After a few days of eating at local restaurants (Hop Valley, Off the Waffle, Track Town Pizza), shopping, hanging out on campus, listening to live music, and taking in a drive-in movie; the weekend started and we had three days to explore around Eugene. First stop, University of Oregon Football Fan Day. We arrived and the line was super, super long so we went and ate fish and chips and hamburgers at Red Robin. When we came back we were able to walk in and see what was going on. The football players were signing autographs, the cheerleaders were posing for pictures and performing, Puddles the Duck was out and doing his thing, and folks were generally just geeking out to be standing on the field at Autzen. Dad bought a four DVD set about the history of Oregon football. Did you know that we use to be the webfoots? Awesome.
The next day we went and explored Fern Ridge Lake, Veneta, and areas slightly west of town. Dad hadn't done the Oregon wine tasting thing so we went to Silvan Ridge and Sweet Cheeks. My Dad doesn't drink so it was really odd to see him tasting the sweet wines. Dare I say, I think he was even enjoying himself. After wine tasting we went to go see The Campaign (what can I say, I love Will Ferrell). After the movie we went to Sonic for half priced shakes. I got my usual chocolate malt but both Cliff and Dad decided to be daring and get a mix of pineapple, strawberry, chocolate, and hot fudge shakes. It was called a banana split shake and it was delicious.
On
Monday we drove (with the dog in tow) to Portland so that we could be
ready to go early in the morning to get him to the airport. We decided
to head out to Multnomah Falls. I always forgot how quickly the city fades away as you head east on the Columbia River Gorge from Portland. The landscape is beautiful with the Columbia River, the tall trees, the rocks, and the lack of development.
When
we arrived at the falls we hiked to the bridge and then ate hot dogs
and ice cream cones. Rudy even walked up to the bridge with us. Dad
was pretty impressed with the scenery and who can argue. It is one of
my favorite places in Oregon. In case anyone would like some facts
about Multnomah Falls, the lower falls come in at 69 feet and the upper falls are 542 feet from top to bottom. Pretty awesome.
The
photo of Dad on the bridge might be one of my favorite photos of him
ever. So good. To follow up on one of my favorite photos I will also
post one of the funniest/most non-photogenic photos ever. Cliff
captured us as we really are in real life. Also so good but in a
totally different way.
After the falls we drive back towards Portland and ate at Salty's
on the Columbia River. It was a really fancy seafood and steak
restaurant. There were all kinds of fun salads, really good tomato
bisque, and seafood for all! Cliff got sturgeon (the daily special)
with some absolutely fantastic vegetables. Dad got a combo of coconut
fried prawns and crab cake. What did I learn at the restaurant? After
years of not being able to eat shellfish the jury is still out for me on
some things. Baby shrimp? No thank you. Clams, crabs, and prawnes?
Yes, please. We topped it off with two really decadent deserts. The
best part is that we got one for free as we used a card from our hotel.
Airports
are tricky. One of my favorite things to do in the world is pick up
people at the airport. I love looking down the gates waiting to catch a
peak of loved ones as they come off the plane and out of their
terminal. On the reverse, I really hate taking people to the airport.
It is so hard to say goodbye. I hope that Dad had a great time. We
didn't get to do everything on our list but it will just help feed the
need for the next Oregon adventure.
No comments:
Post a Comment