Portland

Before continuing on our way to Portland, we stopped near Olympia where we were able to connect with a very good friend of Jason's from college.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to see Steve, Jason's roommate, but we were able to visit with Sarah and their kids.  We haven't seen them in 7 years so it was great to catch up and meet each other's kids. 

Next up was Portland.  We didn't plan to visit here for very long because we know that it's a city that we hope to revisit and spend a good amount of time in.  There were only a few things that were on top of our list for this visit.  The first thing we did was head towards Pioneer Square to see our friends' son's memorial brick.  I think that on an ordinary day, it wouldn't have taken us very long to locate Caleb's brick.  However, there was a Sand in the City competition going on while we were there and TONS of people were milling around. 

We spent almost 45 mins. looking for Caleb's brick!  Christa and I texted back and forth and we just couldn't find it! Well, here's why:

Caleb's brick was under the face painting booth!  We asked the people there if we could move the table just a little bit so we could at least see the brick.  They were not very nice about it, even after I explained that we were driving through from California and it was really important to us to see the brick.  This was as close as they let us get:

Like I said, at least we know we'll be able to see it at a later date... 

While in the square, Jason got an apple fritter from the Voodoo Donut truck. We've heard about these donuts and were so glad we got to sample one at their truck. The line at their actual store was really long! Along the way to get lunch, we saw a Moonstruck Cafe and Jason and I stopped to get some treats for ourselves. 

YUM!

Portland is well-known for their food trucks/carts, and there were plenty to choose from.  However, we saw The Brunch Box featured on the Food Network's Eat St., so that's where we headed.  It was very good- Jason custom ordered his burger, and I got their Black and Blue Burger, which was oozing with blue cheese.  I wish we could have tried some other food carts, too!   

I don't know why we didn't think of it, but we left Portland to head to the coast right before rush hour on a Friday.  Basically, our trip shouldn't have taken as long as it did, however, the drive was picturesque and dotted with wineries.  Another reason for us to come back and visit! Our destination was Newport.  Jason and I had decided early in our trip that we'd make a stop along the coast just to say that we included all kinds of nature on our trip.  Well, we were somewhat disappointed that it was cold and drizzly.