It’s been awhile, almost three weeks, and it’s a little hard to get back into the swing. There’s more doing, less contemplating while on vacation, and now that I’m back in Cambridge, it’s more of the same old day to day, leaving time to go on and on about things, like the “Kerry=Hero” graffiti which has cropped up in the bathroom at work where the same had been said about other presidential hopefuls in months past.
Anyway, we returned from a great trip to Alaska and Oregon on Monday, and an hour later, I was back at work. The red-eye direct from Seattle to Boston is great, with the luxuries of a window seat and earplugs, allowing me to sleep the entire flight.
I’ve posted some photos from the trip, and I’ll add a few words about the most interesting bits:
We spent two days in Seward, around the Fourth of July, and enjoyed watching the parade, as well as the Mt. Marathon race, my dad’s 21st running.
The next two days were spent in Homer, where we enjoyed the Gibsons’ company and hospitality, from delicious fresh salmon for dinner to a stay at their beachfront cabin.
Quality time in Anchorage meant lots of time spent with the family at home, plus trips to The Moose’s Tooth and The Bear Tooth, Mexico in Alaska, Snow City Cafe, and other important spots. A hike up Near Point gave us some great views of the city, and we also hung out with my intrepid reporter friend Libby, one of those cool people from CTY who are doing interesting things with their lives.
We spent a day driving to Denali, a day there, and a day driving back, and the weather, as it was for the rest of the trip, was phenomenal. We got some rare ultra-clear views of the mountain, most notably from our vantage point on the four hour school bus ride to the soon-to-be-demolished Eielson Visitor Center in the middle of Denali National Park. In addition to Denali itself, we saw the requisite grizzlies, moose, caribou, sheep, and ptarmigan along the route, to the satisfaction of everyone aboard, tourist and native alike.
Our two whole and two half-days in Portland gave us a chance to explore the city and find out just why it has a reputation for being an interesting, livable place. We stayed with Dan’s parents, who were wonderful hosts and very helpful to us as we tried to do as much as we could in just a few days. We ate great meals at Lovely Hula Hands, Esparza’s, Lucy’s Table, the BridgePort Brew Pub, and went for drinks and movies at McMenamins Bagdad and McMenamins Kennedy School (yes, they should change the name of the city to “McMenamins Portland”). Our last full day in Portland, we took our rental car out to the coast, through Astoria, where we ascended the Astoria Column and sought out the Goonies house – If only we’d known that by “PRIVATE ROAD – NO CARS,” they meant that we were welcome to walk up their driveway. Oh well. We visited Seaside and Cannon Beach and down to Tillamook, as well, and then returned through Tillamook State Forest, running on empty the whole way.
Portland struck me as an exciting, interesting, beautiful, and manageable place. Admittedly, that is what I had hoped to see, but I was surprised at how well it met, and exceeded, my expectations.
