Salem to Portland

Day 7 June 12, 2016 Salem to Portland

Not able to charge up the car, but the breakfast was good. Long telephone call with son in India so did not get an early start.

Not a long drive to Portland up I-5. The first interesting thing we saw was an aerial tram system soring over the freeway up to the top of a hill. I did not recall it from my prior trips to Portland. It carries people up to a medical complex.

Our first planned stop was the Japanese Garden. To get there we had to take the 405.Not as congested as the one in Southern California. Lots of street detours getting there, but we were lucky to get a parking space.

The Garden claims to be the most authentic Japanese Garden outside of Japan. Not cheap to enter.  It is a very serene setting and incredibly well maintained. Very nice place to go. There are five different garden styles represented in the Garden: Strolling Pond; (my favorite) Tea; Natural Garden; Sand and Stone; and Flat. We jumped on a tour by a volunteer, who was knowledgeable, but did not project her voice.

After spending about 2 hours in the Garden we descended to the International Rose Test Garden.

Three terraced gardens containing 10,000 rose bushes and 400 varieties of roses set on 4 acres. Many of the roses were in full bloom (The prior week was the contest) and it was a riot of color. From the east side of the Garden we go a nice view of the downtown skyline. In the distance, we could see the snow-covered Mt. Hood, a presence that would be with us for many days during our stay in northern Oregon.

We then drove east, across the Willamette River to get to the Hawthorne District. This is an area in the southeast quadrant of the city that attracts a bohemian crowd. Lots of bookstores, coffeehouses, taverns, restaurants, antique stores and boutiques. We walked around for a while. Went into a Powell’s satellite bookstore and purchased several books. Ended up in the same hat store that I visited during my 2014 visit and purchased some hats. We ate an early dinner at a sushi restaurant and then had a pint of ice cream at a Whole Foods type market for dessert.

Then drove up to our hotel that was located a short distance west of the airport and almost on the banks of the Columbia River, the Oxford Suites Hotel. By coincidence it was the same hotel I stayed at during my 2014 visit. It was selected because: it was close to the airport; had an airport shuttle; and was willing to allow us to park our car there free during our side trip to Rochester. It was a nice place. Large room, evening snacks and drinks, good Internet and a very good breakfast.