I was in Portland, Oregon last week for work. I left Monday morning and returned Thursday evening. This was the longest time I have been away from Rowan and I was really missing him by Tuesday evening. The trip would have been better if he and Jeremy were with me but I would not have wanted to endure a 5 hour flight with a toddler in tow. Yowza!
Portland was okay. Of the Pacific Northwest cities I've been to, I still prefer San Francisco and Seattle. I did visit two fun places in my off time. The first was Powell's City of Books. I could have spent hours at Powell's, but limited myself to just one. I picked up some literary treats for Rowan, including The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary, Portland denizen. If I had had more time I would have visited Klickitat Street (home to Ramona Quimby and related characters) and the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden in Grant Park.
The second most interesting place I visited was Voodoo Doughnut. We stopped by after dinner one night. The options were a tad overwhelming so I left my treat selection to the pierced blond behind the counter, my only requirement that the doughnut be bacon-free. (Yes, I wrote bacon-free. They have a maple glazed doughnut topped with bacon. One of the guys in line ahead of me ordered one and snarfed it down with much zeal.) She selected a peanut butter Oreo, a Butter Fingering, and a Miami Vice (aqua blue icing with hot pink sprinkles). I don't think I could have chosen anything better. Check out their menu. It was funny just to hear people place their orders.
Speaking of interesting menu items, Jeremy got a taste of single parenthood and didn't really care for it. He said that they got into a routine by Tuesday night, but I imagine it was exhausting. To my surprise, the house wasn't totally wrecked when I got back. Way to go, Miller men! Yay!
I took off work last Friday to have a togetherness day with Rowan. We went to feed the ducks and geese at Lake Avondale and then had a nice lunch at Panera. Rowan ate his grilled cheese sandwich like a big boy and charmed the other patrons in our area. An older grandmother stopped by the table to tell Rowan he was such a well-behaved young man. As a parent, you always appreciate hearing those kinds of compliments.
The rest of the weekend was pretty much the usual. My parents were in town on a whirlwind search for property. They didn't have any luck this time, but will continue the search via Internet. What did we do before the World Wide Web?
2 comments:
Sounds like a fun vacation and a wonderful return home :)
The reason the house wasn't a mess is that we made it 4 days without using one dish. No baths...I just used the water hose. We slept on the floor, not the bed...nothing to make!! Diapers...went over the neighbor's fence. Food? Enzo's every night and Bruster's afterward (free ice-cream).
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