Yes, it’s October, and temperatures here in St. Louis are still in the high 80s low 90s (so 32 degrees C predicted for today). It’s still hot and sticky.
It's been a while, but I haven’t fallen off the edge…though almost! Last weekend I was in Oregon, visiting my friend from childhood, Lisa. She moved out there a few years ago, to a position at Oregon State in Corvallis. She bought a house about an hour away, in a town called Newport, right on the coast. Thursday night, she picked me up in Portland, and we spent the night there (Lisa has recently moved to Portland, as she has taken a new job). On Friday we got up and drove off to Corvallis. I kept saying how beautiful it all was – so green, so hilly, and so many trees! She kept saying, “Just wait!” And she was right. When we got to Corvallis we turned onto Highway 20 and headed to its western terminus on the coast at Newport…and what a drive!! Huge Douglas firs blanket the hills and peaks, except the scarce but sudden and very bare patches which have been recently logged, covered by stumps and branches (though, apparently, logging is very controlled). Still, I was amazed by the amount of trees. And then we arrived to the Pacific Ocean! Newport is a beach town, and Lisa’s house is - still is, though she is selling it as she’s moving to
Portland :( - such a cool beach house…craftsman style, with dark green paint and red trim (see photo), with hardwood floors inside. Downstairs is mainly one big room (combined living dining and kitchen – though the kitchen has this cool slate floor) with lots of windows and so lots of light. From my bedroom window upstairs, I could see the ocean, off just a couple of short blocks away. We drove down to the bay, and had some delicious crab cakes next to the harbor. Then we drove along the coastal highway, exploring some of the towns, like Depoe Bay and Lincoln Beach. We managed to get some shopping in along t
he way as well (including the outlet mall in Lincoln Beach), along with stops for some beautiful views, with cliffs and sandy beaches and waves piling in off in one direction, and the ocean stretching away to the semi-circle of the horizon in the other. 
Portland :( - such a cool beach house…craftsman style, with dark green paint and red trim (see photo), with hardwood floors inside. Downstairs is mainly one big room (combined living dining and kitchen – though the kitchen has this cool slate floor) with lots of windows and so lots of light. From my bedroom window upstairs, I could see the ocean, off just a couple of short blocks away. We drove down to the bay, and had some delicious crab cakes next to the harbor. Then we drove along the coastal highway, exploring some of the towns, like Depoe Bay and Lincoln Beach. We managed to get some shopping in along t
he way as well (including the outlet mall in Lincoln Beach), along with stops for some beautiful views, with cliffs and sandy beaches and waves piling in off in one direction, and the ocean stretching away to the semi-circle of the horizon in the other. 
We slept at Lisa’s beach house that night, and the next morning, went for a long walk on the beach. We drove back to Portland that afternoon (ok, with more stops for shopping along the way), and Saturday night went out in downtown Portland.
I really like Portland – it’s a city with a live and vibrant city center. People actually live there, so when we went out on Saturday evening, there were people out and about “keeping Portland weird”, which is their goal of having local businesses and residences in the center. We went to a huge book store called Powell’s, open until 11 every night, and which takes up a whole city block. It’s got new and used books, all sorted out into “color” rooms – e.g. the Red Room for philosophy, self-help and linguistics, the Purple Room for sociology, Rose Room for health. Then we went out for dinner at some time after 10 (yes, actually Spanish dinner time is quite do-able in Portland - quite a civilized place, in my view).
We were lucky with the weather for most of the weekend – very fall coolish weather temperature-wise, and not much rain, and even some sunshine. However, Sunday it rained all day! Still, we had a great brunch in downtown Portland – I actually had fried chicken on top of a waffle (with maple syrup on both) – believe me, it was a lot more delicious than it sounds!! We drove around Portland, and I got a feel for the scope of Forest Park, the largest woods in an urban area in the U.S., and also drove around Lake Oswego, just south of Portland, where Lisa hopes to buy a home (fingers crossed!). With a bit more shopping, a nice meal in a French-style restaurant, and a lot more of something we did a LOT OF all weekend – TALK – Lisa & I finished off my unforgettable visit to Oregon. I left the next morning (Monday)…
...after flying all day, back to St. Louis…to the heat! I think my system was shocked a bit by the weather change, the change of scenery, the change of time…I came down with a horrible case of stomach flu on Wednesday…still trying to get over it.
This morning, Diana and I did manage to climb up the 198 stairs in the Compton Water Tower, just 2 blocks up the road from us here in St. Louis. It only opens the first Saturday of each month, so we took advantage of the height of the tower to get some fabulous views of St. Louis. We took pictures (Diana FINALLY got her camera back from a friend who had been safeguarding it) but…of course the cable to connect the camera to the computer is back in Madrid, so we’ll have to wait for those pictures another day…maybe it will be cooler then.
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