Rockin' with the Dobkin's Across America: 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) :