Tuesday 9 January 2018

First Day in Portland, Oregon. (Dec.27, 2017)

We were up bright and early this morning.
We left the hotel around 3:30 am and made it to the airport around 4 am.
We used JetSet WePark again to drop off the truck.
 
I like that it will be cleaned off , warmed up and waiting for us when we get back.
Totally worth a few extra bucks especially since our return flight gets in around midnight and Alberta is expecting a really cold snap this next week.
 
Checking in was a breeze so we had plenty of time before our flight.
We went to Chili's for breakfast.
My Honey had Eggs Benny.

I had a scramble and a glass of orange juice.
Still trying to get extra vitamin C into me to keep this sickness away.
 
There are no direct flights from Edmonton to Portland (at least not with West Jet) so we had a stop in Vancouver.
We had to go through customs then it felt like our next gate was at the ends of the earth.
We had to walk forever to get to it.
It was just a tiny plane and there was barely anyone on it.
We sat right in the front but I had no window so I couldn't really see anything.
 
When we arrived in Portland, we grabbed a cab to our hotel.
We got there around 10:30am and were expecting to just drop our bags then find something to do until they could get us into a room.
However, they actually had a room available - YES!!!
I was so happy to hear that.
It doesn't happen often.
 
We went up to the room and slept until around 3 pm to make up for the lack of sleep last night.
Don't want to start this week all tired out.
 
When we got up, we asked at the hotel front desk for dinner recommendations.
Apparently McMenamins is very big here in Portland so we chose that.
 
The hotel has a shuttle service and will drive guests to and from locations that are within a certain radius of the hotel which was awesome.
 
So the girl there gave us a ride over to it.
She said she was a little nervous because of the snow.
HUH?
It had snowed there a little but just barely.
There was no snow on the road anywhere, just here and there were little spots of it.
She said they never really get it though so they aren't used to it.
She was super nice, said she'd moved here from San Francisco.

McMenamins was really nice inside, nice and open with beautiful beams on the ceiling.
The McMenamins are brothers from Portland who purchase old, large buildings then renovate them and turn them into restaurants, lodges, bars, hotels and whatever else.
They have created and empire for themselves and have all kinds of locations in and around Portland.
Good for them.

This was our view.
As you can see, it is grey & rainy but not a drop of snow to be seen.

I ordered an extra spicy virgin caesar and boy did she ever deliver.
It was so spicy that I could barely drink it and My Honey had to finish it up for me.
I guess be careful what you ask for.

My Honey had an espresso.
I don't know how he can drink them but they have become his thing.

They had roasted brussel sprouts on the menu so of course I just had to try them.
They were ok but not as good as the ones at Original Joe's.
 
I had a burger and truffle fries.
The burger was really good.

My Honey tried the Cajun tots that our driver from the hotel recommended.
 

Then we of course needed to have a dessert so we shared
Phil's Salted Caramel Tart

It was good.
 
We left there and walked over to the movie theatre.
We thought we were late for it but grabbed tickets and went to go in only to be reminded of the time change so we were actually super early.
 
So we headed to the mall across the street to use up a bit of time.

 

The mall had a skating rink just like in the West Ed only this one had a huge Christmas tree right in the middle of the ice.
 
Lots of folks were skating and I would have liked to try it out if we didn't have a movie to get to.
We looked around a bit then headed back over to the movie theatre.
 
The Last Jedi.
My Honey has been wanting to see it since it came out.
It was really good.
 
We had to walk to a nearby hotel and have them call a cab for us to get back to our hotel.
Turns out our hotel was not very far away at all but we would have had no idea which direction to head so I am glad we took a cab.
 
We got back there around 9 pm and as we walked into the lobby, the fire alarms were all going off, hotel guests were standing outside and water was just pouring through the ceiling of the lobby.
The hotel staff were frantically running around and told us that they were evacuating.
 
So we just walked up the stree and found a Denny's.
As we were leaving, we saw the firetrucks heading to the hotel.
Figured we'd grab a bite, waste some time then head back to see what the situation was.
 
Denny's was super busy and way under staffed.
It took us forever to get our food but we were just killing time so it was fine with us.

My Honey had a grilled cheese with ham.

I had a pancake with cinnamon and cream cheese frosting.
Oh so yummy but far too sweet to finish the whole thing.
 
When we finished eating we walked back to the hotel and all seemed to be under control.
The hotel staff were cleaning up the water and everything was back to normal.
The hotel has contractors in doing renovations and they are up on the 6th floor.
They cut a water main today and didn't let anyone know.
So that water came through the lobby ceiling all the way from the 6th floor.
WOW
At least all is good now and we were able to head up to our room.
 
I wasn't tired yet so I had a peak at Facebook.
More memories from Christmas 2016

The kiddos were playing downstairs and were super quiet which isn't always a good thing so my sister decided to check on them.
I had a basket of creams, lotions, shampoos etc... in my spare room for guests and the kids had poured most of it out onto the carpet.
What a mess.
Mr D was the unfortunate one to be caught red handed but they all took part.
It took some work to clean up but it was kind of amusing at the same time.
 
We took the kids into Edmonton for a day trip after Christmas last year.
 

First we took the to the Trampoline park.
They really seemed to like jumping into the giant foam pit.

Mr E.

Mr D and Miss A.
They had a blast there - what a great way for kids to expend some energy.
 
We left there and headed to the mall where they went to the splash park.
My Sister and SIL took them swimming and I ran a few errands in the mall.
 
I found this little cutie and fell in love so had to take her home with me.

Just some cousins hanging out after a swim.

This was at the mall - the bear makes a great photo prop.

I love his little smile.

Miss A, Mr E and moi.

There they are, the kiddos being silly.
I chose Famousa for supper but it wasn't a hit with the kids.
Have to remember that for next time.

The rest of our crew that day, my sister, Mr D and my SIL.
 
It was a great day!

Soon enough though, it was time for my sister to head home.
Sad face because she's leaving.
 

Had to get some family pictures before we left.

Last minute cuddles with Nanny.

and hugs with everyone.

My brother and sister.

Aww, he loves his auntie.

He's sad to see her go too.

I tried to recreate the picture I took like this of Mr E when he was small.
 
Lots of memories popped up on Facebook today.
 
Las Vegas Trip December 2014
 
We called this particular trip to Vegas our breakfast trip.
We tried a lot of great breakfast trips.
This is My Honey's Shrimp & Grits, he loves the stuff.

Happy to be enjoying a nice breakfast.

Some hush puppies and grean beans.
Also good.
After breakfast we hit the road and headed to Lake Mead.

This wasn't our first rental of the trip, but the first one smelled so badly of garlic and onions that we had to take it back and exchange it.
I couldn't take the smell it was making me nauseous.
So it was a bit of an incovenience to go back and exchange but we got to have this sweet ride so it was worth it.

Our first time visiting Lake Mead.
We didn't go all the way down to the water this time, just checked it out from a distance.

My Honey.

Lake Mead Selfie.

It is beautiful down there.
 
Later that night we went to the Penn & Teller show.

We enjoyed the show.
Afterwards, they came out and interacted with the crowd.
They took selfies with every single person that wanted to.
I thought that was so generous of them.
So of course I had to get My Honey to take this picture.
 
I also saw these on Facebook today.

This is a great idea - kind of a like keeping a gratitude journal.
I am going to work on doing this - maybe not in a jar but keeping track somehow.

I just like this.
I am going to try to make something like this.
 
Still not great with the fitbit step total but that will turn around tomorrow.
 
That is all for today.
Until next time, be happy!

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