by Jim Bellomo | Oct 10, 2025 | Uncategorized
What can I say about yesterday? We had an amazing breakfast, followed by a very long drive to a creamery to witness cheese being made, then a short drive to see a large rock, followed by a long drive to get back and finally an incredible dinner.
That was it. I feel like I let my fellow October Gang buddies down with a rather long and boring trip to the Oregon Coast. We have always loved the Oregon Coast, but other than a tour of the Tillamook Creamery, it was pretty much a snooze. I think our memories of Cannon Beach were too old. We remember being able to walk out on the beach much more easily. And we remember that we used to like shopping. Now it does nothing for us. Twenty-five years ago, when we first visited, we spent hours in all the shops. Now we couldn’t care less. We are done collecting items from places we have already visited.
On the other hand, this trip is rapidly morphing into a five-day food tour. Kathleen’s daughter, Michelle, and her husband, Brian, visit Portland on a regular basis, and they have recommended several places to eat. Yesterday morning, we tried one of their breakfast options, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve never had a breakfast I liked more. The food and service were amazing. The place is called Petite Provence. How good was it? We are going back again in about 30 minutes from when I am writing this. Here are some pics.
Here’s the sign so you don’t miss it. It’s on Alberta Street.
Their croissants are HUGE!
This dish is Bourguignon Brunch. It has…tender beef braised in red wine ancho chili sauce, served over a piquant hash of butternut squash, bacon, leek, Provence potato, green pepper, harissa, and jalapeño. Topped with an egg and Horseradish Crème.
After breakfast, we headed to the coast. Our first stop, after a 90-minute drive, was the Tillamook Creamery. If you’re in the USA, you’ve probably heard of Tillamook cheese and ice cream. This is where they make it. If you’re on the Oregon Coast, I highly recommend a quick visit. It’s a self-guided tour that offers a view over the cheesemaking and packaging process. Then, enjoy a sample of cheese and, of course, some of their famous ice cream. Here are a few photos from that experience.
The front of the building is really cool with the biggest cow painting I have ever seen.
The stairs leading to the tour are haloed by cheese blocks.
Cheese is packaged here in giant blocks to age.
This woman is making sure that there is no air in the bag.
The workers do the final packaging. I have always wanted a “Robotic Debagger.”
These folks make sure all the cut blocks weigh the same. If not, they slice some off. I have no clue what they do if the blocks are under weight.
After our cheese adventure, we headed north to Cannon Beach… or so we hoped. None of our cell phones had coverage (thanks, T-Mobile), and there were no signs indicating Cannon Beach ahead. I stopped for gas and asked a man, who said it’s about 15 miles up the road. We finally arrived, and the place was crowded. You can no longer easily get out to the beach to see Haystack Rock. The guys went out to take a photo while the ladies stayed behind. The stairs were too steep. There are numerous shops selling things we don’t need, and everyone just wanted to return to the hotel. So off we went. I should mention that neither the road we took to Tillamook nor the road we returned on to Portland had many restrooms. It made for a lousy trip back to the hotel.
We had a 7:00 pm reservation at Andina, a Peruvian restaurant downtown. This was the place we canceled after the food tour on Tuesday because we were so full, and moved it to last night.
Speaking of downtown, as the driver, I find it funny that everyone keeps asking if I am okay driving back downtown or if we should eat somewhere near the hotel. I keep telling them that the only places to eat near the hotel are the hotel itself or the airport. Of course, I don’t mind driving downtown for the kind of food I get there.
Andina was incredible. Just when I thought the food here in Portland couldn’t improve, we had two utterly fantastic appetizers. One was a scallop ceviche, and the other was a barbecued rib. We shared them, but honestly, I could go back tonight, order just those two appetizers, and that would be it. I also had an amazing entrée. They called it “lomo saltado,” and it was like a hybrid of stir-fry and poutine. It featured beef and onions stir-fried in a savory sauce and then poured over French fries. Strangely enough, they served it with garlic rice. Not sure why two starches were included, but they were both delicious. Overall, Andina was a winner. Kathleen and I visited there about ten years ago, and to be honest, they have improved even more since then… and we loved them then. I also had a cocktail (notice I said A cocktail…as the designated driver, I get one ?) but it was a winner. It was called a Carmen St. Revue. I asked the bartender for the recipe, but it contains so many special ingredients that it would be nearly impossible to recreate at home.
My cocktail…it was amazing.
The remains of our appetizers. I wish I had remembered to take a before photo.
My entrée
Kathleen’s chicken entrée…almost half a bird.
That was our day. Tomorrow is our last day in Portland, and I am not sure what we are doing. I had planned for us to visit the Oregon wine region, but after today’s long drive, I’m not sure if anyone is up for doing that.
This activist loves Oregon more than he loves life. —Tom McCall
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 9, 2025 | Uncategorized
Yesterday morning, we headed out to the Columbia Gorge (after a hotel breakfast that left much to be desired) to visit Multnomah Falls, Vista House, and Hood River. Then it would be back to Portland for some outstanding Greek food for dinner.
Multnomah Falls is about 25 miles due east of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge. That’s about all I can say about it, other than it is a waterfall, it’s pretty, and it’s fairly accessible. I will let some pretty pictures do the talking. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
A truly beautiful waterfall
The bridge does a nice job of giving you some perspective and scale.
Photo time!
Looking back from the bridge.
Cathy didn’t walk up to the bridge.
So she waited for us and took photos for everyone who came by.
The waterfall again
And near the bottom
My favorite shot. The sun peaked through and turned the water almost blue.
After our waterfall experience, we drove about six miles back down the Gorge to drive up to Vista House. This is an old structure that perches on top of a very high point along the Columbia River and offers amazing views in both directions. I took a few shots there, and then we are off to Hood River.
Looking east up the river.
This is a merged panoramic shot looking both ways.
Our next stop was at the Cascade Locks, where the original locks were built to allow steamships to bypass the rapids on the river. Took a couple of photos there as well.
Looking west to “The Bridge of the Gods.” Not sure why it is called that but we will ask our speaker on the cruise.
Looking east. We will sail past this sometime next week.
About six months ago, my son Josh told us that he and his wife had visited Hood River and were really impressed. To the extent that they felt they could actually live there. For an urban lover like my son, that says a lot. So we had to go investigate. It turns out to be a pretty cool town. Our first stop was the pFriem Brewery, where we grabbed a delicious lunch. Here’s what we had.
I had an outstanding fish and chips and…
Kathleen had an elote corn salad.
When we emerged from the brewery, we were looking directly at the river. One of the things the Columbia is famous for is wind and windsurfing. Got a few photos of that as well.
Just beautiful blue water…
And a really nice weather day.
Not too much wind. Warm and sunny.
One of the biggest attractions (but you have to look for it) is the WAAAM. That stands for Western Antique Airplane & Automobile Museum. My son also enjoyed this, which surprised me as well, until we drove up (it’s above the city by the airport) to see it. WOW! That’s all I can say. If you even slightly like cars and airplanes, this is the place you have to visit. Here are too many photos I took there. I can promise you that for every one you see here, there are five or six more I didn’t post. There are captions on my favorites.
The outside
A collection of motors
They packed in all the cars and airplanes together.
The collection came from one man.
Read about it at the link in the text.
Just so many amazing planes and cars.
This yellow one was gorgeous. It’s a Cord.
This is actually an airliner.
First flown by PanAm.
Around the other side of the PanAm plane was…
the door where you boarded.
Not sure I want to fly far in this.
Loved this one. One of the few not restored.
It’s me!
Even motorcycles.
A whole section on military vehicles.
Cars from every era.
Love this car.
Love this old bakery truck.
Warplanes
A P-51 Mustang
So very cool.
Now we are getting into my kind of cars.
All of them are gorgeous.
These are the really fast ones.
The entire collection is amazing.
If you aren’t into cars, feel free to skip ahead to dinner. Many of you know I have a thing for hood ornaments. I just think they are art that has been lost. So when I see good ones, I have to photograph them and add them to my collection. Here are the ones I found this time. No captions. Just the art of the hood ornament.
After we left WAAAM, it was a long drive back to Portland on the Washington side of the river so we could end up in Vancouver, WA, where I need to check in with my doctor for a quick follow-up test related to some issues from the radiation I had in March. No big deal. Everything’s better now.
That night, we had dinner reservations at Eleni’s Philoxenia, a highly-rated Greek restaurant in the Pearl District. We can see why it’s well-regarded. It was amazing—fantastic atmosphere, great music, superb service, and some of the best Greek food I’ve ever had. And I love Greek food.
I had the moussaka
Kathleen had Orzo Me Arni Kokonisto. Braised lamb over orzo. Amazing.
That about covers our Wednesday. Portland is still awesome and we can’t wait to sail up the Columbia Gorge and see it from the water. Stick with us. That happens next week. Tomorrow (earlier today as I write this) we went out to the Oregon Coast.
Sometimes in L.A., we get accused of being superficial. I feel like Portland’s the opposite, in that there’s a greater depth of character, and sense of self. —Ruben Fleischer
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 8, 2025 | Uncategorized
Our first full day back together with the rest of the October bunch was all about food. We had booked a walking food tour with Secret Food Tours. Kathleen and I had toured with them quite a few years ago, and we are happy to report that they still do a superb food tour. That’s the whole crowd at Deschutes Brewery (but more about that later) above.
We started the day with a free breakfast at our hotel (Embassy Suites by Hilton-PDX), and it was fine. It gave us enough to get us to the tour. We were to meet up with Ken Lin from Secret Food Tours at 11:00 am beneath the Umbrella Man sculpture in Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland. And, not to be too political here, I can tell you that Portland is NOT AT WAR. It is NOT DANGEROUS. We saw no crime, just a beautiful day and a lot of really nice people out enjoying the sunshine in the heart of Portland.
I took some shots around the Square before we met up with Ken. Just some interesting architecture, people, and the aforementioned Umbrella Man statue. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping. And PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Taken from the middle of the square on a beautiful fall day.
Facing in another direction.
The Umbrella Man
Up close he’s kind of spooky.
This guy was doing pushups on his hands for a while.
On the edges of what look like horse watering troughs just down from the Square were a variety of animal sculptures. I really liked these otters.
These are called Benson Bubblers. They are all around downtown.
Once Ken (at right) arrived, it was off on the food tour. Our first stop was a food pod. We had never been to a food pod before, but it turned out to be a really nice, fenced area with numerous food carts lining the edges, seating, and a stage in the middle. BTW: we were told that these were carts and not food trucks because they have no engines, thus they could not go anywhere. They are there permanently. If you can’t find something to eat or drink there, you aren’t trying. We got to try the Cubano sandwiches from Stella’s Sandwiches, which were drop-dead delicious. Never had one with pulled pork before (always just sliced pork) and it was amazing.
Kathleen heading into the food pod.
Stella’s Sandwiches and Bowls where we got…
This awesome Cubano sandwich.
After our food pod experience, we took the longest walk of the day from downtown into the Pearl District to visit Deschutes Brewery and sample their wonderful pretzel with cheese sauce and mustard. All I can say is that it was wonderful. Not quite up to our favorite at Valley House Brewing near us in Duvall, WA but still really good.
This is the place.
This is the food.
This is the really cool urinals in the men’s room. Like almost 6 feet high.
Next up was Nong’s Khao Man Gai. It’s an interesting place that is renowned for just this one dish. As you can tell from the name, it is an Asian restaurant. When you order the Khao Man Gai, you get chicken, rice, soup, cucumbers and one of the most amazing sauces. Truly delicious.
This is the place.
This is the food! The sauce was to die for.
From there it was on to Grassa, which is predominantly a pasta restaurant. We got to sample their Pork Belly Mac & Cheese. Absolute decadence might be a good way to describe it. Just amazing.
This is the place.
This is the food.
The last spot and the last course were, of course, dessert. We went just down the street to Petunia’s Pies and Pastries, the home of some truly delicious marionberry pie. If you have no clue what a marionberry is, think of a blackberry without all the annoying seeds. The pie, despite being gluten-free and vegan ?, was amazing.
This was the place.
This was the food.
During the entire tour, I took some street photos, mostly of neon signs, which I love, as well as others of interesting buildings. They are a good way to wind this up photographically.
Definitely a happy city.
A very cool bike sculpture.
And neon.
I love neon.
Can you tell?
Just love shooting it.
That about did it for Kathleen and me. She was exhausted from all the walking, so we dropped off Steve, Jamie, Mike, and Cathy at the Portland Rose Garden, and I took Kathleen back to the hotel to rest before going back to pick up the other four about an hour later. The traffic sucked, and that’s kind of what we get for staying in an airport hotel. We had reservations for dinner at Andina, a Peruvian restaurant Kathleen and I had visited before. However, everyone was still so full from the food tour, that I called and rescheduled them for Thursday.
Tomorrow is a trip up the Gorge to visit Multnomah Falls, Hood River and see Mount Hood. Should be fun. I will let you know on Thursday.
Portland is quickly becoming one of those lovely, lush Third World countries where kinda-rich people retire with their money. Here, they can live like kings, generating only service-industry jobs and jacking up housing prices. —Chuck Palahniuk
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 6, 2025 | Uncategorized
Well, travel followers, we are on our way (or at least we will be in about three hours). The October Bunch (us, my brother, his bride Jamie and our good friends Mike and Cathy from way down in Florida) is on the road again. And for the next few days, it will actually be a road trip.
Steve and Jamie arrived last Thursday, and we have been feeding them well and showing them a little of Seattle and Redmond since then. Last night we met up with our kids and grandkids for dinner. This afternoon, we will drive to Portland, and Mike and Cathy will fly in later tonight (like REALLY LATER tonight, like 11:45 pm). We will all finally be together tomorrow morning for a food tour in downtown Portland.
We will spend the next four days touring northwest Oregon before we board American Cruise Line’s Harmony to sail both up and down the Columbia and Snake rivers for a week, stopping in Kalama, Astoria, The Dalles, The Tri-Cities and finishing up in Clarkston, Washington, on the far east side of the state. Once we are off the ship/boat, we will spend two nights in Washington’s wine country by staying in Walla Walla, a place so nice, they named it twice.
While in Portland, we will do a day trip to the coast, out the Columbia Gorge and around Mount Hood, south to the Oregon wine region and then spend some time discovering Portland. Here’s a map of the entire trip.
Since you can’t blow it up (because it’s a screenshot of a Google Map), I’ll explain that the cruise part of the ship starts here in Portland. I started this post while at home, but we are now in Portland after a four-hour drive, which is why it seems like I have changed locations since I began writing. All purple dots with ships on them are the ports for the cruise. The loop out to the coast and up the Columbia are places we are going pre-cruise, and then we stop in Walla Walla post-cruise.
To break it down for you, we will be spending tonight through Friday at the Embassy Suites by Hilton at PDX (Portland International Airport). We didn’t really pick this hotel. The cruise line puts us up at this hotel on Friday night, and we sail on Saturday, so it serves as our base of operations until then. We really didn’t want to move from someplace else for one night..
Tomorrow, we are doing a food tour in the morning, followed by a visit to the Portland (City of Roses) Rose Garden, and a few other Portland favorites. Stay tuned for more updates in the days ahead.
Portland has all the accoutrements of a big city, but the heart and soul of it is a small town, so that creates an intimacy in a large environment. —DEAN DEVLIN
by Jim Bellomo | Oct 5, 2025 | 365
Not a bad week. Some fun stuff. But upcoming are some travel pics, and you know how I love to take those. More about that tomorrow as we leave for Portland, Oregon, just after noon. I think the three wooden people grab me the most this week. How about you?
Tonight was our monthly Supper Club here at Trilogy. Eighty people came in hungry for our awesome chef Andrew’s cooking. This month featured German food, and it did not disappoint. It was just delicious. And it gave me a chance to do some crowd photography. I realize that for some, living in a 55+ community might seem like a cliché, but we love it. We’ve made so many friends here and have so much fun. Just like these people are.
Today was a really busy day, so I forgot to take a photo. Pretty ridiculous since I have been up since 1:30 am. So, as we were sitting here starting to watch Slow Horses (a great show), I suddenly realized I hadn’t taken a photo today. I went out to the car to get my camera, where I had left it, thinking I might find something to shoot while I was out. As I grabbed it, I saw the front of our garage freezer, covered with more than 100 magnets. It’s one of the things we collect on our travels. Since our kitchen refrigerator is stainless steel, the magnets won’t stick to it, so they are in the garage. This is just a small number of what we have — little reminders of all the great places we’ve been.
Way back on January 1, when I started this 365 project, I took a photo of Welcome Lake in the Lake of the Woods development about two miles from our house. I went back on April 1, July 1, and now October 1. I had hoped that the view would change with the seasons, but it pretty much looks the same in every photo. It would have looked different if I had gotten snow in the winter or colorful leaves today in autumn, but no luck. Most of the trees around the lake are evergreens. But I decided to take it four times, and here it is. If it snows before December 31, I will get another one.
You get the weekly Keeley early this week because we are about to leave for SeaTac to pick up my brother and sister-in-law, who are here for four days before we head to Portland on Monday. I want to send this now because I’ll be very busy over the next few days. I love this one because she has that big grin on her face.
I admit it. I forgot to post a photo yesterday. My excuse is that I took many photos; I just forgot to share one. My brother and sister-in-law arrived Thursday afternoon, and since then, I’ve been doing one of the things I enjoy most in the world—cooking for company. I have more to do today, but I wanted to get this online. We took them to the brand-new Seattle Waterfront. We hadn’t been there ourselves since they completed what must have been a billion-dollar redo. It’s gorgeous—a truly beautiful job. I captured a couple of street shots, an airplane flying among the downtown buildings, a very cool wooden carving sculpture of a family, and the Big Wheel.
The Big Wheel
Airplane
Street shot
Today was all about cooking. We started the day at Saturday Market, picking up vegetables for the dish you’re looking at. It’s an absolutely delicious dish you make with grilled veggies and cured meats. It’s called the Grilled Antipasto Vegetable Platter. I spent so much time on it that I had to photograph it for today.
These are our surprise flowers. Earlier this year, we had a perennial in our front yard that died. Mainly because the landscaper we hired planted it in the shade. When it seemed to be completely gone, I checked and found out it needed full sun. We have absolutely nowhere in our yards, front or back, that gets full sun for more than six hours a day. So that one didn’t make it. I went out to a nursery we liked and asked for something that would grow in partial sun and mostly shade. This is what they recommended: a Japanese anemone. When we got it, it was a small green plant, but in the last two weeks, just as fall was setting in, it blossomed like crazy, as you can see. Truly beautiful white blossoms.
When you acquire an understanding of the science behind light and what governs it, then you can predict its behavior and control the lighting in photographs. – Roberto Valenzuela
