loveners

Hello Fodorites

A quick trip report as-we-go.

DAY 1: FROM AUCKLAND NZ to SAN FRANCISCO

Friday June 28 - we flew from Auckland to San Francisco via NZ8 on Air NZ. Great service and a smooth flight despite late off. Scored the exit row and all of its extra leg room

We arrived to sun and temperatures 4 x times warmer than back home The holiday was getting a fantastic start.

We picked up our rental car from Budget. We booked online at budget.com and pre-paid our one week rental. What we didn't realise was that by pre-paying, we were allowed into the priority queue (only 3 customers in it) instead of the normal queue (at least 20 people in it, all needing about 8 minutes each to be served). Score!

The GPS made the drive from SFO to our family's home in San Jose really easy. It was a nice drive, especially with darling Lovener2 alongside to help make sure we were getting for the cars coming from different sides of the road than we were used to. The drive took about an hour and the home in San Jose is in a lovely leafy and quiet area.

Our family was still out at work and holiday programmes so we decided to venture to the local shops and get ourselves sorted out with a simcard. By now we are starting to notice just how hot it really is. One opens the car door and it is like you have opened the door of the oven. The winter clothes from home are quickly exchanged for something with a touch more air flow

The simcard exercise was far more painful than it needed to be. I had to put on my grumpy bear voice after we had made 3 trips back to the store, spent over 3 hours trying to sort it out. it turned out they sold us a plan that actually was removed from the market a week prior. Surprise, surprise, it wouldn't work. My only advice - if you need a simcard, go directly to the telco provider. Do not bother with Radioshack (who could more appropriately name themselves radioshite).

We had a nice quiet evening at home with the family, enjoying the sun and new backyard. Glorious.


DAY 2: GILROY and THE MEGA BBQ
Saturday 29 June

The heatwave continues - hurrah!

This morning we ventured to the Gilroy Premium Outlets, about a 30 minute drive from San Jose. We didn't have that long so focused on Gap, Saks and Banana Republic. A couple of good bargains but in my opinion, Nordstrom Rack wins when it comes to 'steal of a deal bargains'. It was a great day to go with the heat temperatures. There was great aircon and everyone else had gone to the beach so lovely and quiet.

We ventured into the countryside to Gilroy's garden/farming area and then scoffed blackberries all the way home. We picked up some amazing strawberries - enormous in size and full of flavour. Looking forward to trying the peaches and nectarines today. Yummo.

The afternoon involved an end-of-soccer-season-party with 65 people descending on the backyard. It was a lovely fun afternoon with lots of kids running around and having fun with the hose.

Another great day. Am loving the heatwave. 110 degrees today (or 43 where we come from). Nothing short of glorious and 5 x hotter than the weather we came from yesterday

simpsonc510

It's great that you are enjoying the heat! I'll bet the locals aren't that impressed with it... lol

Sounds like a great start to your vacation.

simpsonc510

By the way, what got me interested in your trip report is the mention of the Cook Islands... LOVED them when I was there in 2004!

sf7307

It has been hot here, but we love it because it's so infrequent. Yesterday, we ran into a couple that came to SF from San Jose "to cool off" - it was about 110 at home, and ONLY in the 80s here in the city!

Suzie

Did it reach 100 degrees in San Jose yesterday? Guess I missed that. Thought it was around mid 90s. Wouldn't 110 be some giant record setting temp for SJ on June 29?

loveners

110 was the reading in Gilroy We're loving it. Hang in there Simpson, the Cook Islands are the last leg of the journey.

loveners

Day 3: Sunday 30 June

Still loving the heat.

We started the day with a short walk to the San Jose village. Lots of people out walking their dogs and lining up for brunch. We decided to try the Crepe Vine but wouldn't rush back. We seemed to fall into a service black hole and I waited almost an hour for poached eggs (& then they forgot the toast that with the eggs).

We wandered back to the house and then headed off to Mountain Hill to pick up family that had been having sleepovers. Mountain Hill seemed a lovely quiet city and was about 40km south of San Jose back towards the Santa Cruz mountains.

The quick pick up turned into an unscheduled multi-course home-made banquet lunch with friends. Totally unexpected and wonderful hospitality.

We spent the late afternoon at the San Jose Swim and Racquet club lounging around by the pool, taking the occasional dip (the water was as warm as bath water, amazing) and watching the kids swim, dive and play. It was a fabulous afternoon just hanging around with the family and enjoying the sun. We enjoyed our later afternoon bbq leftovers and reluctantly dragged ourselves home to enjoy the last of the sun at home.

Tomorrow we have an early start, heading for the Big Smoke of San Francisco.

janisj

>>headed off to Mountain Hill

Suzie

I was referring to the 110 temp in San Jose from sf7307's reply.

loveners

oh yes, Morgan Hill , thanks Janis!

loveners

MONDAY 1 JULY - SAN JOSE TO SAN FRANCISCO

We had an early start and drove from San Jose to Portland. We left not long after 7am and seemed to avoid all the traffic and made good time to San Francisco. It was an easy drive to our hotel near Union Square.

The lovely lady at the Westin gave us a fantastic room. Up on the 28th floor and with floor to ceiling windows on 2 sides. Just amazing.

We wandered the streets of San Francisco and did some shopping in Union Square for a few hours. Lovener2 was very successful in the shopping department and now owns two new pairs of shoes, 3 pairs of jeans and a new jacket. A lot of credit card damage was done at my favourite store, Williams Sonoma.

Time was starting to get away on us and we didn't want to be late for our Alcatraz spot. We took a cab down to the crazy zoo of Fisherman's Wharf and had a very quick bite at the bar of bubba gump shrimp. Nothing to write home about but good service and nice to be out in the hustle and bustle.

Alactraz was fantastic. We both really enjoyed the audio tour and would have loved it if it gone on for even longer. We were really getting into it and then it was over We were both surprised how quickly time passed and how small the actual prison facility was.

We ferried back to Fisherman's Wharf and then walked back to Union square. We did a bit more shopping on the way home (sales are fantastic compared to what we get at home).

We eventually made it back to the hotel, about 28,000 steps later. Rested our feet for a few minutes and then headed out for a late dinner.

We ate at Colibri Mexican restaurant which was very close to Union Square. The meal and service were both excellent. We enjoyed ceviche, slow cooked chicken and slow cooked pork (plus a few cocktails). It was all delicious.

Feet now feeling really sore, it was time for bed.

loveners

TUESDAY 2 JULY SAN FRANCISCO TO SOUTH LAKE TAHOE

Another early start today as we were driving from San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe.

We headed off about 7.45am and first drove to Folsom to visit a Costco. We had a card that would give us access to the members-only shopping warehouse. It was absolutely fascinating with everything you could possibly want to buy in bulk. A couple of good bargains snatched (& the suitcases beginning to bulge), we headed back onto the highway.

The drive to South Lake Tahoe was a bit of a concrete jungle with outlet malls on both sides of the highway. It eventually got a bit more exciting when we entered Eldorado county.

We made it to South Lake Tahoe around 2pm and headed straight for the Ms Dixie paddle-steamer (or should I say, diesel? powered ferry with a paddle accessory??). We had booked this in advance and were really looking forward to it.

The weather didn't work in our favour. Despite being really warm the skies greyed over and Lake Tahoe resembled a dirty grey puddle. Ms Dixie went to Emerald Bay and it was scenic but still very grey. There was even some lightning to keep things exciting.

The Ms Dixie experience was quite entertaining with a good commentary and very friendly staff. Food on board was good and we had a really nice time despite the views being pretty average.

We headed back our family's house and made ourselves at home. Dinner was take-out from La Familia on Ski Run Boulevard. Excellent mexican food, only a short wait, and helpful staff. The rest of the family arrived up from San Jose about 8.30pm and we had a great night catching up. It was a shame that this was the last stop before we headed our separate ways.

Another early start on Wednesday 3 July with a drive from South Lake Tahoe to Reno Airport followed by flights to Portland (via San Francisco).

loveners

Wednesday 3 July

Today we had our travel day, driving from South Lake Tahoe to Reno and then flying to Portland via San Francisco.

It was an easy short drive with little traffic on the road. It is hard to see much Lake from the road when you are driving which surprised me as prior to visiting, I had read multiple recommendations to drive around Lake Tahoe. It was hard to see much whilst driving for the section of the route that we drove.

Our rental car return and check-in was smooth and straight-forward. Our flights were complimentary following a rather disastrous experience with United earlier in February when I spent 5 days stranded around various airports thanks to United mechanical issues. Thankfully, this flight was uneventful ☺

We connected through to our Portland flight which was an hour late leaving. Portland airport is small and had an immediately friendly and welcoming feel. Catching the Max light rail into the city was an easy way of getting into the city and checking out the neighbourhoods at the same time.

We found our hotel, Westin Portland easily. Our first impressions of Portland are great – it’s a fantastic, clean city with lots of greenery. We are staying at the Westin alongside a large number of WDS2013 attendees. We’re also getting starwood points which I’m hoping to use later in the year when Mum & I go to the Isle of Pines – hurrah, can’t wait!

After checking in and getting settled, we headed out for a bite to eat at Oba. Oba is a Venezulean restaurant. We enjoyed great cocktails and a lovely meal seated outside with the warm breeze. My favourite dish was the stuffed jalapenos. Simply delicious.


Thursday 4th July Adventuring to Nordstrom Rack, Tannasbourne.

We’d put today aside to check-out the large Nordstrom Rack store in Tannasbourne. We’d decided to take the rail and bus out there and the plan half worked. We got the timetable a little wrong with the Sunday schedule being active due to the public holiday. We caught the train for half the day and then caught a taxi the remainder of the journey which worked out well.

Lunch was a yummy petite burger from FiveGuys and, now well fortified, headed off to Nordstrom. The bargains were excellent and the choice was great. I would have liked a few more handbags to choose from but was very happy with the items were picked out. Dad did very well in the Polo shirt department and Lovener2 scored well in the shoes department.

The bus and train back to the city was easy and we dropped our purchases quickly before heading out on a Brewvana Beer Lovers tour for the evening. We grabbed a quick snack to eat at the Blues Festival on the waterfront before meeting up with Matthew, the Beer Lovers Tour Guide. Even for a non-beer drinker like myself, the beer tour was lots of fun. Lovener2 (the brewer in the family) was in his element. We met the head brewer from Base Camp brewery and Lovener2 whipped out his list of questions. We also visited Gigantic Brewery which was in the ‘burbs. Thankfully, they at least sold bubbles so I didn’t have to be a complete tee-totaller.

After Gigantic, we headed to Hopworks which was o.k but didn’t have quite the same intimate “craft” feeling as the other breweries we visited. I was bracing myself to visit the 4th brewery and then we found out only 3 breweries would be visited due to a change of scheduling with the 4th July celebrations. We had a great night out and loved all the people we met.


Friday 5th July: from the Willamette River in a Tube to the Zoo

Today was a day full of adventure. We kicked off early with a walk over to the other side of the river to join 612 other brave souls attempting to break a world record.

The world record we were chasing was the longest consecutive “floating” human chain. We all had donut-shaped inner tubes and a life vest. It wasn’t the warmest of mornings (I’ve since discovered that Portland seems to be cool until lunch time and then gets hotter as the day goes on). We all lined up and then jumped into the river holding onto a piece of rope.

Each string of rope had about 50 floaters hanging on. Our string of rope was then towed out into the Willamette and joined onto another string of floaters. We were in the water relatively early on and had a while to wait as other floaters progressed through the queue. We entertained ourselves with chatting to other floaters, singing songs, having a laugh and doing the Mexican wave. It was a real hoot and we loved every minute.

The world record gods smiled on us and we nailed the world record attempt with 621 confirmed floaters. We beat the previous record holders from Italy that only had 500-something floaters. Dripping wet, it was time to test the human spirit and borrow a towel from a stranger to dry off.

Lovener2 had to race off and join his next brewery tour, Brewvana’s Behind the Scenes tour. After he nipped off, I stayed around to help deflate the inner tubes before dripping my way back to the hotel and washing the river sand out of the shoes.

Lovener2 had a great time at his beer tour, he seemed to really enjoy Lancewood brewery. After I’d done the washing and got myself organized, I headed off for a quick stroll around the town (or around the shops to be more accurate . The afternoon had quickly evaporated and it was time for me to head to meet up with other WDS attendees and catch the bus to our special event at the Oregon Zoo. I got the registration processes out of the way and then met up with Lovener2 a couple of hours later.

My first impression of WDS was awe. So slick and well-organised. Even more meaningful given that this is a volunteer-run effort with no commercial sponsorship & completely non-for-profit.

The opening party was so much fun. Meeting great people, enjoying the sun. A marching band including stilt walkers performing on stage. We met one of our favourite actresses from Offspring and lots of other interesting people.

Saturday 6th July The Big Event we’d come for – WDS.

We planned our trip around WDS. People keep asking us “what WDS is” but in truth we’re still figuring it out and having fun figuring it out. We’ve been asked “is it religious?” “is it a cult?” “why is it non-profit”. We’ve heard it described as “for people wanting a non-conventional life”, “for entrepreneurs and bloggers” and variations of both of those theme. In short, it’s an amazing collection of individuals grounded by a shared desire to be adventurous and contribute to the community.

We had some amazing and inspiring speakers and participated in workshops. We finished the day feeling uplifted and energized. We then headed off with 400 others for a cruise on the Willamette River. We topped a great day out with dinner and cocktails at Saucebox. Delicious and fun.

loveners

SUNDAY 7 JULY - THE FINAL DAY of WDS

Absolutely awesome speakers today at WDS. All pretty inspiring stuff around the science behind happiness, goal setting, rejection therapy, and dreams. We had a great afternoon workshop on blogging as well.

The night ended with an 80s Dance Party at Pioneer Square. Lots of bollywood dancing as well. It was a real laugh and we had a great time, dancing away until midnight.


MONDAY 8 JULY - OUR FINAL DAY IN PORTLAND

Another beautiful day in Portland. Firstly it was time to pack the bags and get all of our/our friends' shopping packed in. The suitcases aren't rolling quite as smoothly now thanks to Portland's tax-free shopping...

We caught the bus over to The Commons brewery but found it closed so walked over to Lucky Labrador instead. We had a nice time there (food was o,k but not fabulous) and enjoyed the sampling tasting tray and cider.

We wandered back across the Hawthorne bridge and through the city & wandered around the shops. Our feet are feeling tired today even though we've only done 10,000 steps.

We finished up with a snack at Rockbottom Brewery. Food and beer excellent and friendly service. We hopped in cab and made our way to the airport.

Tonight we head to San Francisco & overnight there before heading to Monteal tomorrow at lunch time. We're sad to leave Portland. We've loved our time here and had amazing experiences (& weather!)

loveners

TUESDAY 9 JULY TRAVEL DAY FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO MONTREAL

We got lucky with our flight to San Francisco last night. Our flight crew were reaching their maximum hours and about to become "illegal" which meant that our flight left only 1 hour late. The other flight to San Fran (due to leave an hour before us) ended up being scheduled to arrive on midnight & 5 hours late.

We scored well again for the flight to Montreal. On checking in we were told that we were the only on-time flight scheduled for the day, hurrah.

We had a quick nibble to eat and then found the Ghiaradelli chocolate stand before heading for the plane. It was great to be on Air Canada (not as great as Air NZ but several notable steps above United).

It was a smooth 5 hour 20 min flight from San Francisco to Montreal. No meal was served on the plane but we had Ghiaradelli so we were fine . Off to stay with the family now, having a lovely time.

ps- Montreal is hot and muggy! 30 deg c on arrival at 9pm.

loveners

WEDNESDAY 10 JULY MONTREAL

It wasn't the best of sleeps but we soon got on our way to catch up with some quilting friends in downtown Montreal. We all had a late breakfast together and chatted for several hours before going our separate ways.

We got home in time for a late lunch, quick rest and then headed out to the local Baie D'Urfe village for some errands. A trip to the grocery store was lots of fun and I managed to pick up somethings not available back home.

We were looking forward to our dinner in the older part of Montreal at Joe Beef. Reservations are hard to come by and we had a slight moment of panic when our reservation was hard to call up. It's a small intimate restaurant with seating very close together.

I was thrilled when they found us a more spacious table (more like a picnic table) in the garden. They have a great vegie garden which made Lovener2 a bit jealous. Many of the salad ingredients are grown there. I actually saw a mouse scurrying amongst the swiss-chard so hopefully it doesn't turn up on the menu at some time later...

The menu was rich and decadent with a brief salute to French cuisine. It wasn't the most amazing meal I've ever eaten but it was memorable and the company was great. We tried the oysters / tuna / double-down foie gras / rabbit / steak / lobster pasta / doughnuts / profiteroles. I think the double-down foie gras would have had 2,000 calories alone.

Selective nibbling was the only way to go through this menu that would have given my nutritionist kittens. I was very selective in my nibbling until we got to the doughnuts. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my waist-line), I had a bit of competition for these as they were so good. At the time I didn't need quite so much competition for the doughnuts, but on writing this a day later (today having been clothes shopping), the competition was a good thing

After all that cream & butter, there was nothing more that could be done than lie around. So on that note, we headed off to bed.

loveners

THURSDAY 11 JULY A QUICK TRIP to THE BAY / BAIE STORE

A lovely relaxing day today. In the morning we ran errands and then found ourselves at the Pointe Claire "Baie" store. There were many bargains to be found. It is a large department store and now is a good time to visit with many items marked down by 60-70%. The signage is all in French and refers to Liquidation. I'm not sure if this means the same as what it does to us when we are at home. However, there are great quality shoes, clothes and handbags.

We meandered home after picking up a yummy lunch from the patisserie. A quick afternoon nap followed by dinner at home with a cousin who had come to visit.


FRIDAY 12 JULY

We had a nice sleep in this morning and then went for a walk. Not that far but everything seems further at 29 deg. c. We had hoped to find an exercise class that had been scheduled at the local colleague but it seemed to be not running with the holiday break on here. We wandered through the St Anne village and found a nice spot to have a waterfront lunch. It's clearly a very wealthy area from the number of power launches that pull beside us. We share a plate of aranchini and enjoy the novelty of warm wind (rather icy cold wind) blowing on us.

While we are out we also manage to pick up a cabin bag at the thrift store for $5. It's a touch too long to make Air NZ really happy but I think that we can get almost get away with it. We walk home with the bag for a while but in the heat it gets a bit tiresome so we hop on a passing bus.

Later in the afternoon we make a quick back to the Bay department store. The store itself isn't well organised in the ladies wear department so it takes some time to comb through the shelves. Even now, after 2 visits, I still don't feel like I've combed through ladieswear properly. I come home with a new dress ($50), and two Tommy Hilfigier blazers ($70 each) and some most gorgeous Liberty of London ballet flats. Lovener2 find many stylish bloke items not quite as bargainsome but great finds nonetheless.

A late dinner at home, delicious and then quickly off to sleep.

loveners

SATURDAY 13 JULY OUR LAST DAY IN MONTREAL

Another balmy 32 degree c day today. We left early for a visit to the old city. First up, I wanted to visit a French fabric shop called Effiloche. Alas, when we arrived they were closed for their annual summer holiday Such a shame, all the quilting fabrics in the window looked gorgeous.

Next up we headed for the old city and had a great wander around. Great art galleries and interesting shops. Everything felt very European and decidedly "Frenchy" We visited the Basilica Notre Dame which was nothing short of glorious inside.

We enjoyed a great lunch down at the Cartier Square, soaking up the atmosphere and enjoying the sunshine before wandering back to the car via more galleries. A lovely afternoon.

A quick visit to the Bay/Baie's downtown store produced further shopping fruits before we headed home for a quick pack. For all you non-believers out-there, everything has fitted into the suitcase(s) nicely and we even have a little room

We had a great night out at the Baie D'Urfe yacht club. It was amazingly hot. It was hard to comprehend Mum's emails from home describing howling gales when I was reaching into my handbag for a wet-one to wipe off the heat....

Our time in Montreal draws to a close. We are up early tomorrow for our flight to Los Angeles. We'll spend our layover in the company of awesome friends which we are looking forward to. I'm also looking forward to off-loading the vegemite spread I've been carrying for them. It's now been through Wellington-Auckland-SFO-Reno-SFO-Portland-SFO-Montreal Airports. It's well-travelled breakfast spread

cybor

Looks like you covered a lot of ground and enjoyed yourselves.
Nice report.

Daniel_Williams

It was indeed hot yesterday here in Montreal; I went cycling in my jeans and was wishing I'd worn shorts a few minutes into my bike ride. It seems like you stayed out in the far reaches of the West Island, which gave you likely a different perspective of Montreal than most visitors get.

Enjoying your trip report and reading your thoughts about Portland and Montreal as I visited Portland for the first time myself last month! Unlike me, seems like you got great weather in Portland. You'll have to return to Portland some day to see the gorge-ous Columbia River Gorge. Best wishes, Daniel