The Dynamic Duo

Written on July 9
I won’t be able to post this tonight, cause I’m not paying for the motel WiFi, but I’m going to try to keep you posted on current events. Most currently, UltraDad, UltraHeather and I are, at long last, established in our motel room in the Portland Downtown Waterfront Marriot.
We made the drive from Emmett to spend time with the Ultras who arrived from Japan yesterday morning. At the onset, all was well. I programmed our destination into my GPS portable navigation system and we took turns driving as she directed us to follow the Interstate for seemingly endless stretches before turning off onto another interminable Interstate, but at least we were making progress. That is we were making progress until we stopped for lunch in The Dalles. When we went in, we had just over 100 miles to go and our arrival time was slated for 4 PM ish. When we came out, we had over 300 miles to go and now we would be arriving 2 hours later.

And now it’s July 29th, a mere 20 days later☺
As per usual, my good posting intentions didn’t pan out, but for old time’s sake, let’s just pick up the story where we left off! When we last saw our heroes, they were experiencing some sort of strange geographical/time warp in The Dalles. I mean the very name of this 2-word city conjures up images of a Bermuda Trianglish kind of mystery. Or, wait just a doggone minute…could there be some sort of problem with my GPS? There could be and there was, almost the entire time we were in Portland. Personally, I still think The Dalles had something to do with it. It would take us more than a stress-filled hour to find our motel room, by which time we paid the outlandish valet parking fee for the night rather than spend more time finding alternative parking.  It would take us nearly another hour (and a little more getting lost) to navigate on foot to the Ultra’s luxury motel, The Nines, in another part of town. After eating at a locally famous deli, we spent a little time in The Nine’s Library/Billiard Room. UltraDad and I were quite disappointed to learn that in the 5-6 months since we had seen him last, Linc had become quite the Daddy’s boy. On the whole trip, we never did get to hold him more than a couple of minutes before he was crying and looking for his old dad.  But he would tolerate my presence as long as I kept a respectful distance, so we played a fun game of pull-books-off-the shelf-grandma-puts-them-back while UltraBob and UltraDad played some pool.

Three very cute smiles

Just chillin’ at The Nines

And now it’s August 7th!
Lots has happened between July 29th and now, so I’ll try to be brief(er) than usual. We had one full day in Portland, (Friday, July 10th)and spent much of it shopping in the Pearl District of Portland. UltraGirl, who had thoroughly researched Portland before the visit, had some interesting and locally famous shops and eateries she wanted to check out. She also helped us figure out public transportation, which was very helpful, as there was no way I was going to drive a car around this crazy city with nowhere to park. I think we ended up having dinner that day at a steakhouse/bar (can’t remember the name of it); I remember there was a play area for kids upstairs where we were seated, and I supervised Linc as he watched some little girls play with cars, ponies and dinosaurs. One of the funniest things about watching Linc eat was that he hadn’t quite figured out yet that he could use his hands to feed himself. He sucked on a pickle held by his Dad without making any attempt to grab it or even touch it. When his Mom put some food in front of him to encourage some hand/food interaction, he stared at it for a minute or two before diving into it headlong as if he were a dog, hands still at his sides. The really funny thing was that he used his hands and fingers often to pick up minutiae off the floor to explore by means of his lips and tongue.

Yummy pickle! Too bad I can’t use my own hands to hold it.

Very cute UltraGirl and UltraLinc!

Okay, so UltraDad got to hold Linc a couple of times. Notice Dad isn’t very far away.

Linc graciously allows Heather to transport him in his carrier; can’t remember how long this lasted!

UltraMom holding Linc; he was amused as long as he was crashing beads into my face and I was acting like it hurt me.

July 11th was my birthday, and as per my request, we would be heading out for the coast that day. I had selected Newport as our destination, and booked motel rooms at a Best Western reported to be quite near a nice beach.  We couldn’t all fit in my car, so the Ultras rented a van; it ended up that I went in the van with them, while UltraDad and Heather followed in my Accord. I even got to drive the van most of the way as fussy Linc wanted his Dad, not his unfamiliar grandma sitting next to him in the back seat. If I had realized how long this drive would take, I would have chosen a closer coastal destination. Apparently Heather and Dad quickly found the motel; it would take us rather longer, and per usual, GPS girl was no help. We had to request a room change for the Ultras, as their first room smelled as if a starfish had been hidden and allowed to slightly decompose somewhere within. Fortunately there was another room available and just down the hall from our room. We had a nice walk on the beach, which wasn’t TOO far way. Heather and I had to get our feet wet in the ocean, and she found a perfect sand dollar, not yet ravished by the ever-hungry shore birds. For dinner, we ended up ordering pizza, which UltraDad and I picked up, and ate it in the Ultra’s room while we chatted. If I remember correctly, we ordered a thin crust veggie-artichoke pizza (dynamite!) and a Hawaiian (not too bad.) It was a good birthday. The Ultras gave me a long-sleeved T with their personalized silk-screening reading “BLT” (You know: Bob, Linc, Tomoko) and picturing a sandwich. Also, my favorite pigeon cookies from Kamakura.

BLT shirts; I think Linc loves MO; he must have liked the clam chowder better than I did.

Striking a pose on the beach in Newport

Another beach pic, this time with UltraDad

Heather holds the perfect, unbroken sand dollar

Cool Shadows
The next morning, UltraDad and I took a long walk on the beach as the others got going. I felt kinda bad that we didn’t check more with Heather, who really wanted a long walk on the beach herself. She did get a short one in before we hit the restaurant for the breakfast special, which would soon be ending.
Then on the road again heading towards Lincoln City and the Outlet Mall. We had lunch at Mo’s, which serves, as does every other diner I’ve been to on the coast, Award Winning Clam Chowder.  Clam Chowder competitions must be really popular in this area. When we arrived at Mo’s it was evident that here was a popular place to eat. The line outside the place was about 15 hungry customers long. I soon learned that you had to stay in line if you wanted to eat; none of this taking of names or giving out beeping pagers. Wisely, the outside line manager handed out menus to speed up the ordering process once diners were finally seated. I held our place in line and listened to diners on all sides of me extol the wonders of each dish on the menu. Once inside, the line wound through the gift shop. Again, a great strategy, as the longer I waited, the more the thought of owning a stuffed crab or whale appealed to me. I don’t remember what anyone else ordered, but I got the clam chowder in a bread bowl and it WAS good. Not great, perhaps not even award winning (by my standards), but still good. 
Once at the Outlet Mall, the Ultras began shopping in earnest. They had a comprehensive list: clothes and shoes for Ultrabob, since his size is not easily attainable in Japan; items requested by friends and coworkers……I was able to wheel Linc around the shoe store in his stroller once he fell asleep. Not as good as being able to hold him, but better than nuthin’!
It was evening when we arrived back in Portland at the Marriott where UltraDad, Heather and I had previously stayed, and where we all would be staying for our final night. The Ultra declared it every bit as nice as The Nines. This may sound kind of silly, but this is the main thing I remember about this motel, and I really liked it! In the lobby, there was always some type of flavored water: it was in a glass dispenser and filled with ice and strawberries, or limes, or cucumbers and mint or oranges…you get the picture. Delightful and so pretty!
The next day (Monday) it was time for UltraDad and me to hit the long trail back to Boise in anticipation of a wedding the following Saturday. Heather would be flying back to Pocatello to make the drive with Heath, who had managed to finagle a couple of days off. The Ultras would also be flying, but to Boise. Of course we got lost trying to get out of Portland; missed our off-ramp and had to ask for directions, no thanks to GPS girl who apparently was still sulking. By the time we arrived at Johnny’s place in Boise, the Ultras had been picked up at the airport and were ready to get a bite to eat. I had contracted UltraDad’s horrible cold by this time, and elected to stay in the apartment while the rest ventured out on, I think it was, a Mexican fast food adventure. I really like Johnny’s place, especially the creek side view.  It was late when all of the Ultras arrived at Debi and John’s place in Emmett, but our rooms were all ready for us and we soon went to bed in surroundings far more comfortable and appealing than any accommodations seen for the past 4 days.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will actually get to the wedding, though we stil have nearly 5 days to get through here……TO BE CONTINUED……………