Portland Get-Away

Last weekend Dave and I made a quick trip down to Portland.  Our main objective was to get a new bird - a canary that Dave had picked out after a week of researching breeders and varieties of canaries.

Once he decided to go with the breeder in Vancouver, I begged for him to take me to Portland (just a few miles out of the way) because my all time favorite knitting store Twisted is there.

Not only did he consent, he suggested that we go a day early so we could make it to Twisted's Knit Night!  Have I told you how much I love this man!  Sooooooo much!  :)  So Friday afternoon, we dropped Sammie off at school (Grandma would be picking her up) and took off.

This is my car knitting project - the "Twisted one-skein" club project for February - a beautiful cowl in chunky Malabrigo yarn.  YUMMY!  I got it about half done.

While we didn't have to fight traffic, we did have to turn around and go home once, stop for gas, and stop to feed Ruby along the way.  That meant we got to Twisted just a few minutes late.  (And meant that dinner would have to wait until AFTER we finished knitting).  Dave is such a good sport!

This is just a part of their sock yarn selection.  Can you see why I absolutely love this shop!?!

Dave works on his scarf:

After the knit night was over, we found a Red Robin and splurged for dinner.  We got drinks, burgers, fries AND split a sundae!  Oh so yummy... and worth every calorie!

Then we drove back downtown and found our Hotel.  We used Priceline and stayed at a pretty deluxe place for only $70!!!  It was called Hotel Lucia - and while the room was small, it was pretty swanky.  This is the view from the bathroom.  I only brought my 50mm lens so getting pictures of the whole room at once was impossible.

Here we are being silly.

I liked this shot of Ruby.  It isn't often I get her in profile.

We watched cable tv (HGTV and Food Netwark) until we fell asleep - another luxury we go without at home.  The next morning we hit our favorite coffee shop.  The concierge at the hotel suggested a local roastery, but we just couldn't do it!  The bux called to us...

Then Dave and I walked and shopped downtown Portland.  We went to a brand new spice shop, the Verizon store, and Nordy's - among other places.  Dave got a new cover for his phone:

...and I got a new pair of shoes.  Unfortunately they weren't in stock, so I have to wait for them to come in the mail.  Hence the pouty face.

We made one last stop before heading north to pick up the bird.  It wouldn't have been a mini-vacation without sushi!  This joint had great food - and each plate was only $1!!  We made it out (with tip) for $10.  Gotta love that!

Finally, this little guy was the reason for the whole trip.  Sammie wanted to name him "Sweetie" and we wanted something a little more suave and debonair - with a big band/mob boss sound to it.  So we settled on "Sweetie Valentino".   He sings beautifully and we love him already.