This Adventure Called Retirement

We have two children living in Oregon: Emily recently moved to Salem while AJ and Soyer have been living in Portland for about six months. We planned to meet with both of them, but AJ was not available on Saturday so we spent the day with Emily exploring Salem, the capitol of Oregon. We began with Brunch at the Wild Pear restaurant in downtown Salem. This was a fun little place and the food was great. From there we walked to the waterfront and rode the Carousel (Mary loves carousels). we missed the Easter Egg hunt but there was a lot activity throughout the park.

The capitol building and grounds were just a few blocks away. I was surprised to see that they have a gold statue of superman on top of the capitol. The brochures try to claim it is a statue of an Oregon Pioneer, but the cape is a dead give-away that it is superman.

There was also a small park surrounding the capitol which included at least 4 Sequoia trees and many plaques and monuments. In the mall across the street were a number of paver stones that highlighted the history of Oregon and some of their notable sayings. These were quite humorous and a few are captured here.

We then had an early dinner at the Stonefront Tavern – a rather nondescript exterior, but the burgers were delicious.

After an early dinner we went to Emily’s parish, Queen of Peace Church, for the third day of the Tridium service which concludes the three days as the Easter Vigil. Since this is a continuation of the Tridium, there is no introduction rite. Instead, after sunset, a wood fire is started and blessed outside the church and the gospel account of the resurrection is read. All parishioners are provided with an unlit candle. The Easter candle is then lit from the fire and a procession into the church begins in darkness. Then, as the Easter candle enters the church, the members closest to the Easter candle light their candles from the Easter candle and then pass this light to those next to them until the entire church is illuminated by candlelight. It is an impressive event. A series of readings from the old testament are then read, highlighting the redemption history of the church from Adam and Eve through Moses and Elishia to Jesus. This is followed by the baptism and confirmation of new catechumens to the Catholic faith. Then the Eucharistic rite, which had been skipped on Good Friday, returns to the service to complete the renewal of the completed Mass. The entire Easter vigil takes about 2.5 hours, but it is special in it’s unique character and well worth the time to acknowledge Jesus as our savior.

On Easter Sunday we drove to Portland with Emily to meet AJ for brunch and a Sunday afternoon visit. We had brunch at Grits and Gravy in Old Town Portland. The grits were truly exceptional and as good as grits you might get in Charleston, South Carolina. We had a nice walk around Old Town Portland and the waterfront on the Willamette River, then we drove up to Mount Tabor for a short hike. Mount Tabor is a ancient Volcanic cone mount in the center of Portland and only one of 4 cities in the US that has a volcanic mountain within its city limits. Mount Tabor is the largest of the four. Although it was overcast, the views from Mount tabor were beautiful.

Following Mount Tabor we drove east of Portland to Multnomah Falls. THis was fascinating in that the parking lot is in the middle of Interstate I-84 and the falls are easily seen from the interstate. An underpass footpath takes you to the foot of the falls. The falls drop 620 feet from the rim of the cliff to the base and flows into the Columbia river. We hiked the 1.25 mile trail to the top pf the falls, which was a bit challenging, but worth the effort. The views were spectacular.

After our hike we said goodbye to AJ and went back to Salem for dinner with Emily at the Best Little Roadhouse. It certainly lived up to its name as the food was impeccable.

On Monday AJ informed us that Soyer would be able to join us for dinner as well – we had thought her work was going to keep her tied up for the entire visit. Instead, because AJ expected to work an evening shift on Monday, we decide to meet in Portland for an early dinner at Thai Peacock in Old Town. This was by far the best Thai restaurant I have been to in the US. The food was extremely well prepared and the flavors meshed beautifully to create a symphony of enjoyment in your mouth. We highly recommend this little gem. During dinner, AJ received a call that delayed the shift so we had the evening to continue our visit. With extra time we visited the Powell City of Books, quite possibly the largest bookstore in the US. We picked up a couple books to add to our read pile at home and then walked over to Cosmic Bliss for ice cream. This ice cream shop has a number of both dairy and non-dairy selections made on site and, for those who have little room for dessert, they sell a “half-scoop” size. This ended a wonderful day of visiting and we headed back to Salem for the night.