After getting back from New York, two of my family members came and picked me up. We drove up the Oregon coast, spending a night in the misty town of Netarts before heading up through Astoria, cutting across to the interstate and up to Seattle.

The hi-light of the trip is a triple tie between seeing Astoria and the ocean from the top of the Astoria Column, the self guided tour of the Tilamook cheese factory, and taking the train back to Portland from Seattle. The low-light was one of the worst cheeseburgers I’ve ever had that was purchased in the bustling restaurant of the cheese factory. According to my dining party, the coleslaw tasted like manure too.

The trip in photos:

The interior of the beach motel, same as the day it was built.

The foggy beach near Netarts.


Group shot at a vista overlooking Manzanita.

The factory floor at Tilamook cheese factory.

Large blocks of cheddar going down the belt to get subdivided.

The Astoria bridge seen from atop the vertigo-enducing column at the top of the hill.


Me in the neighbor’s basement during jam night.

The knitting ladies of the couch.

The family patriarch celebrates his 82nd birthday.

Cousins.

The family winery in the basement. Each fermenting bottle will yield 15 bottles of wine. During the fermentation process, gas bubbles up through a special seal on the top, the brew slowly becoming more clear and delicious. The cellar has family wine as old as 1985.

Turkeys and chickens on a friends farm in Arlington, an area Northwest of Seattle.

Beef from a delicious dinner served on the farm. The beef was from a cow named Orlando that I had petted and hand fed just a year earlier. They always said it’s best to know what’s in your meal. This time, I knew who was in my meal.


The flower stand at Pike Place Market.

Gringo, the family parrot. A constant source of entertainment and bizarre memories as it channels the voices and laughter both living and dead relatives. I wish more animals could talk.

Now, I am tired.

This weekend I took a trip with J. to Seattle. This was the first time I had visited without staying with family. And because we were there for only two full days, there wasn’t much time to see them either. Regardless, the trip only clarified my belief that Seattle is the city for me, at least in American. It matches the size and vistas of San Francisco, though not as dramatically. And while it is a large sprawling city, it’s outlying neighborhoods are have more character. In the Bay Area, all of the suburbs seem hollow and disconnected. They seem to have an inferiority complex, except for Sausalito.

Portland is a great town, but what does it have going for it? A grimy river that you can’t really do anything with but drive over. Yes, the surrounding areas are pretty, but those are an hour out by car. In 5 months of living here, I am happy. But I feel like I have seen everything there is to see.

Seattle is not only full of more city, but it also sculpts that city around a dramatic and beautiful landscape. For those that like water, it abounds in the Sound, lakes, rivers. Mountains are in close view, as is undeveloped natural landscape and a large gallery of parks.

Every time I visit, my appetite is whetted for more.

A trip in photos:

All of the ingredients ready for my first batch of som tom. (clockwise from top left: garlic, tomato, lime, green beans, thai chilis, green papaya. Not pictured: sugar, fish sauce)

View of hill and downtown Seattle from Gas Works Park on Lake Union.

Industrial structures at Gas Works Park. They are painted rust color to preserve their old appearance and prevent even more real rust.

Observation room view of salmon swimming up the fish ladder at Chittenden Locks.

A view of pleasure craft in the lock getting lowered to the level of Puget Sound.

Train approaching at Carkeek Park.

Looking West from the beach of Carkeek Park. Puget Sound with the Olypmic mountains in the distance.

Barnacles on the rocks at Carkeek Park. The large ones were alive and would
retract if a shadow passed over them. There is something deeply unsettling about seeing a barnacle move, it’s like a sore come to life.

Seattle/Bainbridge ferry.

View of Seattle in the morning.

Geoducks: the most disgusting seafood imaginable. Looks like an elephant penis with a shell. These girthy clams are native to the Northern Pacific Coast and can grow to over ten pounds and 100 years old. Find more about Geoducks here

Canoeing on lake Washington.



View of Mt. Rainier from the canoe.

Lots of sun, lots of water. Portland is a two-bit dump compared to the sprawling and scenic city on the Sound.