July 28, 2016

I’m officially on vacation, and I’m heading for the coast – Oregon Coast! I’ll be heading to Honeyman State Park tomorrow, but today’s one-day stopover is….. Portland!

I have a friend in Portland (born & raised; he says that’s important!) so he’s been taking me around town today. The temperature reached 34 C, which definitely affected our choices! I had wanted to do an 11-mile bike ride around downtown, but the sun& heat are too much for this Canuck. So instead, I let my friend make suggestions, and it was a great day! (Be prepared for a whirlwind of explanation. Apparently I was still in go-go-go work mode because what we did/saw in one day, usually takes people a couple to three days to see and enjoy – hahahaha.)

For breakfast, we hit up St. Honore, a French bakery, where I had a mouth-watering bacon and maple croissant, paired with a great coffee from Caffe Umbria. What a great start to my day: how can you go wrong with BACON AND MAPLE in the same pastry! (My mouth is watering as I type this. I may have to swing back through Portland in the way home to get another…. but I digress…)

Next up, we sauntered around NW 23rd to see the cute shops and stores. I loved the eclectic atmosphere, although I admit I’m not a true shopper so I didn’t go in any stores.

We then made our way up the back way (locals’ route) to Pittock Mansion, a beautifully-kept homestead and grounds from the early 1900’s, that has now been turned over to the City of Portland as a park. I didn’t take the tour inside, but was still very happy to see the amazing views of the city from the top of the estate! The grounds were also very nicely done, with lots of flowers and shrubbery to look at.

Next up in the whirlwind tour: Washington Park. We didn’t stop here; we just drove through – haha.  It was really busy AND hot. If you check out their website, they have a “Estimated Parking Availability” and after driving through, I can see why! (We came back at Round two of Portland and actually found FREE parking and got out of the car. More on that later.) From what I saw from the cool, air-conditioned car, it was beautiful.

After Washington Park, we headed to Mississippi (the avenue, not the state… obviously) for some more funky stores and delicious food. If you’ve read any of my posts, you know I love my travel food….  We ate lunch at Little Big Burger. I had the burger (natural and local ingredients!) and truffle fries – YUM!!!  Although it seems “little” it was very filling, and, in order to avoid succumbing to the food coma and heat, we walked. Slowly. Because it was hot and I was full.  We found the Tiny House Hotels on Alberta (I LOVE TINY HOUSES!!!) where I cooed and squealed like they were a box of kittens or puppies. (Did I mention my obsession with tiny houses? No? Well, I LOVE THEM!) I had looked at staying there, but decided against it because: (A) I was on a travel budget, and (B) I had a free place to stay already. Once I saw it from outside, I was glad I made the decision that I had. Some of the tiny houses were quite close to the sidewalk, and although it was gated, snoopy people could just stare and squeal and gawk at you while you tried to relax. (I know, because I kinda did. Until it became awkward. Then a few minutes later, my friend suggested we move on…)

By now, I needed something cool to drink or eat. So we headed down the street and found Salt & Straw Ice Cream. I debated if I wanted ice cream, and decided I didn’t and we headed back….  then I thought, this heat is clearly getting to me! I NEVER say no to ice cream, so back we went. I was told that, in telling this story, it wasn’t as important to say which flavours I got (Ancient Heritage’s Fresh Cheese & Strawberry, and Gin-infused Blueberry Jam with Chocolate chips, for the record) but that I ONLY WAITED FOR 5 MINUTES IN LINE! This is apparently unheard of, with tales of lines wrapping around the block touted as being “normal.”

My friend had a coupon for 20% off at the Columbia Employee Store, and I’m always up for a deal, so off we went! (Plus, they have air conditioning!) After getting a great deal on a climbing top and shorts, we were off for more coffee… (when in Portland….) This time: Poppa’s Haven, which serves Sleepy Monk Coffee from Cannon Beach. Yet another fabulous cup o’ coffee! I’d never sleep if I lived there….

At this point it was finally time for a late dinner (I told you we packed a lot into one day!) and we headed to a nondescript Japanese restaurant, named Sanbi. They are so low-key they don’t even have a website. But the amazing food and authentic atmosphere made me feel like I was back in Japan again. The nigiri melted in my mouth! (Mouth watering….  note to self: get sushi tomorrow…  is 5 hours to far to drive to get take-out?)    Lastly, we finished off the day by going to the local Japanese store, where I reminisced through each aisle and eventually bought some snacks for nostalgia.

Next stop: Honeyman State Park!

It had been a long time since I’d been to Deer Island, although as a child, we went a lot to visit family. I finally made it back this week, and it was as I remembered it. Deer island is located in the Bay of Fundy, a half-hour ferry ride from L’Etete, near St.George. The ferry is open air and probably hold about 25-30 cars, less if there are big commercial trucks.

View from the ferry

The island is fairly small, under 1000 people, which makes for a friendly atmosphere. If you drive on, be ready to give a one- or two-finger wave from your steering wheel to each car you pass, or anyone you see outside. 😊

The island is very easy to navigate as it only has one main road. There are two forks in the road, but these connect again, so no matter which way you take, you can get to your destination.

While there, you MUST try the fish’n’chips or local seafood (lobster, scallops, etc). I ate at Pilgrim’s Take-out in Lord’s Cove, which is on Cook Road. There was just a sign that said Takeout to indicate where to go, but if you don’t see it, just ask. Everyone will know 😊

I’m posting from my phone right now, so I’m limited in the pictures I can post. I have lots more on my camera, which I’ll add later.

If you like natural views, fishing villages and peaceful places, you should visit.   The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, so even just staying long enough for high tide and low tide will give you amazing before/after pictures.

You can enjoy whale watching tours, kayaking, hiking and I have friends that LOVE the scuba diving. Stay tuned for more pics in about a week; until then, here’s the last of my phone pictures:

Big trucks get on the ferry first! (It’s a weight thing, not preferential treatment 😉)

July was just a blur for me – as an ESL teacher, it’s our busiest month; and just in case I thought I still might have too much time on my hands, I agreed to teach a three-weekend course in addition to my Mon-Fri stint.  So, I’m ecstatic for a long weekend to catch up on my science experiment (aka. my kitchen sink full of dishes) and do something just for fun. In a few weeks, I’ll be leaving my fair country for international lands… the exotic location called Deception Pass. It’s not as exotic a location as I’d like, but I’m still looking forward to it. And hoping that five nights of camping doesn’t do me in – ha!

In the meantime, I decided to take advantage of the sunny days, and hop on my scooter. This is awesome in itself, but is even better when combined with a great activity, like yard sale-ing.  I love yard sale-ing, but due to the above-mentioned weekend class, I hadn’t yet made it out.

So, Friday evening I checked craigslist and found some potential “gooders.”*  Saturday morning, armed with my map of gooders, coffee and some cash, I scooted off to the first one – toted as a “5 family yard sale.”  It was a maze to get in to it, but I figured it was worth it. I was wrong. It was easily contained to a third of one driveway, and I can only imagine that the title was a typo for five-member family.  I left within 2 min. <sigh>

Next, I drove to the furthest away, hoping for a better selection. It boasted being a multi-family sale , yet again it was easily contained to one driveway. (Side note: clearly these people, and the ones before, need ESL lessons from me – I should have left a card.)  Their offering was better and I perused around for about 5 min. They had an antique sewing machine that was built into it’s own table for a great price, but I didn’t think I could get it home on my scooter (yes, I considered it.)

These two sales might have discouraged me had it not been for the beautiful blue skies, making it an excellent day for scootering. I pressed on, confident I could find a sale worthy of the title “gooder.”

They say, third time’s a charm, and it was. As were the next few I came across.

Finally shopping tally:

• ten pre-teen books, just the right reading level for my ESL students
• a three-DVD set of the Beatrix Potter series, put out by the BBC
• a Hello Kitty purse (with the tag still on!) and a Hello Kitty mirror **
• a vintage wool blanket, in similar style to The Bay blankets, labelled The Genuine Indian Point Blanket

All of this set me back a mere $15, $10 of which was for the blanket.   Awesome.

Tomorrow is BC Day – looking forward to an extra day off!!!

* yes, I made this word up. Yes, I realise the irony of an ESL teacher making words up, and I’m comfortable with it.   Also, a yard sale that is a gooder is either (a) a multi-family sale, or (b) boasts such gems as books and games.

** not for me, although I really tried to justify it. really. My years in Japan have made me a sucker for Hello Kitty.

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apparently this is my 50th post. Which is both exciting and sad. Exciting because it’s a milestone, and sad because it took more than a year to get to. oh well.   Here’s to the next 50 – cheers!

First, a caveat: I clearly suck at maintaining a regular blog. Ok, with that out of the way….
Recently I made an amazing trip across China, immediately followed by an East-to-West trip across Canada. Travelling time? about 15 min.
Yup. I went to Flyover Canada in downtown Vancouver, which had a bonus feature of Flight of the Dragon (China). Total cost: $21. If you don’t count my daily three-hour commute, this is the highlight of my travelling so far in 2014. (I’ll pause for a moment so you can truly reflect on my amazing journey….. yup, that’s should be long enough.) Don’t get me wrong – it was pretty cool. And the absence of airport security and jetlag was awesome, but… after it all, I was still in Vancouver.
As an email from London Pass reminded me the other day, it’s been a year since I last visited them. This also means that I am soon to be a year older . (FYI: I’m finding out that the older you get, the quicker you get older.)
My travel account continues to grow, albeit slowly. However,  I fear I have reached my 3-ish-year itch. What’s that, you say? Well, I’ve recently realised that I get “bored” with my life about every three years and need a change of scenery. It used to be that a simple change in furniture arrangement would do me; then it grew to moving apartments; at times, a change in work position or employment was needed. In the extreme, I’ve been known to skip the country. Whichever the case this time, I’m itchy. <scratch>
So, I’m methodically cleaning out the crap from my apartment <scratch>, while compulsively checking Craigslist for apartments and jobs <scratch>, interspersed with working a 2nd contract job <scratch,scratch> and periodically checking Dave’s ESL Cafe for a new country <scratch, scratch, scratch>. Nothing yet. <scratch>
It doesn’t help that I have 5 friends travelling (separately) to places I’d LOVE to be right now. <scratch, scratch>
Just received my Outpost magazine in the mail, so I’m off to see what wonderful places I can travel to just by flipping a few pages…  <scratch… scratch,scratch,scratch>

I wish I could say that I’ve been gone so long because I’ve been travelling to the far-flung reaches of the earth, or because I’ve been touring with Chilliwack, but sadly I’ve done nothing but work, work, work  since being gone so long. That, and break my wrist, which is even less fun than it sounds.

That said, it’s a new-ish year, and I figured I should update this blog for my dedicated readership (i.e. my mother). I don’t make resolutions, because, for one, I like who I am and I don’t like feeling pressured to “change” myself; secondly, statistically, resolutions are not kept.  I DO, however, always make a list of goals for the year. They range from being small (re-organise knitting stuff) to massive (travel to Europe).

This year my list includes (among other things): cross off two places from my bucket list; use my bicycle in the summer; practice continually knitting**.

By travelling through Europe for a month (which was a BLAST!), I used up all my trip money, and have been slowly building it back up. Slowly. So I figured my bucket list should include a few more *attainable* short trips to hold me over to another big trip.

Here are some more things to add to my list I posted before (some of which are cheaper options):

– Toronto – specifically the Toronto Zoo, the Cadbury Chocolate Factory, CN Tower’s Glass Floor

– Lake Louise / Banff / Rockies

– Calgary Stampede

– Tofino, BC

– Queen Charlotte Islands, BC

– Cape Breton, NS

– Peggy’s Cove, NS (there as a child, and want to go again)

– Hotel de Glace, Quebec (how *cool* is an ice hotel????)

– Grand Canyon

– San Francisco (again, last time it was just 2 days)

– New York, baby! (including going to Mood)

– see polar bears in Churchill, MB

– Hawaii

– Mexico

– wine tasting in Napa Valley, CA

– do the Grouse Grind

Ok, that’s enough for now (mainly because this list could go on forever, but I’m getting hungry for dinner).

If you have any suggestions for must-see places (or if you are a friend of mine and want to tag along as I cross some of these places off),  let me know!

** this is in an attempt to use up the crazy amount of yarn I have and to have some Christmas presents pre-made before next year. The pre-made stuff will help with stress, and random happenings such as breaking a wrist 2 weeks before Christmas…. 😛