Portland Rose Parade - June, 2010

I drove to Portland with Kathy to see the annual Rose Parade. The day of the parade could not have been better -- sunny blue skies, about 80 degrees -- and the parade itself did not disappoint with lots of rose floats, rose-decorated horses and riders, marching bands (my favorite) and costumes galore. What a morning it was!

After the parade we rode the train and were treated to my aunt and uncle's favorite Chinese restaurant. What a spread of food. It just kept on a-coming and we ate our little hearts out! After lunch/dinner, Kathy and I went back to town and rode the town trolley around until we noticed it was close to 9:00 p.m. and still light. Uh oh, we missed the graduation exercises being held at the Rose Coliseum....

The next morning, Sunday, we drove to my cousin Jay's home and my aunt fixed us huge whole-wheat pancakes, her specialty. They were very, very good and very, very filling. After eating our fill, we excused ourselves and went to a place called "The Grotto". We toured this absolutely beautiful garden, Catholic church, and meditation area for a couple of hours. Then we stopped at Applebee's for lunch. Unfortunately, that was the end of the day for me. I got one of my classic headaches and was down for the count.

Monday morning we headed out to the Columbia Gorge and Multnomah Falls, which was east of our intended destination but totally worth the detour, and we were glad we made that little side trip. Then we headed west to Tillamook, destination Cheese Factory, where we each enjoyed Tillamook ice cream cones. We drove down south on the coast and stopped at Newport for the night.

Tuesday we headed south again and made frequent stops along the way until reaching Coos Bay. There we lingered along the coast at Cape Arago and Charleston. Our lingering came to an end and we headed to Arcata for the night. We splurged and stayed at a Hampton Inn and Suites. (I highly recommend this place.)

Wednesday we drove home and were glad to get here. All was well at Kathy's apartment and she was more than ready for a relaxing evening. Doug picked me up at Kathy's place and we drove home together.