Portland Here We Come!

First off - we vastly underestimated the immense drive from Berkeley to Portland!  It was a very scenic and interesting drive, but it was just about 2 hours more than anyone should be in the car.  That said here are some highlights of the trip.

We hit the road early and enjoyed our overcast / foggy trip out of the bay area, crossing some bridges along the way.

After a while, we left our lovely state of California, but were welcomed with open arms into Oregon.

Looking ahead at the map, Nicole wondered whether or not we'd be able to pick out Mount Shasta.  Her question was answered rather quickly as we came around a bend in the pass.

We were surprised to pass a truck from a familiar place heading in the same direction.

Somewhere past Eugene, Andrew crossed the 1000 mile threshold for the trip, and soon after passed on the reigns to Nicole.

There was a brief detour to the state capital of Oregon - Salem - so that Nicole could take a picture for her students.  (Unfortunately, due to complete technical incompetence, Andrew accidentally deleted the picture of Nicole actually in front of the building.)

Nicole also hung out with some of the famous Oregon Beavers in a park near the capital.

Back on track, we finally made our way to Portland, although we hit some traffic coming through the downtown area.  We made our way over to Henry's Tavern for a "happy hour" dinner.

Before:

After:

Lastly, after dinner, we tried to run over to the world famous Powell's bookstore - four stories of books, a half of a city block on each side!  Unfortunately, we arrived moments after they closed.  But that didn't stop Andrew from posing for a picture!

Tomorrow morning we'll be hitting up Voodoo Donuts and try shopping at Powell's again (if time permits).  After we leave Portland, we have the shortest leg of the trip up to Seattle the hometown Mariners will be hosting the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field.