Photography/Travelogue

Black Hills Con 2021

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This weekend has been a busy one for me.

In 2017, my friend and fellow author, Adrian Ludens, had asked if I might be interested in sharing a table with him at the local anime, science fiction, and pop culture convention. At that point, the local convention was SoDak Con–previously SoDak Anime Convention. Unfortunately, due to a planned and scheduled vacation in the Pacific Northwest, I was unable to partner up with him.

I’m sad to say that I might not have done so even without those prior obligations. At that point in my writing career I had only the novel, Unspoken, and my collection of short fiction and poetry, Errata, available. Both titles had been self-published and neither had been particularly successful or generated much by way of buzz or interest beyond people who knew me to some extent. I would have felt like a fraud, sitting there next to him. Adrian had sold probably dozens of stories to various publications and anthologies at that point…and who the fuck was I?

Since then, I’ve come a long way in feeling more comfortable and secure in calling myself an author. My next self-published novel, Innocence Ends, was more successful than both of the previous titles combined–and then some. Thanks to the sales associated with Innocence Ends, I was able to join the HWA (Horror Writers Association) as an Affiliate Member. My new novella, You Will Be Consumed, was published by a small press I respect and appreciate–in addition to since being adapted into an audiobook with a fantastic narrator doing the heavy lifting.

When the new convention–now Black Hills Con–was announced for June of this year, I reached out to Adrian and asked whether he might be interested in sharing a table with me. I was pleased to discover he was interested.

This would be my first time attending a convention of any kind as a guest and a vendor. I was never particularly big on attending conventions in the first place, being as anti-social and riddled with anxiety as I find myself to be when surrounded by crowds of any kind.

I neglected to request time off from work on Friday. Thus, I had to get up at 3:45 AM and begin my shift at the television station at 4:30 AM. I directed the hour and a half of Good Morning KOTA Territory from 5:30 to 7 AM and then KOTA Territory News at Noon from 12 to 12:30 PM. It had already been a long day, as you can probably imagine, before I pulled out of the parking lot and made my way to the hotel where the convention was being held.

I arrived at the hotel and was directed to the vendor room where Adrian and I would be sharing our table. I was pleased to see that my old friend, Tom Rasch, was at the table right next to us. Tom is a comic book artist/creator who has been active in that industry for quite some time, in addition to having done a good deal of video game character design back in the day. He was there to promote his various independent comic properties, Black Alpha and Salem Tusk in particular, as well as a documentary film that is detailing his efforts to bring these properties to life in the way they deserve to be realized. At some point in the relatively near future, he’s likely to have a Kickstarter campaign going live, and I’ll be sure to share those details here.

Needless to say, I felt a wash of relief, knowing that I had familiar faces right there next to me.

The next five hours turned out to be a great deal more fun than I suspected they might be…additionally, I managed to deplete a fair amount of the books I’d brought with me for the convention.

Using a trick I’d developed for coping with social anxiety, I carried my camera with me and captured photos of the events, separating myself from them by placing the lens in between myself and the rest of the world.

I was exhausted when I arrived home shortly before 7 PM on Friday. I ate dinner and took a nap before waking up and going to the gym around 10:30 PM. I have a difficult time breaking from routine, and I try to always go to the gym on Friday evenings, regardless of what my day consisted of.

On Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:30 AM and took a shower before taking the puppies outside and making sure my daughter was ready to go. We stopped for coffee and arrived at the convention location right at 8 AM as everything was getting started. I made my way to the vendor room–it was closed to all but the vendors until 10 AM–while my daughter went to watch Saturday morning cartoons that were being projected on the screen of the large conference room by the convention staff.

Most of the vendors weren’t there yet, so it was nice to just relax and chat with Tom while I put everything out on the table, including some creepy photo prints I’d brought with me to see if they might also sell. Adrian arrived not too long after.

Tom was hosting a panel on Saturday morning, sharing his experiences in the comic book and video game design industries and talking about his current projects. I attended some of that panel because I wanted to see at least some of it instead of spending all of my time sitting at the table.

Throughout the day, my daughter sporadically returned to the vendor space with different friends in tow and it was fun to see the teenagers enjoying themselves so much. My daughter also took advantage of the fact that Adrian had brought the rolling, steel table from a morgue with him.

The second day of the convention was a marathon, though slightly less of a marathon than the first day had been for me. We held our post in the vendor room until just after 6 PM when it was time to pack it in and head home. I returned home with only four of the copies of You Will Be Consumed that I’d brought with me, and none of my other books. All in all, I’d say it wasn’t a bad day.

It was great being able to spend time with friends I don’t often see in real life and to meet new people.

Before leaving the hotel, I gifted two of my photo prints to the two special guests of the convention–voice actors in various anime films–because someone had mentioned it was their first time visiting South Dakota, and I thought they might like something a little less tourist-oriented as a memento. One of the two brought over a signed art print that made my daughter’s day, because she had considered getting one until she saw the prices they were charging.

The other remaining photo print, I gifted to another of the vendors who had been awesome to talk with here and there.

As tired as I was, I must admit I was sort of sad to see the convention ending.

All things considered, I have to say I think my first experience as a guest of a convention was a success. I look forward to doing it again.

I have to thank the folks who organized Black Hills Con 2021, because they did an excellent job of making sure everything ran smoothly and that everyone was comfortable and taken care of. The atmosphere was a positive one and free of some of the toxicity and gatekeeping that I’ve heard about regarding similar conventions around the country.

Final Day In Seattle

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Friday the 28th of June, 2019 was our final day in the Pacific Northwest before we began our return trip home to South Dakota. We had recently discovered that there was a rose test garden located at Woodland Park in Seattle, and since we loved the International Rose Test Garden in Portland so much (we’d visited it in both 2017 and 2019, and I’d visited there in 2014 as well), we figured it would be worth a visit. It was shortly before 11:30 AM when we arrived to test that theory.

We were not wrong in our assumption. In some ways, the rose test garden in Seattle’s Woodland Park is superior to the sister garden in Portland’s Washington Park. Though the variety and sheer quantity of blooming flowers doesn’t compare to what we saw in Portland, the landscaping and park environment of Seattle’s rose test garden made for a different type of experience.

Photos from the Woodland Park Rose Test Garden are below.

Our next stop was the Seattle Japanese Garden, only a matter of five miles or so Southeast of Woodland Park. We arrived there shortly after 12:30 PM. We had enjoyed the Seattle Japanese Garden a great deal when we’d been there in 2017 as well. Though it doesn’t have quite the same beauty of the Portland Japanese Garden, it is a lovely place to wander through just the same. Additionally, there is the perk of being able to purchase fish pellets at the entrance for the purpose of feeding the colorful koi inhabiting the large central pond.

While feeding the koi, we were provided with the added amusement of watching a heron attempting to catch a meal only a few feet away from where we were. So intently focused on the potential meal, the bird hardly paid us any mind. I’ve included photos below.

It was shortly after 2 PM when we reached our final destination of the day, the Kubota Garden. After the Seattle Japanese Garden, the Kubota Garden was a little bit lackluster and disappointing. It was, however, free admittance…so that’s a nice thing. It’s still a pretty location, just not as well maintained or as pretty.

In a sense, I suppose it felt more wild…more natural and unsculpted than the Japanese Garden…and I’d like to visit again just to see if my perspective might be different a second time. I’m including photos from Kubota Garden below.

Financial conditions being different, we might have done more on our final day in Seattle, but we were essentially tapped dry beyond what we had set aside for food and fuel for the return trip home. Also, we had more than 1,200 miles of driving to do between the following morning and Sunday evening, and I would be going all of that distance behind the wheel. The first 750 miles of that return trip to the East would get us into Yellowstone National Park so we could capture the sunrise at Mammoth Hot Springs (I’ve shared photos of that part of the adventure previously). I had a lot of driving to look forward to–or dread–the next day.

It’s always a sad experience for me, leaving the Pacific Northwest and returning to South Dakota…and I keep hoping that someday I won’t have to return to make it home…because my home will be there.

Second Day In Seattle

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We spent a much smaller amount of time in Seattle on our second day there. Leaving our hotel shortly before 8:30 AM on Thursday, June 27th of 2019, we headed North.

In Everett, Washington we decided to stop at the Evergreen Arboretum & Gardens shortly before 10 AM. It was a nice place to spend 40 minutes or so, walking the paths amidst the flowers and trees…as well as the numerous sculptures on the grounds. We’d made it through Seattle a bit faster than expected, and we were running early anyhow.

Photos from the Evergreen Arboretum & Gardens are below.

Continuing North from Everett, we made our way to Arlington before heading East toward our destination. We’d visited The Outback Kangaroo Farm in June of 2017, having been made aware of the place by my friend Mindy a couple of years earlier. It was such an enjoyable experience the previous time we’d been in the region that we had to visit there again.

What’s not to like about watching lemurs devour bananas, being able to hand-feed kangaroos, getting alpaca kisses, and interacting with numerous other animals? I can’t recommend this place enough, for anyone who loves wildlife of all kinds.

A nice bonus during our second visit, one of the mothers had a joey still peeking out from her pouch. Photos of the kangaroos are below.

Traveling South from Arlington until we reached the Stevens Pass Highway, we intended to hike to Lake Serene, but there were so many vehicles already at the trailhead that we opted to avoid the crowd. Instead, we took a smaller trail down to the South Fork Skykomish River and enjoyed the scenery there.

In addition to clear water and excellent views of the surrounding mountain peaks, we saw what appeared to be claw marks of river otters near the edges of some of the large stone surfaces lining the edge of the river. We stuck around for a little while, hoping that we might catch some glimpses of the otters themselves, but we had no luck. Photos from the river are below.

Shortly after 3 PM, we decided it was time to return to Seattle.

We arrived at our hotel at roughly 5:30 PM and remained there until a little after 9 PM before we decided we should find something for dinner. Options were a bit slim, and we settled on Little Caesars in Kent, since it wasn’t altogether too far from where we were…and we didn’t much feel like sitting down in a restaurant that late in the day.

Seattle Bound

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It was with no small amount of sadness that we left Port Angeles shortly after 7 AM on Wednesday, June 26th of 2019. We probably could have spent the rest of our vacation right there, without the slightest bit of hesitation. Unfortunately, we had additional plans for what remained of our vacation, and those plans involved being in Seattle. Our next trip to the Pacific Northwest will likely not include Seattle at all.

It was 9:30 PM when we arrived at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge just Northeast of Olympia. There’s a swath of various hiking trails cutting through the marsh between Interstate 5 and the waters of the Nisqually Reach, and we wanted to explore a little bit of that area. I’d certainly like to return someday, free to spend a good deal more time trekking along those trails.

Photos from the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge are below.

It was still too early to check in at our hotel, so we drove North through Seattle and arrived at the Gas Works Park around 12:30 PM. It’s a place I’d wanted to go, but never had occasion to visit in the past. It was a lovely day, and a great many people had come to visit the park, flying kites, laying in the sun, and enjoying picnics. It was a soothing experience after having to suffer through the traffic in Seattle. Of all the cities I’ve driven in, Seattle is the one I loathe the most.

It’s certainly an interesting aesthetic with a lot of potential, and the views of downtown Seattle across Lake Union are quite nice.

Photos of the gas works are below.

Photos of the city as seen from Gas Works Park are below.

Shortly before 2 PM, we stopped for lunch before checking in at our hotel. Our choice was a place called The Habit Burger Grill in Tukwila. It was fantastic. Those who know me well, know how much I love a place called Wayback Burgers (not as widespread as a lot of places), but The Habit came damn close to surpassing that quality.

At 3 PM, we checked in at the hotel and unpacked the car, opting to relax for a bit.

Though it was going to be closing time soon, we decided to drive through Seattle again to visit Woodland Park Zoo. There’s an aviary there, where you’re able to feed the birds with sticks coated in treats, and there’s a butterfly house that we wanted to see again. I’m including photos from the zoo below.

We stopped at Teriyaki Wok in a strip mall near SeaTac around 7 PM for our dinner, before returning to the hotel for the night. The food was surprisingly good and the portions were fantastic for the price.

Olympic Peninsula Exploration

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There was more to Tuesday, June 25th of 2019, than simply our evening drive to Cape Flattery and the hike to the edge of the cliffs for our views of the sunset that night.

At 8:30 AM, we were East of Port Angeles on the spit of land protruding from the Dungeness Recreation Area, leading to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and the distant lighthouse miles down that sandy edge of the Dungeness Bay.

I was able to capture a spectacular–spectacular in my opinion, at least–shot of Mt Baker some 70+ miles distant, with the lighthouse in the foreground. While walking along the beach, we also located a small clubhouse assembled with driftwood and assorted detritus that had washed up on the shore.

Photos from the Dungeness Recreational Area are below.

Heading West again, we returned to Port Angeles and made our way South, ascending into Olympic National Park toward Hurricane Ridge. Stopping numerous times along the way, the views overlooking the lower elevations of the Olympic Peninsula as well as the mountains we were approaching made for lovely scenery. I’m including photos of the trip to Hurricane Ridge below.

We remained at Hurricane Ridge for a while and considered hiking along one of the trails, but there were a number of people already up there with the same idea. Instead, we enjoyed the grand, sweeping views of the Olympic Mountain peaks and the many deer who clearly felt no real fear of humans. I’m including photos from Hurricane Ridge below.

It was 1 PM when we arrived at our next destination, parking at Lake Crescent to reach the trailhead leading up to Marymere Falls nestled in the old growth forest. The hike to that lovely destination is a beautiful journey on its own, beginning with the greeting of a truly magnificent tree that appears almost to be waving to new arrivals, winding through a maze of moss-covered trees, and crossing the creek that empties glacial water into Lake Crescent.

Photos of the hike and of Marymere Falls are below.

It was 3 PM when we returned to Port Angeles, and we were ready for a late lunch. We’d eaten at this nice little establishment when we’d been to the region in 2017, and we decided it was worth returning to Gordy’s Pizza & Pasta again during this trip. Our recollection of the quality had not been incorrectly favorable.

We returned to our hotel room by 4 PM and remained there until we began the drive West to capture the sunset at Cape Flattery, as I shared in a previous post.

Hall of Mosses

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We set out heading West from Port Angeles, Washington at 9 AM before cutting South on Highway 101. We passed through the infamous town of Forks (those poor bastards living there never being able to forget that Twilight exists) and heading East into the Hoh Rainforest section of Olympic National Park.

The drive along Upper Hoh Road is positively lovely, especially once you’ve reached the sections where it runs alongside the Hoh River. The longer you follow that road, the more you feel like you’ve been transported to a vastly different place…a place of magic and fantasy, perhaps.

At the end of the road, you arrive at the parking area from which numerous trailheads begin. The Hall of Mosses was our first destination for the day, which is a relatively short loop of a trail. From there, numerous other trails can be found and followed.

Photos of the Hall of Mosses are both above and below.

Where the Hall of Mosses Trail meets with the substantially longer Hoh River Trail, I got it in my head that we should just continue along that way for a while. As is often the case, I sort of wandered off on my own, leaving the others behind. I had hiked an additional half an hour or so before I saw a barely worn trail that led to the edge of the Hoh River, diverting from the main trail I was on. Of course, I opted to make my way over there.

It was only an afterthought that had me return to where that trail deviated from the main trail to find the others, as they could easily have already passed. I’m not always the best person to explore with, as I am absolutely marked as the first person to be killed in any sort of horror movie…or the idiot who causes other people to be killed by being short-sighted and more than a little bit caught up in my own thing, head up my ass and all.

The others did finally reach me and I convinced them to join me at the river. We spent a long while sitting there along the bank. I crossed shallow sections here and there to explore a bit further once I knew where the others would be, but I mostly stayed nearby.

Photos of the Hoh River Trail are below.

It was almost 5 PM when we returned to Port Angeles. We ate a late lunch/early dinner at Fast Burritos, a place we’d enjoyed eating at during our previous trip in 2017.

At 8:30 PM, we returned to Ediz Hook to watch the sunset as we had the night before. We remained on that spit of land for the next hour and I, for one, found a great deal of peace there. Photos of the second night’s sunset are below.

Return To Port Angeles

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Having packed up the night before, we left our hotel in Portland, Oregon shortly before 8 AM. From there we made our way to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Our next destination for the day wasn’t going to be open for approximately an hour, and this seemed like a nice place to spend a while walking and enjoying some additional nature. Photos from the garden are below.

No visit to Portland is complete without spending some time at the Portland Japanese Garden, and after a short stop downtown to pick up breakfast from Voodoo Doughnut, we were on our way there. This was my third time wandering through the Japanese Garden, and it never ceases to provide me with a certain sense of peace and tranquility. It was shortly after 9:30 AM when we arrived there, and we remained for close to an hour.

Below are some photos from the Portland Japanese Garden.

Across the street from the Portland Japanese Garden is the International Rose Test Garden. I’d made it a habit of visiting that patch of diverse colors and smells each time I’d been spent a period of time in Washington Park, and this visit would be no exception.

It’s funny that I’d never been a huge fan of the rose as a flower, but seeing such a variety changed my tune a great deal. Photos from the Rose Test Garden are below.

Finally, only a little while before Noon, we left Portland and made our way Northwest, connecting with Highway 101 in Astoria and crossing the bridge into Washington near Cape Disappointment.

The drive along the Western edge of the Olympic Peninsula is a long one, though quite lovely for the most part. We had fallen in love with the small town of Port Angeles during our previous visit in 2017, and there was no way we weren’t going to be spending a few days in the area during this trip. Nestled between the Strait of San Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains, Port Angeles is so perfectly situated as to be the place I’d like to live more than anywhere else I can think of.

It was after 8 AM when we arrived at our hotel in Port Angeles, Washington.

We unloaded the car and made our way out onto the Ediz Hook in order to enjoy the sound of waves lapping against the rocks and driftwood while the sun was setting. If I happened to live in the area, there’s a very good chance I’d be found on Ediz Hook four or five nights out of the week, watching the ships traversing the Salish Sea between Washington and Vancouver Island as I wait for the sun to pass beneath the horizon.

It was almost 10 PM before we finally returned to our hotel room for the night.

Photos from our first night in Port Angeles are below.

Silver Falls State Park

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On Saturday, June 22nd of 2019, we got a late start leaving our hotel in Portland, Oregon. It was almost 8 AM when we began our trip South. Our sole destination for the day was The Trail of Ten Falls located in Silver Falls State Park.

Upon arrival before 10 AM, we were disappointed to find that our trek would be limited due to no dogs being allowed on a substantial portion of the trails that make up the larger hiking trail. Nonplussed, we started off just the same, intent on enjoying what we could, of the magnificent surroundings. Photos from the early section of trail are above.

It wasn’t until we reached a certain point in our hike that I determined I would separate from the others and explore another section of the trail while they continued along the dog-friendly portion until we could meet up at the far end.

It was a strange thing, to be hiking by myself for more than an hour, stopping at various places to capture some of the lush and verdant beauty with my camera.

Naturally, North Falls was the most spectacular sight to be seen on this section of the trail, the large path circling behind the cascading water producing a breathtaking barrage of sight and sound. Photos from my solo portion of the hike are below.

Upon meeting with the others in the parking area beyond North Falls, I remained with our dog so that they could head back the way I’d come in order to at least witness that spectacular waterfall for themselves.

When they returned, we continued our trek to Upper North Falls, another section of the trail that was dog-friendly.

The hike to Upper North Falls (pictured above) was not a particularly long journey from the North Falls parking area, and it makes for quite the terrific place to rest and relax, taking in the soothing sound of water battering the stone.

The return trip to the beginning of the trail was a long one and I ultimately went a significant portion of that hike alone as well. Dog and fellow adventurers, worn out from the hours spent on the trail, remained at a resting spot near the Silver Falls Highway while I returned to the car and came back to retrieve them.

It was after 3 PM when we returned to Portland, and we determined it was a good idea to relax the rest of the day, knowing that we would be departing from Portland and heading Northwest to Port Angeles, Washington the following morning.

Those intimately familiar with obscure slasher flicks of the 1980s might recognize some of these locations from the 1981 movie Just Before Dawn, significant portions of that B-Movie extravaganza having been filmed in Silver Falls State Park.

Oregon Coast Day Two

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It was shortly before 7 AM on Friday, June 21st of 2019, when we got started with our day. Leaving our hotel, we headed to North Portland, Oregon and arrived at Cathedral Park only a short while after 7.

We spent a little over half an hour enjoying a walk through the park and admiring the outdoor cathedral appearance of the gothic arches supporting the St. John’s Bridge as it traverses the Willamette River. A couple of homeless men with bicycles and small trailers to be towed behind said bikes congregated beneath one of the arches and, if I’d had the presence of mind, I would have liked to capture some images of them where they rested at the base of those columns. I’m not sure that they would have been amenable to being photographed, but I really should have asked.

Photos from Cathedral Park are above.

From there, we headed South on Interstate 5, traveling down to the exit for Corvallis before making our way West. Arriving in Newport, we continued South along Highway 101 until we arrived at our first destination of the day, Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve.

Making my way over the rocky shoreline at the end of the Thor’s Well trail was made far more challenging by my efforts to avoid the crunching sound of assorted bivalves clinging to the exposed surface of the stone due to the low tide. Countless tidepools spotted low points in the rough stone and the views all around were magnificent. I would have liked to be there near high tide so as to capture the fountain effects of Thor’s Well and Spouting Horn–as well as the appearance of the area once it was largely submerged–but we had other places on our itinerary for the day.

Photos of the coast near Thor’s Well are included above

We headed back North along the Oregon Coast Highway, returning to Newport. Our next stop was for lunch. A little while before 1 PM, we arrived at Asiatico Waterfront Fusion Sushi. We opted to dine outdoors on the pier overlooking the Yaquina Bay. The food was superb, the service was no less so, and we had the pleasure of seeing some harbor seals poking their heads curiously out of the water to peek at us while we ate.

After our lunch, we made our way to the other side of the bay and the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

It wasn’t until close to 4 PM when we finally arrived at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. Our first stop there was somewhere we’d fallen in love with during our previous visit to the area in 2017.

Cobble Beach (as seen in the photos above) is difficult to describe. It’s as much an auditory experience as a visual one. It’s not just the sound of the waves coming and going that does it, but rather the way the smoothly rounded stones of the shore roll over each other as the water from each wave recedes. Sitting or standing there in silence, you’re soothed by a strangely-pitched rumbling sound of rock against rock, as if being inside of a giant tumbling machine. This beach is somewhere I could spend hours without noticing the passage of time. As it stands, we did spend close to an hour right there.

Heading back up the cliffside, the lighthouse at Yaquina Head and the views from there are stunning. The sounds of waves compete with the cacophony of nesting seabirds to produce a peculiar, natural symphony.

Photos of the Yaquina Head lighthouse are below.

Perhaps the most worthwhile thing about our visit was the sheer amount of wildlife we got to witness. It wasn’t just the birds nesting on the rocky promontories all around. There were easily a dozen harbor seals playing in the surf, sunning themselves on the lower rocks, and even one mother nursing a pup…as you’ll see in the photos below.

We continued North along the highway and arrived at Devil’s Punchbowl State Natural Area at 5:30 PM. I’d been here previously, in both 2014 and 2017, and it never disappoints. The landscape and features of this section of the Oregon coast are always so lovely, and the wide, unobstructed views of the Pacific Ocean are exceptional. Photos from that stop are below.

Continuing North, our final stop for the day was the Tillamook Creamery just after 7 PM. When we’d been there in June of 2017, the facility had been undergoing major renovations, though we’d still been able to enjoy a surprisingly great dinner there at that time.

Upgrades complete, the creamery was even better. A full dining area awaited us inside and the food was perhaps even better than it had been during our visit two years before. After dinner, we treated ourselves to ice cream at the separate ice cream bar. The abundance of flavors made picking anything an almost painful experience, especially knowing just how good any of those flavors were likely to be. None of us had anything to complain about, unless it was that we couldn’t try all of the flavors available.

We enjoyed a self-guided tour of the building, complete with samples of various cheeses on sale…but it was getting late and we had the long drive back to Portland still ahead of us.

Full stomachs and full hearts from a day of beautiful scenery and fun, we began the drive East, taking the Wilson River Highway through the Tillamook State Forest. The surrounding scenery was no less lovely than it had been when we’d taken this same drive two years before and the daylight remained with us until we’d reached Highway 26. The angle of the light as the sun approached the end of its apparent arc through the sky deepened the forest shadows and made it feel like we were surrounded by an endless sea of diverse shades of green.

It was after 10 PM when we returned to our hotel and settled in for the night.

Wandering Portland

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Thursday, June 20th of 2019, was spent entirely in Portland, Oregon. It was time to take a break from long drives for a day. We’d traveled 474 miles on Wednesday, 324 miles on Tuesday, 241 miles on Monday, and a whopping 713 miles on Sunday. Of course, that was combined driving and walking, but only a small portion of that was spent walking…I was, as you can imagine, ready to spend a bit less time behind the wheel.

Besides, we had a great way to get the day started and a surprise for my daughter that evening.

Our first stop was The Waffle Window in Northeast Portland (that location no longer appears to be open). At 8:30 AM, nothing could have hit the spot quite the way that waffle did, the one I’d purchased no longer appears to be on the menu at the current Waffle Window locations, but it included strawberry and a cream made using rose hips. I believe it was the Rose City waffle, which may be available only at certain times of year. It was amazing.

After an excellent breakfast, we headed West toward Washington Park and the Oregon Zoo. We had a schedule to keep.

I’d spent a few hundred dollars a couple of months before, in preparation for this vacation, to experience something we simply had to experience for ourselves.

We received more than my money’s worth with the sea otter experience at the Oregon Zoo. I’d known we would be able to spend time behind the scenes, seeing the otters in their enclosure rather than through the usual viewing location. We got to watch as Lincoln was given treats and samples were taken from him. I expected that to be about as close as we’d get. Instead, we were given the chance to hand-feed Juno and Sushi for approximately ten to fifteen minutes. We were provided with a bucket filled with diced up bits of fish and other assorted sea life, and we were allowed to spoil them rotten. Photos of the otter experience are above.

After spending a rather long interval at the zoo, we returned to the hotel until a little after 5 PM.

We headed toward downtown Portland and parked in the Chinatown area.

Our next stop was the Lan Su Chinese Garden. A special event was soon to be taking place, and our time was limited, so the hostess offered us discounted passes to enjoy the lovely garden. While I would have loved to spend more time there, especially as the sun approached the horizon, it was incredibly considerate of the hostess to offer us the concession she did. The garden isn’t a large place, but it feels much larger when you’re inside.

You can almost imagine you’re somewhere far away from where you actually are, until you catch glimpses of the towering skyscrapers beyond the walls of the garden itself. Photos of the Lan Su Chinese Garden are below.

From there, we remained on foot. It was time to visit my favorite location in downtown Portland, Powell’s City of Books. It was 6:30PM when we arrived and we didn’t leave there until after 8 PM. There are few stores where I can lose track of time as effectively as within the mighty shelves of Powell’s. As one might reasonably suspect, I spent altogether too much money during that visit…we all did.

We had time to return to the Impala, where we deposited our purchases, before we made our way to the next destination.

From roughly 8:30 until 10:30 PM, we joined up with Portland Walking Tours for their late night ghost hunting experience. Naturally, there were no ghosts, but there was a lot of local history (mingled with a fair bit of mythology, I’m sure) and a fun experience to be had.

The first hour and a half of the tour involved wandering through a substantial chunk of downtown Portland. It was thoroughly enjoyable, less because I believe in ghosts than for the enthusiasm of the tour guide in his detailed assortment of tales and trivia items.

We returned to the starting point of the walking tour and made our way into the basement of the building, with only flashlights to provide us with illumination. Connecting, as it supposedly did, to the old tunnels beneath the city, there were tales aplenty that accompanied our descent into the dark underground. Of course, we did not summon a ghost nor did we witness any sort of evidence that there might be a ghost down there, but the atmosphere was quite excellent.

It was almost Midnight when we finally settled in at our hotel, after ordering takeout from a reasonably nice diner located near PDX and the Columbia River, Shari’s Cafe and Pies.