Now Launched: The Delighted States of (Em)air.ica

as promised...my roots, my wings and other things: The Delighted States of Em.air.ica

COMING SOON

I realize the last post was not as 'Rockin without the other Dobkin's ....thus, I will be creating my own blog: The Delighted States of (Em)air.ica featuring my roots, my wings, and other things. Stay tuned, loved ones. 

Oregon: Week One

[ A Eugene sunrise ]

It's been about two weeks since I departed home from the east coast, one week since I made it here to Eugene, and a little less than a week since the brother bears shut the car doors of Tellulah and headed back home. Here I stand, living the left coast lifestyle in the Emerald City. My wanderings thus far have led me to some pretty wonderful places, old familiar faces, and quite the smattering of odds and ends. When the brothers bears flew back to Philly, it was certainly strange to have an empty car. I headed straight to where I needed to be though; in a rose garden. A rose garden in Portland; THE International Rose Garden. This particular garden is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States. 

[ Roses beyond roses ]

[ Beauty ]

[Funkuhr hybrid tea rose...my funky fave]

[ Raindrops on roses ]

[ These roses got height ]

[ The roses and me ]

[ Mellow yellows ]

[ Portland ]

Little known fact: When the gardens first began in 1917, even though World War I was raging in Europe, hybridists sent roses from around the world to Portland's garden for testing and to keep the new hyrbrids safe from being destroyed by the bombing in Europe (I found that interesting/cool/pretty neat-o). 

Portland was a piece of perfection in my mind. There is a sense of calm there, though it certainly has an edge. There is also the best ice cream there; I had caramel with dark chocolate salt on a waffle cone (who knew?) I stayed with some old friends in NE Portland, and I do believe one of our highlights shared together was our Saturday brunch feast in which I ordered sweet potato pancakes, and another highlight came later in the day when catching a rather unique sunset  (see below for details).

[ Sweet potato pancakes... excellent ]

[ A rare and unusual flower found in Portland ]

[ We chased that sunset ]

Eugene has been treating me well this week. I've mostly just been settling in, exploring when I can, and adjusting to the newness of it all. Some things I've taken note of that you should, too:
-They pump your gas here. They pump your gas, check your oil, and if you're pumping 8 gallons or over, FREE CAR WASH (Tellulah needed that). 
-My new friend, Melek:

[ My room mates dog; we chill ]

-Wanna make a wish? These are plethora of wish flowers, including in my own backyard

[ Makin' wishes ]

-Friendly; super, super, friendly..people wave to me like we've know each other forever. I like it. 
-There are so many old Volvo's here; it's unreal. As most of you know, the brother bears and I have a strong appreciation for vintage Volvos ( please see Dobkin Tribute to the Box on Wheels) : 

[ Volvo #1 ]

[ Volvo #2 ]

[ Volvo #3 ]

[ Volvo #4 ]

[ Woa; double trouble... Volvo #5 and #6 ]

*and please note, these volvo spottings were all found in one day, and there were at least 6 more spotted, but I could not capture while driving*

-Thrift stores GALORE
-Geese, ducks, gander and more....

[ I saw this...]

[ ...And then I saw them ]

-Morning Glory Cafe; where I can get a field trip iced tea and raisin-peanut butter-hazelnut bar

[ Yum ]

-Bodacious corn; need I say more?

[ It's bodacious ]

-Willamette River; a place I go for peace. 

[ Run river, run ]

So here I am in Oregon, whose state motto is 'Ailis volat propriss'; 'she flies with her own wings'

 It fits, it sticks; I'm flyin' with it. 

Final Leg for the Brother Bears

One Last Sunrise - West Coast Style

One more ride...

Before I discuss the final stretch of our journey, it must be noted that our breakfast we ate in San Francisco was one of the best breakfasts I've had in my life (but...nothing compared to my grandmothers). I was told that Mama's was THE place for breakfast in the city by the bay. Even on a Wednesday morning there was a line!

[ Mama's ]

[ A Rockin' Breakfast ]

It was a perfect meal to keep us satiated as we drove up Northern California to our final destination: Eugene, Oregon.This drive was yet another scenic route, as we drove through Mount Shasta and the Siskiyou County of California:

[ Mount Shasta from a distance ]

[ Brothers ]

[ Shastafarian ]

At a previous rest stop, while sipping water from a fountain, I learned about the Living Memorial Sculpture Gardens located near Mount Shasta. Dedicated and created by a Vietnam War veteran, these wire sculptures were made to evoke a powerful sense of striving for peace. 

[ Tellulah cruises on ]

It was kind of unreal once we crossed into Oregon; I looked down at our map, and it was at that moment that this whole moving across country really hit me.

[ Entering Oregon! ]

[ So close, yet so far away...]

My living situation here is lovely; I have two roomates, one of which who has a charming dog who greeted us all kindly as we walked in the door; I have a very nice cozy room, kitchen, living room, fireplace and even a small backyard (yes, a garden is already in the works in my mind).  Yesterday, I spent the day acquainting myself to this Emerald City. There is so much to explore here; I will share with you just a few things I have already began my explorations in:

[ (self explanatory) ]

This caught my eye, and it caught it good: 

[ Amazon Community Garden ]

[ Community gardens ]

[ Community gardens ]

[ Pumpkin enchilada's from Agate Alley ]

[ Ice cream from Prince Pucklers ]

[ We're all in this together ]

About 10 days ago, around this same time, I awoke before the sun (as I am now) to embark on a journey across America. With two brothers, a red car, my Mom's cookies, and my life packed in duffle bags/crates/too many miscellaneous objects to mention, I rolled down my window and waved 'see ya later' to the East coast. Through miles of sunshine, rain storms, sky scrapers, flat lands, mountains, arches, rivers, lakes---we followed my invisible yellow brick road to this Emerald City I now start a new chapter in. In these past ten days, I've learned some rather interesting facts from our journey across country; I've realized America truly is THE beautiful, and that Mike can eat a burger in less than four minutes, and that Dave will not eat a turkey sandwich on the road because turkey will make him tired, and that I don't need any road games, any books, any magazines...not even my beads to keep my occupied during some ten hour stretches on the road. I am just fine keeping my gaze out the window the entire ride as we rock the road (okay, there was an occasional snooze, and twice I tried to retouch my nails with yellow nail polish--got away with it once, the second and third attempt, Dave's nasal passages were out to get me). 

In just an hour(ish), the three of us will ride one last time on this adventure across America in sweet Tellulah, en route to Portland, en route to the airport, en route to my solo adventures on the left coast. Of course we will have one more breakfast adventure, as recommended by ROAD FOOD. For my brothers...an attitude of gratitude I will always have for trecking out here with me. For the open road...I give praise for these ten days. 

NOW, let's rock it on the road once more, and this time, there 'aint no duffle bags/crates/too many miscellaneous objects to mention holding me burried to the back seat. I'm behind the wheel today... this one's on me, brothers; PEACING TO PORTLAND 

Bob Dobbs Day in Review - 8/18/10

It seems like I've been Emily's caboose, posting about the same adventures a day later. So, here's Wednesday from my perspective...

Thanks to Mike's leaving the lights on overnight for the second time this week, there was a bit of a delay heading out of San Fran. Before we did so, though, we stopped at Mama's Restaurant. As you can see below, you have to arrive early because a line forms outside - luckily for us, this picture was taken as we left. The menu is posted at the door and once there is room inside, they let you in the front door.

What I especially liked about this process was that you then went inside and ordered at the register, after which they sent you to an open table. In all, Mama's saves you that agonizing time at the table when you're so hungry yet you haven't even ordered yet.
Onto the food: Emily and I each ordered French Toast and shared the special omlette of the day - crab with avocado, tomatoes, and Havarti cheese. As you can imagine from the pictures, it was delicious. Not the deliciousness of the heavy JoJo's omlette, but a fine gourmet omlette. While Emily got regular FT, I ordered the Pan Dore - slices of baguette covered in sauteed apples and lemon butter syrup. Needless to say, I was incredibly satisfied with my sweet and savory options.
As an aside, one of my favorite features of San Francisco is the multitude of small parks, like this one below. Studies prove that parks not only provide recreational opportunities, but increase the vibrancy of cities.

And, on the edge of the park, you can see the steepness of SF once again.
Once on our way to our final destination, we started off driving through Napa Valley and it's many wineries and other farms.
Eventually, though we reached the Cascades (just another mountain range, right?).
We eventually caught sight of Mount Shasta, yet it took over an hour to finally reach the base of the mountain.

We stopped at the Living Memorial, which was a nice and pretty intense stop along the way. I particularly enjoyed the helicopter sculpture on top of the Memorial to All Who Served.


I noticed on the trip that there seems to be a greater appreciation of our armed forces out west, most likely due to the fact that enrollment rates are higher here, and the front lines are much closer to families and friends.

There were some great views of Shasta from here as well.


We drove on for another three hours until we arrived in Eugene. Unfortunately, since I was driving, I don't have any pictures from this segment of the drive (see Emily's post). But, after 4000+ miles, and 7 days of travel, we made it to the new abode around 7:00 P.M.