VW ADVENTURES

Before going home, we make a stop at one of the fish markets that Ginny frequents for a ‘fresh catch’ for supper. We are either too late or too early or it’s just the wrong day. Whichever, their selection is disappointing.  Ginny says she has also gotten good fish at Costco, so we head over there and find a great selection – must be an advantage of being in ‘fresh fish’ country. Besides finding just the right fish for our dinner, this is a fortuitous venture.  On our way home, we spot this cute little VW Bug Camper advertising an RV Supply. We would have missed it if not for our side trip to Costco!

Back home again, we finish up some laundry, and then just relax until time to start supper. The younger set arrives back from their day on the river – sunburned and tired but still full of enthusiasm.  Dinner is delicious and conversation is lively with tales and antics.   Everyone is fascinated and in awe as Marcus shares some of his experiences in the Army and on the front line in Iraq. We are well entertained late into the evening and enjoy sitting outside on the patio, although a wee bit chilly for us Arizonians!

After storing our yummy produce and other purchases from the Farmer’s Market at home, we head off in the VW Camper to visit Smith Berry Barn, another wonderful and delightful place with plants, flowers, pottery, chickens, goats, and FIELDS of berries. The barn is a cute little gift shop with a great selection of unusual items. We are surprised and excited to find some of the American Spoon product line that we had discovered on a trip to Michigan a few years ago. We wander through the delightful gift shop, tempted by a fresh Berry Smoothie from the soda fountain but decide to buy some non-edible ‘souvenirs’ and then check out the grounds.

Outside, we visit with the goats that are looking for a handout, and stop to watch an entertaining mixed flock of chickens. We have the option of picking our own berries from the fields or purchasing from the fruit stand at the barn.  Since the berry season is off to a slow start and the self-picking looks like a lot of work, we opt to ‘pick’ our berries from the stand.  The owner invites us to taste, so we do – taste and taste – then choose a half-flat mix of Wallamet Raspberries, Tayberries, Blueberries, and Marion Berries- yummmmy! The ride home is fun driving through the ‘country’ roads in our bus and grazing on our berries while enjoying the scenery of other berry patches and fields of different crops.

While visiting Tommy’s sister Ginny, we are staying in the house and letting the camper have a rest. We awake with the sounds of her husband Greg preparing to leave for work and get up in time for a short visit with them before seeing Greg off. Ginny eagerly joins us in the bus to go visit Uncle Chuck and Aunt Ruthie who are living in Newberg. Ginny navigates, taking us on the back roads.  This country is beautiful, especially this time of year when all of the crops are growing, the berries are ripening and fruit stands are on every corner. Once at Chuck & Ruth’s, we get a quick tour of their new home (2-3 years) and then into their car for a drive to a little Italian restaurant for lunch in the small town of Layfayette. We always have a great time with Chuck and Ruth – good food and great company. Back at their house, we enjoy being outside on the patio catching up on news of their family and playing with the dogs (their two rescued Bichons, Cocoa and Jake, and their ‘granddog’ Cally, a beautiful friendly golden lab – all very sweet dogs).

After lunch, Ginny has an appointment with Chuck & Ruth’s daughter Teri, to have her hair cut. We drive the opposite direction across to northwest Portland, this time back on the freeway. This is a quaint older part of Portland with some contemporary condos etc, reminding us of Cherry Creek in Denver. We have a wonderful visit with Cousin Teri while she gives Ginny a haircut. When Ginny opts for additional hair treatments, extending the appointment, we walk up a block to Peets Coffee and return with iced coffee for Ginny and tea for us. Enjoying our afternoon refreshments, we continue catching up on current news and reminiscing fun times together.

One more stop on the map before the Interstate is Bridal Veil Falls and is the only falls Julia really wanted to see. Assuming it will just appear as the others did, we drive along, casually watching the scenery. We enjoy the last few miles of the peaceful scenic old highway before heading onto the interstate and rush hour traffic. Apparently Bridal Veil Falls is not directly accessible from the highway. We seem to miss it completely.  Not seeing the falls or even any directional signs for it, we are suddenly on the interstate heading into Portland!

Bracing ourselves for the freeway rush hour, we hope to cross on over to Beaverton without too much traffic slowdown. It isn’t too bad, with traffic at least moving, although slowly. Cross town traffic was good the direction we were headed compared to the parking lot we saw on the other side of the freeway. Even with our MapQuest directions taking us on a very busy thoroughfare with traffic lights at every intersection, and which we soon learn is NOT the best way to go, we still arrive at sister Ginny’s, much sooner than we all expected. A delicious dinner of recently caught Lingcod and Rock Fish is awaiting us—yummy! – and soon we are sitting down to a feast and a delightful evening of visiting and catching up with family news.