A Hometown Visit to the NW

John and I left for Portland, OR the middle of August and have been here for the past four weeks. We couldnโ€™t anticipate the timing of the trip but knew was inevitable. My dad was admitted to the hospital earlier this summer and has been recovering at a skilled nursing facility ever since.

A Flight to Remember

We hadnโ€™t flown since March due to Covid so the journey was something I will never forget. We left Dallas at 7pm and arrived in Portland at 11:30pm. At our layover in Phoenix, the gates were nearly empty and everything was closed. We walked to the neighboring terminal and it was a ghost town.

Mike and his Foodie Secrets

Since arriving in Oregon, weโ€™ve spent the last four weeks cleaning out my dadโ€™s house in preparation for it to go on the market. My brother Mike brought a team from Seattle two weekends in a row to help fix and upgrade the house. I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of the team!

On Mikeโ€™s first visit, he brought us the most amazing mini carrot cakes from Alki Bakery near Seattle. Since dadโ€™s birthday was August 20th and carrot cake if his favorite, I made sure to drop one off for him. He loved it! On Mikeโ€™s second visit, he brought us 6 yes 6 more mini cakes, that we seemed to inhale and maple bars from The North Bend Bakery. The maple bars were delicious!

House is on the Market

The house is now listed for sale. Today is the first day since arriving in Oregon that we havenโ€™t had work or improvements planned for the house, so we are enjoying a day off. Oregon is battling record-breaking forest fires and that makes selling a house very interesting. The air quality is very bad, so we are staying inside. Please pray for Oregon, California and all states impacted by fires. Itโ€™s beyond devastating.

Good Eats in Gresham

I miss my kitchen and cooking routine. However, we are taking advantage of supporting local restaurants. Some of our favorite places in Gresham, OR include:

Nicholas Restaurant – Incredible Mediterranean/Lebanese food.
Flying Pie Pizza – Pizza and Calzones the size of Texas
iCandy – Hawaiian Shaved Ice, the perfect treat to cool off
Black Rock Coffee – Local favorite for a cup of Jo
Cafรฉ Delirium – Great coffee and atmosphere on Main
Gresham Burrito Shop – I’m in love with their Burritos
Hope’s Bake Shop – Tasty Cinnamon Rolls
Burgerville – One of John’s favorite places
Sunny Hans – A classic Asian spot
Biscuits Cafe – Hands down the best greasy spoon.
Don Ladis Taco Shop – We were very impressed with this place. Tacos were huge!
Szechuan Kitchen – This is one of Dad’s favorite places
Sweet Bettyโ€™s – Great place for breakfast or lunch