Portland - Day 8

Thursday, July 25, 2019

After breakfast, I took a walk around the hotel and then caught a local bus to the waterfront. Unfortunately, I got off at the wrong stop and my gps didn’t seem to be working properly. This made my decision for the rest of the day — leave the touring to the experts!

Ed and I decided to take the “Hop-On, Hop-Off” Portland Pink Trolley Tour.  I had visited the city 11 years ago and had explored many of the sights on my own, but with just a day, this seemed like the perfect way to pack a lot in.

The tour started at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park, which is a long stretch of green space along the Willamette River.  Today through the weekend the city was having a beer fest and the crowds were already assembled at 1 pm on a Thursday. Our tour took us several miles to the south end of town. This was a very different environment than the one around our hotel. Our hotel is in an older section, near Chinatown and host to a number of homeless encampments.  This part of town had expensive high rise condominiums anchored by the expansive Oregon Health and Human Science University campus. Nearby was Riverplace, a riverfront village with shops, restaurants, and a marina. 

We got off and ate lunch outdoors at the Little River Cafe. Then back on the bus and stayed for the complete tour, including a drive through the famous Rose and Japanese Gardens, which I had visited before, and around the business district.

On our way back to the hotel from the tour, we noticed that a number of paved parking lots have been turned into “eateries.” It seems that food truck-looking vehicles are parked side by side, offering a wide variety of food. Although we like food trucks, these “facilities?” didn’t look appetizing. Glad we didn’t take a food tour here.

Tonight we had dinner at Andina’s, a Peruvian restaurant that had been recommended to us by several natives. The food was awesome. I had Causa Morada - Peruvian purple potato layers with shredded chicken salad, stacked neatly in a circle. It reminded me of a dish I had in Peru prepared the same way.

Ed had Arroz con Mariscos, a Peruvian style paella with seafood. We topped it off with flan for dessert for a perfect meal. Afterwards, we walked around the Pearl District, which is an assortment of old warehouses and manufacturing facilities turned into trendy restaurants, shops and housing. We have been blessed with lovely weather, day and night.

Louisville - Seattle - Day 1

Thursday, July 18, 2019 

We’re off on our annual anniversary/baseball trip and this year it is another “two-fer.” We are beginning in Seattle for a Mariners-Angels game and then taking the train 35 hours and more than 1,100 miles to Los Angeles for an Angels-Tigers game. Along the way we will stop at various cities.

We love train trips, having done them all across the country. We have thought about doing this trip on the Coast Starlight for quite awhile and this was the year!

This route was also a trip down memory lane, since we have visited all but one of these places 20 years or so ago. I have also referred to this as a culinary (eating) trip since we have several food tours, reservations at fine restaurants and lots of menu exploring in between.

We departed Louisville on the new direct flight to LA and then transferred to Seattle, arriving late in the afternoon. We checked into our favorite Seattle lodging, the Edgewater Hotel, which is on stilts in Elliott Bay between Pier 66 and 69. Our room had a balcony with some great views of the city.

Out to the bay. 

And across several piers where we could watch the boats arriving and departing.

On one clear day we could see the baseball stadium and Mt. Rainier in the distance.

We celebrated our 44th anniversary this evening with amazing halibut and petrale diners at Etta’s, near our hotel and Pike’s Market. 

Such a beautiful night, we walked back to the hotel. Lovely way to begin our trip.

Cogne, Italy

Thursday, June 20, 2019

This was the best hiking day of the trip so far. This morning we took a short bus ride to the nearby hamlet of Valmontey where we began our hike.

(I thought we had gone there on Tuesday but it was actually Gimillan.)

We started at an elevation of about 5400 ft. and climbed to 7,600 ft., a gain of about 2,200 ft. in 7 miles. 

Immediately, we started to climb.

Sydney and I compared it to hiking Murray Peak in Palm Springs.

Although rain had been forecast and we were at a high elevation, it was surprisingly warm and sunny. 

Most of the trail was switchback, which was very nice, and very clear. 

We continued the climb and soon we reached a raging waterfall.

Much of the trail was through pine and spruce forest. Sydney observed that it was similar to hiking around Mt. San Jacinto in Idyllwild, CA, above Palm Springs.

Along the way we saw several chamois, small deer-like creatures with short curved horns, nibbling away at the alpine vegetation and romping through the woods. Sydney captured a small image from a distance.

We passed a number of crumbling and abandoned shelters that were once used by herders.

The views were spectacular.

After about 2-1/2 hours we made it to a beautiful alpine pasture where we had our picnic lunch. 

The overlook here was fantastic. It felt like we were up close and personal with The Gran Paradiso Mountain that we had been looking at from our hotel the past few days.

We had planned to go further but the weather was changing, so we headed back down. 

We did see more chamois cavorting in the woods.

We returned to the village about 2 but the bus didn’t leave until 3, so we walked another 2 miles back to Cogne along a wide trail in the forest. Along the way we saw sheep grazing in the woods. Included were some sheep with big horns, which I was surprised to see domesticated.

Tonight we had dinner at a local restaurant which was outstanding.

Louisville to Geneva, Switzerland - Day 1

I’m embarking on another hiking adventure — this time to the Alps! I will be in 3 countries — Switzerland, Italy and France — hiking below and beyond Mont Blanc. I am excited to be accompanied by my Palm Springs buddy, Sydney, and meeting up with 22 other Road Scholar participants.

Last year several of our other Palm Springs hiking friends (aka “sole sisters”) hiked the full 100 miles of the Tour de Mont Blanc. Sydney and I decided to do a more civilized (and abbreviated) version. This includes being bussed to trailheads, having restaurant meals, a hot shower and a warm bed every night. We may miss some of the scenery (and exertion), but we will get plenty of views. And along the way we will visit charming villages, take multiple cable car rides, learn how to make cheese, polenta and other goodies, and just enjoy the ambiance of the mountain splendor.

So, I’m off, leaving behind Louisville Slugger and headed to Geneva.