By the time that I get back to the campground, the rain has stopped and there's just a mist in the air. It's dry enough to sit outside, so I wipe off my tiny picnic table and sit down to enjoy my coffee and plan my day.
The "plan" is to stop at a little Vietnamese Bakery, An Xuyen, for a Banh Mi sandwich...one of my favorite things. It's a crusty roll with barbecued pork, pate, crunchy pickled vegetables and fresh cilantro...the ultimate Asian/French fusion food. My research on the Internet has pointed me to An Xuyen Bakery. After that, the "plan" is to head to downtown Portland to wander around, sample some food truck cuisine, stop at a wine bar (or three) and maybe visit some fun place like the local zoo.
It's only a fifteen minute drive to An Xuyen and, as advertised, the Banh Mi is outstanding...maybe the best that I've ever had. I eat it in the Explorer and wash it down with a can of cold coconut water.
Just about the time that I finish my sandwich, the rain starts again...time to switch to "Plan B". Another one of my cooking magazines had an article recently featuring new cocktails created by bartenders across the country. And one of these new cocktails was created in a bar in Portland. I don't remember all of the ingredients (bourbon, lemon juice, bitters, ?), but the cool thing was the ice. They take a block of ice and smoke it in a smoker until it melts, then they refreeze it, chip off a chunk and add it to the "cocktail". So now I drive fifteen minutes to the bar, "The Sweet Hereafter", but it's a real problem finding a parking space. Another twenty minutes later, I'm finally parked and sitting at the Sweet Hereafter. It is a very disappointing experience...the place is dumpy and the bartender downright hostile. When I try to order the "cocktail", the bartender professes ignorance. There is not and never has been any such cocktail made at that bar, he says...OK then. So I just get up and walk out of there back into the rain.
A block or so down the street, there's another little bar (actually, this area is crawling with bars), so I stop in there for a beer. It's a very good beer...Caldera Pilsener from a brewery in Bend. But I'm just not up for an afternoon of bar-hopping in the rain today. So, I decide to head back to the RV Park.
When I return, the rain has slowed to a drizzle again. So...I crawl in the camper with my little netbook and spend the next several hours posting five or six days worth of blog stuff, clean up my inbox and do a little online banking.
By the time that I finish up, it's after 6:00PM, and time to head out for dinner.
When I was out here in 2008, I ate at a place called "Ken's Artisan Pizza" based on numerous recommendations from locals that I met...tonight, I'm going back. It's a ten-mile drive, and I'm able to find parking on a residential street a few blocks away. The wait for a seat is at least an hour, I'm told...no problem. I sit at a little table outside, have a few glasses of red wine and read a book (Theodore White's "The Making of the President 1964). About fifty minutes later, they've got a spot for me at the bar. I get a small pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella and romano cheeses, and spicy soppresata...plus, I get a side order of arugula to put on each slice. It's every bit as good as I remember from 2008...along with the pizza from Loui's on the east side, it's the best that I've had...and I have eaten a LOT of pizza. A scoop of peach and a scoop of pistachio finishes everything off.
Now stuffed, I head back for camp. But right next to the campground entrance, I stop at C.J.'s Pub for a few cold ones to cap off the night. The bartender is cute and talkative, the beers are going down easy...so I linger for an hour and a half before finally turning in for the night.
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