Portland. The GPS is programmed in 15
min & we are on our way. En route someone asks: “Is this place open for
lunch?” I make a cell phone call & listen to the recording: “Open Saturday
5:00pm to 12:30am.” We continue our drive to the Pearl district anyway,
park the car and walk in search of a restaurant.
This area was once an industrial, seedier part of Portland, but today it
has been transformed to a more upscale living area, with old buildings
refurbished to lovely condos and apts, with gardens and courtyards. It is
a beautiful, mostly sunny, warm day, tho Monte reminds us there are clouds
looming in the distance.
Christine had just reminisced to Kathy how lovely it is in France (where
she’s from) where restaurants with outside dining line the streets, when,
lo and behold, they spot what looks like sidewalk diners down Johnson St.
Ah, there is one vacant outside table left at “Piazza Italia.” We enjoyed
a delicious lunch of salad, lasagna and Italian beer while soaking in the
ambience of an almost European dining pleasure. While sitting under our
table umbrella, we hear different speaking accents from other diners
adding to the “European flavor.” What a delightful eating and talking time
we had with Dick and Christine.
Next we program the GPS to take us to the Northwest Nob Hill area…park the
Honda Odyssey & walk up & down 21st Street. Many of the large older homes
have been modified as boutiques, restaurants & other businesses creating
an interesting, eclectic area, which draws much auto and pedestrian
traffic. We stop & eat a scoop of Gelato (Italian Ice Cream) along the
way… it sure tasted like more. It was a most pleasant afternoon hanging
out with Dick & Christine. Back to our campground @ 4:00pm.
Then a change of clothes & Kathy & I drive to Vancouver, WA where Kathy
does some grocery shopping @ Fred Meyers while I talk with my buddy Ray on
the cell phone in Ocean Park, WA. We then attend 5:00pm mass @ Saint
Joseph’s church….afterwards, a little more grocery shopping @ Safeway.
Back to our bus @ 7:00pm.
The evening weather & temp are great so we walk the campground 30 min for
exercise.
8:30pm dinner: Leftover stuffed pepper, Triscuits & Bing cherries.
Late evening: Watch HBO movie on cable: “Surviving Christmas” with Ben
Affleck. A different twist for an…out of season…Christmas flick.
Today’s high temp=78 Lights out: 11:49pm
PS: Happy Father’s Day tomorrow to all of our friends and family who are
fathers, grandfathers & godfathers.
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