Come With Me

Good morning, everyone. This is, until further notice, the last post on this blog. I simply bit off more than I could comfortably chew with four blogs. So I urge you to join me on my oldest blog, High Raw...Adventure, which will now also contain content that had been posted in the other three.
This should allow me to be able to post daily, instead of weekly as before. This is a new adventure so I've given it a new look, as well. Please join me there. Ginny

El Norteno

(Picture of the Day-totem in Sitka) This trip was incredible. I think I've got pictures to post until our next trip, and beyond. It's good to be home, though. And we've been plenty to see here, as well. The Balloon Fiesta came and went. I got no pictures because they never wandered over this way. The winds were not cooperative this year.

But we've discovered a new restaurant here in Albuquerque. It's called EL NORTENO. Not actually new, it has been in another part of town for many years. But now they've opened a new one in a better part of town. Yummy! I didn't get a picture, but I can give you perfect directions. It's just north of the corner of Constitution and Wyoming, right where Le Cafe Miche was. So if you live in Albuquerque or are going to visit Albuquerque--don't miss this place. A clean, bright and cheery place, with great service and wonderful food at good prices. Am I dreaming? Nope! That's El Norteno.

El Norteno's food is Mexican, not New Mexican, and simply scrumptious. They serve chips with TWO salsas One is a regular red salsa and the one is a delicious avocado salsa. To die for! I ordered the menudo and it was perfect. Spicy, but not too hot. Served with a pile of herbs and chopped onion. Chock full of--well, you know! Now, stop wrinkling your nose! Menudo is the breakfast of champions here in NM! I love it and eat it as often as I can get it freshly prepared. My husband ordered a beef burrito and he pronounced it great. A huge burrito, not made with hamburger like most are, but with roasted beef. Big chunks of roasted beef! The servings were plentiful, and provided enough food to take home for another meal.

We're lucky in Albuquerque--mountains on one side, the river, the volcanoes. And many good restaurants. And another really good Mexican restaurant is just icing on the cake. See you at El Norteno.

Lovely Portland, Oregon

This picture shows one of the many waterfalls along the Columbia River, a few miles from Portland, Oregon. This a beautiful region and waterfalls are only a tiny part of the loveliness. Everything is so green here, and flowers abound.

The City of Portland has myriad pleasures to avail yourself of. Here are only a few. We especially loved the museums-- the History Museum being our favorite, but the art museum was good, as well. And restaurants--wow! I could go on and on. You can find such good food here--either Salty's, or Jake's, or Huber's for some of the best seafood ever.

And green space everywhere--especially Forest Park. This is a 5,000 acre urban park. Lucky Portlanders--?Portlandites? Oh, you know, the people who call Portland home. It's a gorgeous park and you could live here forever and maybe still not see all of it.

But my favorite, favorite, favorite place was given to us by new friends--Powell's City of Books. I'm a serious book lover and feel so lucky to have found this place. They have new books and used books for sale and they even buy your used books. And it is truly a city, a huge place, many floors and all color-coded for convenience. We went twice and I just browsed and bought and wished we had one closer to home. But the good news is--Powell's does a huge internet business. So I plan to avail myself of that because this place is just too good to forget. The prices, the selection and the ambiance all make Powell's a place not to miss when you're visiting Portland.

We found a lovely tea shop there--Townsend's Teas. I bought a delicious tea purported to be a favorite of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It called Lady Londonderry and is a light and refreshing variation of English Breakfast, with a hint of lemon and orange. Yum! We also found a French deli that's worth visiting, right down the street from Townsend's. Petite Provence has great food, and fantastic pastries. So shop for tea and then do lunch two blocks away. You won't be sorry.

A trip to Portland should delight anyone, except for the most jaded and unappreciative of souls. There is much to savor in Portland and surrounds. From waterfalls to tea, you'll be glad you visited.

Quinault Mercantile Cafe

Finally, we're home from this incredible journey, just blessed to overflowing with all the savored miles--somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,500 of them actually. I've got so much to tell you over the next few posts, and beaucoup pictures to share. This one is from the rainforest in Olympic National Park-- a truly divine place. The Quinault and Hoh rainforests are so full of life, and a million shades of green, and tiny plants and huge trees, and a lot of just plain magic. There is much to savor, but now I want to bring the focus down to one place--the Quinault Mercantile and Cafe, where we ate several delicious meals.

The Mercantile Cafe is a bit of heaven, deep in the rain forest. First of all, it's an internet cafe and boy did we need it. I'm almost ashamed to admit I'm addicted to email, and internet news and blogs-but it's the truth. Back to the Cafe. Owned and operated by Michael and Tracy and their children, this place is big on very good food. The motto is, "not fast food, but good food made as quickly as possible." And they deliver just that, with a select menu big enough and good enough to keep you coming back meal after meal.

Every meal we ate there was good, very good--but their biscuits and gravy put them on the map, as far as I'm concerned. Made from Michael's dad's recipe, these are no less than sublime. As a Southerner, I'm consider myself a connoisseur of biscuits and gravy. Michael's, along with my own, and the ones made for us in Greeley, CO by our friend and pastor Jack, were right up there in the top five renditions of biscuits and gravy I've ever eaten. Just the best--simply the best!

No snooty place with white tablecloths and inflated prices, the Cafe is just a clean place with great food, and fair prices--in a warm and comfortable atmosphere. The Quinault rainforest is an incredible place that I'll tell you more about in posts to come. But this Cafe is simply the cherry on top. Don't miss it if you get through there.

Seattle area

Sorry, I've been lax in posting due to traveling and spotty WiFi service. But I'm back!!!!! We just left the Seattle area and all I can say is "wow". Not all good though. The traffic is horrible. But the reason is because lots of people live in Seattle. Why? Because it's a very charming city. A big city, but full of little enclaves which were a delight to the senses.

I'll start with Ballard, a town founded by Scandinavian settlers. It's the University of Washington area--U Dub, and is literally filled to brimming with quaint little shops and among them a million coffee shops. After all, this is the land of Starbucks. I often wondered if Seattleites are aggressive drivers because the blood in the veins has been replaced by coffee. There is just about a coffee shop on every block. No kidding! The Museum of Nordic Heritage is in Ballard and worth a visit. It tells Seattle's history and is a very well-done museum. It has, among other goodies, a room for each of the countries; Denmark, Norway, Sweden, etc. Very interesting.

Puget Sound. Water, water water--everywhere and Puget sound is only one body of water in this area. The downtown area of Seattle borders on it. Now that is a place to people-watch and enjoy. Pike Place Market is there, with the flying fish. No, not fish with wings. Just fish (big fish) being thrown across the room by the guys working there. Quite a show. And the whole complex there is just full of cute shops, and good places to eat. We ate at the Athena Grill. Good food, and a great view of the water and all it's marine traffic.

Another museum of note was the Museum of Flight, near the airport. It is one big place. We had only blocked out a couple of hours and realized when we got there it would not be enough. It is a HUGE place, just chock-full of planes, and stories of pilots, and stories about the use of aircraft in war and peacetime. I'd say don't go unless you had about four hours. And that would be tight. If you're an airplane nut you would be in heaven.

And the ferries. I adore a boat ride. Seattle area is a large expanse of water surrounding and dividing a large mass of land. The Washington Ferry system is very efficient at moving people and cars. While I'm thinking of water, I want to mention Whidbey Island. It was one of the most beautiful places we saw. Rolling hills, pretty ocean views, lovely little towns--it was a package of delight. I saw it as a place to pass through on the way to... Not so, it was delightful in its own right, and one of my favorite places to remember. We ate at a wonderful little restaurant in Coupeville called Captain Jack's Hideaway. Wonderful seafood, a great view of the bay, and very good service. It was a sublime experience.

Seattle is a city just brimming with things to do, places to go and great food to eat. This post won't be the only one for Seattle. Because after all, how can you fit such greatness into a few paragraphs? Go and see and taste. You'll love it.

Glacier National Park

Take a good look at this picture. Can you imagine a more idyllic place than this? This is just one of a couple of hundred pix we took at Glacier Nat'l Park this week. It's an amazingly beautiful place, nestled in the northwest corner of Montana. If you haven't been you must put it on your Bucket List. You know, the list of things to do and places to see before you kick the bucket.(o:

There are many ways to experience Glacier. We chose to drive our car up the Going To the Sun Road. Don't go to Glacier and miss that! You can drive, take a shuttle (I think it's free) or take one of the vintage red touring cars (not free)--but go because this place is too spectacular to miss. Yes, it's crowded. And yes, it takes the better part of a whole day, but it is so worth it.

There are myriad hiking trails, both long and short but even if you don't hike there is lots to do. Just driving up the road and stopping at all the lay-by's to take pictures makes it a full day with lots of steps. And if you add a hike or two then you deserve to splurge a little at lunch. Or at least that's the excuse I use.

There are only a few glaciers left and those are getting smaller, but if and when the glaciers finally melt there will still be such beauty at Glacier that it will draw people, and enchant them, and have them telling others about it. Now go--so you can be enchanted, and so you can share it with someone else. It's truly a Bucket List special, just waiting to be explored.

Medora, ND

We just spent two days in the most pleasant little city--Medora, SD. We savored the whole town-sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. And it was all good. Yes, it's a little touristy--but it's tourism with value.

Our first experience there was the Medora Musical. A two solid hour show chock-full of good clean family fun. If you live anywhere near here, or headed close to here--or heck, this show is even a great reason to make a special effort to come to Medora. Don't miss it. A western band singing and playing, several richly choreographed dance segments, a special treat (ours was the Peking Acrobats), some clean and down-home humor and much, much more. I'd go again. And from what I heard of surrounding conversations people do come back year after year.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park South Unit is here. Lots to do and see. Hikes, orientation films, special presentations, and a loop drive through the Badlands/Black Hills with a glimpse of bison, deer and elk roaming the grasslands. And the best is to learn things that are sure to surprise and delight you about our 26th president, who was quite the bully gentleman, responsible for much of the conservation of America's natural wonders. Two other good things to see in Medora are the SD Cowboy Hall of Fame. Excellent! And the Chateau de Mores is a delightful slice of Medora history.

Now for places to eat. Two delightful ones come to mind right away. Both are favorites of the locals. The Cowboy Cafe--good sandwiches, soups, salads and really nice people waiting on you. The second is the Boots Bar and Grill. A hopping place. Steaks, salads, dinners (I had the walleye--yum!!) Both are reasonably priced, have good food and service and are very loud with locals drinking, laughing and enjoying their evening. If you want absolute quiet in a more upscale place the Roughrider Hotel has a good dining room. It's quite a bit pricier than the other two, but very good, as well.

Tiny, quaint Medora in West Central SD is worth a visit for a myriad of reasons. I hope I given you a few reasons to come and see for yourself. As soon as you get here you'll find your own reasons to come back.