Donuts, bridges, farmers' markets, strawberries, groceries, and lots of walking. That pretty much sums up today!
Mid morning we drove to downtown Portland to visited a small farmers' market at Lloyd Center. After we finished looking around I suggested we walk over to Voodoo Donuts' original location. "Only 1.2 miles!" I told Lauren. "Its not THAT far; it will be an adventure." Well, it wasn't 'that' far, but it was close to 90 degrees, and nearly 1pm by the time we walked back. So walking 1.5 miles around noon was quite an adventure; I actually really enjoyed it though...I could see so much more than when I have to focus on driving. We walked past a few community type buildings, over a huge drawbridge, past a homeless shelter (yes, we saw quite a few homeless people, but it was daylight, police not to far, and quite a number of other people walking also, so we were safe.), past a Chinese garden which was full of exquisite smelling flowers, and finally arrived at the shop.
Voodoo Donuts is a very unique shop, with quite a number of odd, yet delicious types of donuts. We witnessed two small boys trying to eat a huge donut in 1 minute and 20 seconds. We had to choose which donuts we actually wanted, which was a challenge. Eventually we each picked a few interesting ones, and then did the 'We choose' dozen, where the person serving us picked a random dozen for us to bring back to Lauren's cousins. Once we had trekked most of the way back to the car, we stopped for some iced lattes (I mean, we are in Portland! Espresso is everywhere!)We left downtown heading back to where we are staying. Stopped along the way for lunch at a Jack in the Box, picked up some items to make chicken tacos at a Fred Meyer store. I have never shopped at a Fred Meyer before; it was a large store with a garden center, lots of clothing, as well as a very nice selection of all types of groceries. I wanted a few spices, but we didn't want large jars. We left Fred Meyer and stopped at a Haagen. Handily enough, Haagen had a 'buy a pinch or buy a pound' self serve spice rack. Amazing! Lauren bagged the different variety of spices in small quanties, each less than or about 1 teaspoon, and headed to the checkout. Well, apparently people don't actually buy a pinch... The weight of each spice, including the bag and twist tie, was not enough to register. Eventually the cashier put 3 spices altogether on the scale, and that registered $0.59. That was our total...It was quite a funny situation, but worked very well for what we needed!
After we got back, and put away the groceries, we decided to go strawberry picking. I called around until finding a farm open for picking, then we headed out. The sun was strong, and weather still fairly warm but we enjoyed the picking nonetheless. About a half an hour, and 3 1/2 pounds of berries later, we headed back to the house. I am working on making chicken tacos, and avocado sauce for dinner. We will eat some strawberries with dinner, and have a nice relaxing evening.
Not long after leaving we decided to stop at a drive through espresso bar-these are literally all over around here. I had to get out of the car because my car is not high enough for the window. We continued driving for awhile, and stopped in a small town for some souvenier shopping. Once we stopped at a beach; that was a baaddd idea. The wind was extremely strong, blowing sand was stinging us, and it was cold! Not a pleasant beach at all! Apparently that area was expecting up to 75mph winds. We continued on stopping for lunch, and to take photos one time. The trip was long; so much driving. Close to 7 hours of driving though. (I am VERY tired of driving. The trouble is...we are about 40 hours from home. So, we shall continue!) We were finally close to our destination, crossing the border into California, when we were stopped for a border check! The sign told us it was an agricultural border check. I didn't know those even existed in the US...however, I learned today they do. I was asked if I had any produce in my car. I had spinach and cherries. Spinach was fine; cherries were not. The guy told me I could pull over and eat the cherries, but he needed the pits back! So, I pulled over and ate a bunch of cherries, and gave him the rest of the cherries, and my stems and pits. The entire thing was crazy. We continued on our way without the cherries, and made it to our destination. We had sourdough pizza for supper, then I wanted to watch the sunset on the beach. Well, that was not a nice option. We headed to the beach but it was still VERY windy. We had on jeans, hoodies, and our light winter jackets. The wind was so strong it felt like it was pushing me around. I picked up some shells, and a small jellyfish with blue edges. That was very interesting to hold. We left, and drove to another location to take a few more photos of the sunset. Watching the sun set over the Pacific was not the experience I imagined...That's for sure! The coast is very untamed, and wild. Beautiful and magnificent.
