The journey was very straightforward and we took the train into the centre of Portland on Thursday morning.
Freddy needed the brakes that we had brought back with us and so we spent the day exploring the city. 2 dollars bought us a days travel on any bus or tram and we went from end to end and wandered along the banks of the river Willamette enjoying the sunshine and the warmth. Friday we had time to go back to the most enormous book shop which had millions of books new and old and which was the sort of place you could lose yourself in for days !!!!!!!
Thursday night we went to a Lebanese restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed the food, Friday it was pizza and Saturday we went to a Cuban restaurant where the food was again absolutely delicious. Finally francis prepared a wonderful Peruvian dish with Turkey and rice and beer! It was amazing!!!!!! We haven't eaten so many different types of food before.
We had a wonderful day visiting a Japanese garden and then Portlands rose gardens which were really fantastic. Plenty of roses still blooming and full of scent. Once again Francis and Elsa have been unbelievably hospitable and we were very sad to say goodbye this afternoon as they were returning to Bend. It is so kind of them to allow us to stay in the house and make us so welcome. They are a truly amazing couple!!!!!
Francis took us to see his plane that he has built himself. It was so impressive .
We now have to repack the truck and start to head north. It has been so warm and sunny the last few days it will be hard to head for the cold.
We pick up the ferry on Friday and then we will spend until Wednesday sailing up the coast of Alaska which should be great.