Our morning was spend merely driving towards Portland's airport. We arrived ahead of Kyle's scheduled 2PM arrival, so we spent the time visiting an IKEA store near the airport. This was the first time either of us had been able to actually visit an IKEA, although we were familiar with what we might discover.
We had fun wandering around the showrooms. Of course, we found several great ideas that we would like to use both during our remodeling and even some that might be applicable at work and for our libraries. It was especially interesting to see the complete rooms that were displayed, as well as the entire small apartments/houses. The displays showed how maximum space could be used in a stylish way. Chris was especially impressed that nearly every room display included books. He even noticed that they were Scandinavian language titles, in keeping with IKEA's heritage.
Since it was nearly time to go to the airport we didn't really get to do much more than walk through the Marketplace floor on the way to the exit. I would really like to visit again to see the organizational ideas, etc. We picked up a catalog on the way out!
I met Kyle at the Frontier baggage claim after a short wait. Her plane was taxiing in while we approach the terminal. We first decided to head for Washington Park and visit the Japanese Garden there. This public urban park covers over 410 acres, including a zoo, walking trails, a rose garden and much more. Although parking was a problem, with vehicles lining all the roads, we considered ourselves lucky to get there before paid parking is initiated later this fall!
The Japanese Gardens are tranquil and lush. Kyle took many pictures, including many of the statues that are partially covered with moss. We later also went through much of the Rose Garden and enjoyed the variety of roses, all in differing colors and with different odors.
We the headed downtown to introduce Kyle to Powell's City of Books. This is the main store for Powell's, one of the larger online bookstores also. There are at least 68,000 square feet packed with books, both new and used. They have thousands visit the main store each day; probably more than live in most of the towns we visit in our library system! Kyle found some titles to take camping next week and agreed that it would be easy to spend days browsing in the multi-leveled store and reading in the Powell's on-site coffee shop. Of course, some books found there way to our camper, too!
After walking around downtown for a bit, we decided to find the home of Kyle's guides for her trip. She planned to stay at there house that night. After locating the address (they were out for the evening), we looked for a restaurant nearby to eat a late supper.
We discovered The Baowry in St. Johns. It appears this Vietnamese/Korean fusion restaurant began as a food cart and then moved fixed up and moved in to this former crackhouse a year ago!! It appears we ate there one day after the 1st anniversary. Everyone had a great time eating there. We also were able to eat out in the yard under the stars.
We then decided to find a place for Chris and I to camp for the night. By the time we found one within a reasonably short distance (Jantzen Beach RV Park), it was getting late, so Kyle texted her. hosts and told them she would just stay with us for the night and meet them the next day. Walking to the restrooms, etc., with Kyle reminded me of all the years that my kids (Ben, Jason, Kyle, Megan) and I went camping for vacations from the time they were around one-year-old until they were college-age.
We were lucky to get a spot that late at night. The campground had two spots available posted on the door. Luckily, one of those would only take a shorter rig, so our RoadTrek was ideal!
We were lucky to get a spot that late at night. The campground had two spots available posted on the door. Luckily, one of those would only take a shorter rig, so our RoadTrek was ideal!
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