Our Final Days

April 30, May 1, May 2

Saturday we had a work day!  BUT, first we did meet Ginny, Kirsten's mom, at Patty's in St. John's, a Portland neighborhood, for an old-fashioned breakfast. Then, Kirsten and Matt cleaned one final time at their Overton St. carriage house, I weeded at the new N Van Houten St. home and Peter took down the patio roof. For dinner Kirsten made pasta piselli with fresh peas.......mmmm good!

Sunday was a little more relaxing!  For breakfast, we walked to the new Portsmouth Pantry where I had a great latte with a fir tree design on the foam....unique!!  And the breakfast sandwiches were delicious!  After a few chores to get ready for a birthday dinner on the patio with Kirsten's family as guests, we drove to Kelley Point, a park situated at the point where the Columbia and the Willamette Rivers meet. We strolled around the park for an hour and Daisy, Kirsten and Matt's dog, even had a swim on the beach!  The weather had been warm and sunny since we arrived, high 70s, even low 80s, and sunny. 

Back at home, Ginny, Erik, Kirsten's brother, Marti, his wife and Birgita, their daughter, arrived at 5 for Matt and Kirsten's first dinner party at their new home. After cocktails and face-painting (Birgita is a "pro" at this), we ate chicken, grilled to perfection by Matt on their new Kamamodo grill, caprese salad made with the fresh mozzarella di bufolo we brought from California and a delicious salad made by Kirsten. For dessert we had poppy seed cake and ice cream to celebrate my birthday!  What a day!!!

Monday, our last day in Portland, Peter and I drove Matt's car into the Pearl, the downtown  Portland neighborhood, to meet Billy Norris, a friend from Beverly that I've known since first grade!  66 years!  Billy (known as Billy ONLY by his oldest friends) and his whole family are old Alexander family friends. We met him at the Daily Cafe for lunch, memories and "catch-up!"  After lunch, we walked the neighborhood with him, saw some nice city parks and ended up at Billy's high rise condo in the Pinnacles with a view if Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainer and Mt. Adams. Pretty spectacular!! 

After a couple of stops to do errands, we returned to Matt and Kirsten's. Peter left again to pick Matt up at the "shop" and I stayed home to prep dinner, pesto sauce on fresh fettuccine and salad. We were all pretty tired and had to get up at 4:30 AM for our flight home tomorrow so after some chatting and repacking, we all retired!  What fun to visit Kirsten and Matt in their "new digs!"  They are great hosts and so comfortable to be with....and Daisy is a "love!"