Date: Sat, 03 Aug 1996 16:40:26 -0700

Subject: Postcard from Portland

Dear Family and Friends,

Plenty of news this time around...

The month started off with a bang - 4th of July, that is.
Unfortunately, Liz had to work on both the 4th and the following
Saturday. But after Liz got home from work on the 4th we did make it
down to Waterfront Park in Portland and got an earful of the blues
festival and watched the fireworks display over the Willamette River.
Each year sees some new wrinkles in pyrotechnology. This year there
were fireworks which looked like sparklers with a corkscrew trajectory
that made a throaty whistling sound. We had a lot of fun watching the
show - and the crowd. Portland is home to some real characters. The
show was not as much fun for the fowl which normally make the
riverfront their home - they beat it out of there once the booms
started.

Liz and I are now the proud owners of a new Ford Explorer XLT. We took
delivery of "Babe" (the blue ox) two and a half weeks ago. As much as I
miss my Porsche :-( this is one neat cruise. We worked with a broker to
find it. It took 6 weeks, but was worth the wait. We got exactly what
we wanted - and for an excellent price. The hard part was finding a V8
in "brilliant blue" with cloth seats. The broker ended up putting in a
change order at the factory to have one converted for us which had been
slated to be shipped with leather seats. "Babe" is a 4 door with AWD
(all wheel drive), ABS, limited slip differential, dual airbags,
upgraded tires - and a premier sound system with 6 cartridge CD player
mounted in the center console. *Very* cool. We love it. When our next
door neighbor, Dave, saw it, he remarked, "You guys are real Oregonians
now!" I guess it's about time - we've been here for a year now! Babe's
introduction to Portland was fitting - it was raining the day I picked
her up.

We are now two steps closer to being fully realized yuppies. Not only
do we have a sport utility vehicle, we have a house cleaner (actually,
two - a husband and wife team). Kelly and Wanda are absolutely amazing.
They clean *everything* - they even cleaned the bleach dispenser in the
washing machine! All that's left to earn our yuppie merit badge is a
house, dogs and kid(s) - all of which are in our plans. In fact, we
have started to house hunt.

Two days after we took possession of Babe, Liz's parents arrived for a
9 day visit to help her celebrate her birthday! They pulled in two
weeks ago yesterday on the Amtrak Starlight train after a very
enjoyable and scenic two-day excursion up the coast. I picked them up
at the station in Babe. The first night of their visit we ordered
pizza-to-go from Angelo & Roses, a local Italian restaurant. They make
a righteous pie! We wolfed it down while watching the opening of the
Olympic games.

The following morning we took off in Babe and set a course for the
Oregon coast. Our destination was Cannon Beach, but we detoured through
Tillamook where we feasted on grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. We
then headed up the coast passing through Bay City, Garibaldi, Rockaway
Beach, and Manzanita before reaching Cannon Beach where we checked into
the Tolovana Inn. The inn is located a stone's throw from the beach and
our room had a commanding view of Haystack Rock. We feasted on seafood
at Dooger's Seafood & Grill that evening - highly recommended! The
following day (Sunday) we walked to Haystack Rock and saw Puffins - the
Pacific Northwest is home to Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata),
which have a black breast. Our timing was good - the tide was out - so
we walked out to Haystack Rock and explored the tidepools. We found
many sea anemone and also saw a purple starfish which measured at least
a foot in diameter. The afternoon was spent in true tourist fashion -
we walked up and down the main street (Hemlock) and stopped in nearly
every shop. The one I liked best was the Wild Bird Shop. They had a
spotting scope trained on their outdoor feeder which was frequented by
two screaming yellow goldfinches. After a tiring day of shopping we
settled down to another great dinner - this time at the Schooner Bay
Restaurant.

The next morning (Monday) Liz and I took a walk along the beach and
then joined her folks for a breakfast that simply could not be beat at
the Lazy Susan Cafe - *the* place for breakfast in Cannon Beach
(according to the locals). It's very small and just as popular - and
was worth the wait.

I had taken my scanner with us to eavesdrop on the locals and we
monitored the following conversation after we returned to the inn:

	Country fella:	Whatcha doin' this weekend?
	City slicker:	We're in Cannon Beach.
	Country fella:	Cannin' beets? Where'dja git da beets?

We laughed about that one for the rest of the trip :-)

Our trip home was even more circuitous than our journey to the coast.
We headed north to see Astoria, which is in the Northwest corner of the
state at the mouth of the Columbia River. It is the oldest American
settlement west of the Rockies. Our first stop in Astoria was the 125
foot high Astoria Column, which is decorated by a mural that spirals up
the outside of the column. It was painted by the Italian artist Atillio
Pusterla. The hill on which it is situated affords a panoramic view of
the town and the river, including the four mile long Astoria Bridge. It
was a perfect perch for the warm, sunny afternoon. From there we headed
down to the river and toured the Columbia River Maritime Museum. The
museum is filled with model ships and all manner of nautical tools,
crafts and ornaments. The admission ticket also allowed us to tour an
actual lighthouse tender. I can't say we'd be very happy with the
accommodations if we had to stay aboard overnight! From Astoria we
journeyed east along the Columbia and paid a visit to Bob and Merna
Root, longtime friends and previous neighbors to Bill, Priscilla and
Liz. They have a beautiful house which Bob built himself in a small
town called Clatskanie. Merna treated us to a wonderful home cooked
meal of chicken & rice and veggies followed by a dessert of banana
cream pudding. We were enjoying their company and conversation too much
to leave, but I had to work the following day - so we said our
farewells and headed back to Portland.

I worked Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday that week and left Liz and her
parents to enjoy each other's company and explore the area. As much as
I would have preferred to spend more time with them, it was nice to be
in the air-conditioned office. We had quite a hot spell, with
temperatures well into the 90's every day. Tuesday evening we
celebrated Liz's birthday - a day late, but the party really lasted the
entire week :-) Her Mom had planned to cook dinner, but it was simply
too hot - so instead she made a lovely shrimp salad. However,
sweltering weather notwithstanding, she did make her famous peach pie -
a Wolz family tradition for Liz's birthday. YUMMMM! They all came in to
see my place of work and meet my associates on Wednesday, after which
we went out to the Chart House to have lunch and enjoy the spectacular
view. On Thursday we dined at the Western Culinary Institute. WCI is a
cooking school which serves meals to the public Tuesday through Friday.
It's gourmet cooking at budget prices! A buffet was featured the night
we supped. The appetizers, entres and desserts were far too numerous to
detail. What stood out for me were the salmon cakes and the marlin.
They had more than 18 different desserts!

I took another vacation day Friday so that we could all share a second
three day weekend together. We spent the day at the Columbia River
Gorge, which can generally be counted on for stiff breezes and sweeping
views. Unfortunately, it was blazing hot, the air was still and the
views were mostly obscured by an uncharacteristic ozone haze. We did,
however, enjoy visiting several waterfalls in the area - including the
famous Multnomah Falls. We ate at the inn by the falls and finished
lunch just in time to hear a very informative lecture delivered by a
park employee.

On Saturday the ladies went shopping while Bill and I watched the
Olympics. That evening we had another incredible meal at the Harborside
Restaurant, which we chose rather than Jake's because of the river view
it affords. On Sunday we had a killer brunch at O'Conners (which I've
described in previous PfP's). We waddled home and loaded up Babe with
Bill and Priscilla's luggage and struck out for Washington again. This
time, to drop them off for a visit with other long-time friends and
previous neighbors. Dick and Pat Miller live outside of Castle Rock,
Washington - which is spitting distance from Mount Saint Helens. The
house is situated right on the bank of the south fork of the Toutle
River. We spent the afternoon talking and admiring the view from their
porch. The river was discolored from the sediment that was caused by
the 1980 eruption and the banks were still gray. But the house (which
was not owned by Dick & Pat at the time) had been unaffected. During
our stay we observed a bald eagle cruising for sushi. He landed in a
fir tree on the opposite bank and we watched through binoculars as he
serenely surveyed his turf. Bob and Merna, who live close by, joined us
for BBQ'd chicken and corn. As the sun set we bid Liz's folks a tearful
'til next time' and headed back to Portland. It was a real treat to see
them long enough to really show them some of the reasons we have fallen
in love with Oregon.

Next weekend we host my Mom, Shelly & Mitch (my sister & brother-in-
law), and Missy & Richard (my niece and her husband). Unfortunately,
their visit will be brief. They'll just have to be content with the
Reader's Digest version of the tour until they can return for a longer
stay.

Last month we ended our PfP with, "We hope you all enjoy the coming
month basking in the sunshine..." Little did we know just how prophetic
that would be! We had 12 days of 90+ temperatures - a record. This
month we'll try, "We hope you have a month filled with all the comforts
life affords".


we love you all,
Sandy & Liz
-- 
Sandy & Liz Herring                permanent address: sherring@ACM.org
Portland, Oregon                   provider du jour : shh@teleport.com
Peck of Pickled Pisces ........... http://www.teleport.com/~shh/

                And that's the news from Lake Oswego,
           where the women are strong, the men good looking
               and all the children are above average.

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