June 24, 2005 Bobby Williams gave us a lift to the airport. There was almost no airport traffic – no waiting lines anywhere – great food at the TGIFriday's at the Tulsa Airport – short walk from gate 30 to gate 35 at the Dallas Airport – perfect weather all the way – on time everywhere – quick luggage pickup and everything arrived as it should – good courtesy pick up at the airport in Portland, OR from Comfort Suites – good food just a short walk from the hotel and a good night's sleep! What more could we ask to begin our trip.

June 25, 2005 Good night's sleep and we woke up at 5:30 feeling totally rested. Comfort Suites provides a very nice breakfast with eggs and waffles, yogurt and lots of other goodies. Since it was sooooo early we decided to take a nice long walk before heading for downtown and the bus station. The hotel was near the airport and there are a lot of industrial parks off the main roadways but they proved to be quite lovely areas. It is all so green!

We decided to skip the Max train transportation to downtown Portland and instead called a local cab. Our cab driver (who looked and talked just like our dear friend Richard Parks from San Diego) immediately gave us a choice between freeway/fast or slower by way of city streets/shorter mileage and much more scenic – it was a no-brainer for us and we enjoyed a beautiful drive through some of the lovely older sections of Portland, seeing many beautiful homes and roses everywhere. The annual rose festival is just winding down.

We have been in Portland many times before but never on these streets and he appreciated our enthusiasm for his city so much that he turned off his meter and took us for a really lovely tour of Washington Park and up to the Pittock Mansion on a peak high above the city, where we parked and he gave us a walking tour of the grounds. The views were spectacular – even though it was a bit of an overcast morning. Two wedding parties were up there taking wedding party photos – both groups were Russian and the brides were beautiful. What a lovely spot for photos!

We had time for lunch before our bus to Eugene, so we walked over to the very nice restaurant in the Union Station Depot. It was not open for lunch but a lady who was working on the landscape just outside told us to go about 4 blocks up on Hoyt Street to the Paragon restaurant. We walked up there and it was wonderful. We had the best fish tacos ever – they sauté several types of fresh fish with jalapeno peppers and serve them on a platter with seasoned diced tomatoes, shredded cabbage, a spicy onion salsa, black beans and a dressing, and a basket of hot tortillas for do-it-yourself tacos! Superb! They also served Stumptown Coffee – which is a local brew – good stuff!

There were so many people for the bus to Eugene – which went on down to Los Angeles with countless stops on the way – they had to take two busses and so we were on a very uncrowded bus with front row seats and it was a lovely drive to Eugene where we had a layover of 2 hours before leaving for Florence so of course we found another wonderful little restaurant – Zenon's- just a block from the bus station and enjoyed a half carafe of a nice French wine with “Roquefort Pate” and a nice French bread.

There was such an interesting mix of people on the bus from Eugene to Florence – actually everyone but us was going on to Coos Bay – a young man just retired from 22 years in the Marines who had been in Iraq for both wars and was injured last December but has recovered quite well and out now is traveling and visiting family before settling down. Several young people going back to Coos Bay to visit family; one fellow perhaps even older than us escaping the heat of Missouri where he has a farm; one fellow from southeastern Oklahoma who rode the bus all the way and it had been a long trip!

    Our lodging tonight is The Landmark Inn, which is at the top of a very steep though short hill on 4 th Street just off Highway 101. Our room is an end unit and we have gorgeous views in 3 directions across green lawns and trees to the Siuslaw River. The room is like an apartment with a full kitchen and a lovely bed/sitting room and a lovely bathroom and there is a private spa/sauna just across the lawn we can reserve by the hour! Our host suggested their favorite restaurant – Waterfront Depot – down in Florence's Old Town. We walked down and it is truly a jewel!! Nothing over $10 and it is gourmet and delicious! We kept it light – just crab cakes and Caesar salad! We have been eating all day long and loving every bite of it!

At the Waterfront Depot, we met a young couple from Eugene – Marjorie and Marcus – and visited with them during dinner. Marjorie is a Nurse Practitioner from Lafayette, LA who had schooled and worked in Austin, TX and by a stroke of luck came up to Eugene for a visit about 3 years ago and met the love of her life and they were married the day before the Iraq war started. She has gotten used to the rain and somewhat dreary weather though she admits to missing the sunshine sometimes! Young we thought – then we found out they are mid-40's.

June 26, 2005 After assembling the bike and trailer we took a ride out to the Ocean and a short spin around Florence. Then we went down to Old Town and had a good dinner at the Waterfront Depot. So many wonderful restaurants to choose from but it was so perfect last night we did not figure we could do any better.

                                                                                                              Bridge over Siuslaw River in Florence

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