Harvey does Oregon...(again): Portland, Seaside and the Coast

Not again! Harvey seemed to groan as we piled into the car for the four hour drive down to the Oregon coast. True, out of the couple of odd adventures that Harvey has experienced, it seemed odd to repeat one so shortly into the experience.

Well, it's not a repeat for me! Although I had visited Portland several times in the last few years, most recently a couple of months ago to see my pseudo-sister Cassi at the Pacific Northwest College of the Arts and to help her graduate; it had been years since I had gotten to see Seaside and quite a while since I had gotten a chance to take one of my-mom-and-my's signature ultra-relaxed vacations. Harvey had nothing to complain about, particularly since I had allowed him to wear one of his lady-slaying Hawaiian shirts.

And so we were off! Harvey buckled safely in the back, Mom behind the wheel, and "Wait...Wait...Don't Tell Me!" on the radio.

Unfortunately the trip got off to a rocky start, immediately beginning with tire trouble as we pulled into a local Les Schwab with a nail in the tire. Thankfully though the guys at the Bothell Les Schwab fix the tire in not time flat, no charge. Highly grateful, we set out, late.

Come 12:30 at night, and some severe traffic later Mom, Harvey and I pulled into the Vancouver La Quinta totally exhausted. Let me take a moment to say that everybody we ran into that day was so wonderfully helpful and nice. The guys at the Les Schwab who stayed after closing, fixed our tire for no charge; and the Vancouver La Quinta who charged us a fraction of other motel's prices, kept the doors open late, were extremely friendly, and gave us one of the nicest rooms I've possibly ever stayed in; a thousand thank yous! Should you ever, in some bizarre coincidence of the Internet kind, stumble across this blog and this post, let me say how much we appreciate you guys. If you ever need a tire fixed, or place to stay, I recommend them.

The next day Harvey, Mom and I set out into Portland! Home of the young, starving artist; the grungy hipster, and the utterly bizarre. Although I don't think I could ever part with my beloved Seattle, Portland sometimes seems like it might make a close second. It's a very pretty city, with smart planning, inter-urban parks every-other block, cheap parking and some pretty neat bridges. But first and foremost, it was time to fulfill my Mom's greatest image of Heaven...

Powell's City of Books! Three floors, two buildings, all books. The largest new and used bookstore in the world, and located in Portland's Pearl District; it's easily one of the coolest nerd-meccas anywhere. It's also a place where one can easily lose hours. Mom, an avid bird-watcher/bander/enthusiast zipped right to the ornithological section. I popped over to Sci-fi and graphic novels. Harvey was found ogling Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail in the classics section.

Harvey and I took a moment to take a picture in front of two of the most iconic Portland spots in one. Powell's City of Books, and Bike racks. Portland is one of the country's "Bike-ist" cities out there. Powell's contends with this by making bike-racks in the form of iconic books about bikes.

After a morning in the bookstore, time limited and schedule full, we headed over to Fuller's, one of the best breakfast joints in the city, and one conveniently left off the travel brochures so that mostly only locals know about it. Just a lunch-counter, with kitchen-side seating, open from 6:00-3:00; Fuller's makes absolutely the most delicious breakfasts in the entire world. Mom questioned my repeated insistence on dining there, but quickly proclaimed Fuller's as making the "Most Delicious Hash Browns Ever". It's also one of the oldest diners in Portland, has great communal dining, and homemade bread. Yum! Harvey particularly enjoyed the breakfast sausage. I thought rabbits were supposed to be herbivores, but what do I know?

My Mom is in school to be an architect, and both of us are nerds, so naturally we spent the rest of the day bustling about from Portland's most interesting buildings to their best museums. We headed off to Portland's Hat museum, which is listed in most of the tour guides. Unfortunately the Hat museum's location is apparently hidden until you make a reservation, and when you try and make a reservation a stuffy curator will inform you that you should have made a reservation three weeks ago. So the Hat Museum was a bust. Luckily we found ourselves near Portland's First Presbyterian Church. The building has been around since 1889, and it's got some of the coolest detailing and pipe-organs on the west coast.

Harvey looking down at the balcony, wishing he knew how to play a pipe-organ, and that he had half-a-face mask.

After taking a tour of the church (just walk in and ask to see the place, the front desk is very accommodating), we decided to take a stroll.

Harvey poses in front of one of Portland's signature bridges.



Harvey in front of Portlandia, the second largest pounded copper statue after the Statue of Liberty.  



Mom and I almost missed it. We circled the Portland building one whole time before looking up. 

It's kind of scary.

but you enjoyed Cowboys and Aliens before, Harvey!

 Finally we headed up to Portland's Alphabet district and did some window shopping before heading North towards the Peculiarium, a unique little kitschy shop/museum that's somewhat, well, peculiar. It's got zombie babies, alien abductions, and a whole variety of voodoo tchotchkes. It's odd, but I really enjoyed it, it's certainly worth a look if you're into the hodge-podge of bizarre. Harvey on the other hand seemed just a little bit uncomfortable there. 

Then it was off to Seaside. Another couple hour drive away and there we were! In the rain. I played on the beach, I swung on the swing for hours and hours, I went to Mostly Hats, and ate lots and lots of Seaside Saltwater Taffy. All-the-while it rained so hard, sideways, that I got swimmers ear from walking eastward. I kid you not, stepping outside could get you wet to the bone. Luckily, I'm a web-footed Seattleite and didn't mind in the least.

Harvey elected to stay in the motel, due to a skin condition. He didn't seem too upset. I'm not sure why...

I'm afraid Seaside wasn't too well documented because of the torrential downpour, but it was a great couple of days. You'll just have to take my word for it. On the way home, we stopped at Fort Clatsop, the winter quarters for Lewis and Clark's Core of Discovery when they landed on the West Coast.

Harvey redubs Fort Clatsop, Fort Harvey.

"This place needs pillows!"

Then we stopped at North Head, which sits between Cape Disappointment and the Dismal Niche. (Gotta love grumpy explorer names). It's not only very pretty but also on of the foggiest spots on the west coast and home to a whole host of ship-wrecks. I was busy snapping pictures of the cool coastline and mom was engaged in watching the squadrons of Pelicans that were flying past.

I don't know about anyone else, but Harvey kept humming the theme to Jurassic Park and making me nervous.

At the end of the bluff is the North Head lighthouse, an extremely old and still functioning lighthouse. Harvey took a moment to enjoy the fog. Luckily the lighthouse is still functioning, so Harvey was confident he wouldn't get lost at sea.

After one final look at the sea, we all piled back in the car and headed inland again. Even though it rained for most of the vacation, Harvey still had a great time, although I suspect that might be somehow related to fact that he's smelled like Taffy, ever since he got home, but I'm not really sure.