Crater Lake and Portland

 Our drive around Crater Lake included waterfalls and wild flowers.  Unfortunately, much of our view was obscured by haze and smoke from the fires in Oregon.

 

Anna Lee felt this tree resembled a damsel from some mythical story.


We then headed off to Portland to enjoy books, food, and gardens. 

We started at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in the Pearl District.  We visited it last year and enjoyed taking Jeff to see this small treasure.  We each enjoyed a repast of tea and snacks in the tea house.

Our next stop was mandatory, Powell Books, one of the best independent book stores in the country.  We paid proper respect with our purchases.

Jeff stopped a woman on the street to get a dinner recommendation.  Jake’s Seafood was excellent.  The men enjoyed a luscious salmon stuffed with crab while Anna Lee had a huge crab Louis salad.  We ended dinner with a god bread pudding.

 Our Oregon friends, Anne and Jerry, joined us for a lovely, cool day in Portland.  We stoked up on brunch at Kenny and Zuke’s Deli.  Then we joined a tour of the Japanese Gardens, a commemoration of the sister-city of Sapporo.  We learned of the three levels of the gardens and the aesthetic values of the different spaces.

Across the road is the famous Portland International Rose test Garden.  We wandered by hundreds of bushes in hundreds of colors.

All this walking stirred up our appetites.  Following the recommendation of a lady in the gardens, we went to Salt ‘n’ Straw Ice Cream. 

More walking led to more appetite which we sated well at Bollywood Theater Indian Restaurant, a recommendation of a local food truck owner whose truck was out of food.