Our lunch on the Willamette

Last year for my birthday, Dan gave me a certificate for a cruise on the Portland Spirit. I lost the certificate and just recently found it back in January. It's a good thing I found it when I did, because it expired in February! I made reservations for April 19, thinking that we would have better weather if I bumped it up a few more months...

While we didn't have the sunny weather I was hoping for, it was much better than the rain mixed with snow the folks at weather.com were predicting. The morning was cold, but the sun was out (and by "sun was out," I mean occasionally it would peek out from the clouds), so we were content with that!!!

After boarding, we were shown to our table and given some warm tea.

Our lunch was yummy. I had the grilled herb chicken and Dan had the beef shoulder entree.

On the ride back, we stepped outside for some up-close sight seeing.Here we are on the bow of the boat, just about to pass under the Marquam Bridge (my least favorite to travel over!) with the Hawthorne Bridge in the distance.

Here's the famous Portland landmark. I remember when it used to say "White Stag" instead of "Made in Oregon."

Here's a very ominous picture of the Steel Bridge. We passed under most of the bridges south of the Steel bridge. Fun Fact of the Day: Apparently the Steel Bridge is a railroad bridge (lower deck) owned by a railroad in Oklahoma and in order for it to lift up and allow ships to pass under it, they need to get special permission from Oklahoma and therefore the Spirit of Portland generally doesn't go under it.

Here is one of the recognizable towers you see on the Burnside bridge.


The Old Spaghetti Factory. Lots of fun memories here. I remember the first time I went to eat here was with the high school youth group (for Jason Birman's birthday I think!) Anyway, I'd pick this location over the Clackamas location in a heartbeat...even if it takes twice as long to get to! Dan and I always order the salad with creamy pesto dressing and the spaghetti, half meat sauce and half mazithra cheese with browned butter....so, so good and of course spumoni ice cream to finish it all off! Mmmmmm!


Of all the big fancy newer homes along the water, I think I'd rather live in this old Spanish-style estate... you know, if money were no object. Nice hu? Just a wee little thing, right!!!

On the return trip, we got to ride with the Captain and watch him "park" the boat. He has a separate control out on the deck that allows him to steer the boat up close to the sea wall. Doesn't he look just like a captain should?

After disembarking from the boat, Dan and I walked down to the marina and took some pictures of the dragon boats. He is going to be designing t-shirts for the Leatherman Tool Group's dragon boat team and needed to get some visuals.

Right after I took this shot it started to rain and...snow!!! So we ran up to Riverplace and then back to our car.

Are you kidding me? These photos were taken about 7:15 last night after dinner! I had to run out to the pump house and turn the pump back on so the pipes to the pool don't freeze!!!

The poor Rhododendron thought it was spring and was trying to bloom!!!

Fortunately, I hadn't planted these Dahlias yet and just brought them inside the house to warn up in their little pots. (See procrastinating can be a good thing!) This morning when I woke up there was still snow on the ground! Weird, weird, weird!!!