Oregon Pt. deux

So I went to Oregon again, this time longer then a weekend, and I got to see and explore a lot more.  Although sadly I didn't go back to Powell's and buy a bunch more books, even though it was suggested to just drop me off there and have a day of it.  

Here are Rizzo and Spud the two dogs of the house.  Spud took a little getting used to, as in every time we entered the front room he would bark a little, and be hesitant to approach, but he did warm up to us eventually.  

We ended up checking out some new places, and finding another that was suggested to me Ground Kontrol which is an arcade with all sorts of video games.  They serve food and drinks, it is a nice set up lots of different and old games, upstairs and down.  

One afternoon while we were out in Portland we went for a nice drive to see the waterfalls.  Apparently Oregon has a lot of them, because even on our drive to see the big one along the roads you could see them on the drive.  We stopped first at Wahkeena Falls, which was pretty interesting, and I guess a nice preview to what we were going to see next Multnomah Falls the tallest waterfall in Oregon.  

Isn't it beautiful? We could have walked it, but it was cold and wet and I was not up for a long walk.  They did have a nice lodge and restaurant if you wanted to stay a while, for me it was nice to see and get a few pictures, and check out the little gift shop.  We also checked out the Bonneville Hatchery and fed the fishes, they knew the sound of the food dispenser and came swimming up to us.

The next couple days we spent in Portland watching Champions League soccer at 442 Soccer Bar.  I don't know much about soccer, and don't care about soccer, but my boyfriend likes soccer, has his team and gets up sometimes at 5:30am to watch a match, so I tolerate soccer and have learned a bit about the English Premier League the last couple years.  Champions League was two days of about 4-5 different games each day, and each of those games was on at least one screen at the bar.  It was a very friendly environment and the owner was there greeting customers.

After the second day of soccer and it wasn't raining we decided to go do something a little more adventurous and something I may have enjoyed a little more, even though it was fun.  We checked out Pittock Mansion which was built in 1914 which has many stories and history.  We didn't end up going inside because it was about $10 a person, and I'm sure it looked amazing inside, but money is better spent on something else.  It was still beautiful from the outside, and we walked to the back of the mansion and could see the entire Portland area.
On our way back we made a pitstop and got ice cream.  I know it sounds crazy, in the cold and freezing and possibly raining, but it was good.

There was a family game night, which really only ended up being one game.  One very long game of triopoly.  I was confused, my mom was confused when I told her, it is NOT tripoley, it is three tiered monopoly.  There are travel cards, and elevators where you have to go up, and really this game could have gone another day or so.  We made deals, and trades and at 11:30 we ended the game.  No one was hurt, no one really lost unless you counted the money, which we didn't.  And there was a cute little cat cuddled in the corner next to us as we played.  

Tuesday I woke up and had a sore throat, by Wednesday night I felt like I needed some drugs so that I could sleep.  I had been drinking tea and water constantly wishing that would help, but no I needed something to help relieve the pain.  Most of Thanksgiving was spent sleeping, which I have to admit I've never slept that much on a Holiday ever at least not that I recall.  It was a quiet Thanksgiving, which I guess was a good thing for me.  Nothing fast paced, no extra cleaning, and while I would have offered to help with food I didn't want to spread my germs.

Spent the next couple days taking medicine and trying to get healthy.  I'll admit this when we went out Saturday night I felt better then I did just sitting on the couch watching the game.  I think we found out that instead of giving into the sickness, it was better to fight it and make ourselves move and feel better, which actually worked.   We went out played some pool, met up with friends, shared some stories and had fun.

Now I'm sure you are wondering what that is.  It is Biltong, and my easiest way to explain it is South African beef jerky, even though I'm sure there is a better way to explain it.  My boyfriend's mom had made it for our arrival, and divided it up evenly because it is something no one in the house wants to share.  Everyone had their own little baggy with his or her name on it. After two years it was my first bite of biltong, and I kind of understood why, it was delicious, and I think for my boyfriend it is a reminder of South Africa.  Biltong takes a while to make, and I may be mistaken but it is marinated for a day, and then is hung to dry for 3-4 days.  It was delicious, and his mom was nice enough to make us some before we left back home.  Thank you, thank you, and she even sent some for Christmas, so thank you again.

It was again sad that we had to go, but life called and we had been there for over a week, and had we stayed even a few days more we might have been freezing and stuck.  It snowed at the house a day or so after we left, and apparently the furnace wasn't working, so maybe it was a good thing we left even if it meant missing the snow.