My DH and I were scheduled to take off for Portland Friday after I got home from work at 5. In all his great wisdom, Mr InAwe talked me into taking a vacation day so that we could leave earlier and I'm so glad that I did! It was a gorgeous warm spring day, perfect for a leisurely drive through the Columbia Gorge and we had an agenda...He wanted to stop below John Day Dam to see if anyone was catching salmon and I wanted to snap pictures...after his stop, we went to the Maryhill Museum, wandered around admiring the vast art collection (it wasn't until I snapped my last photo that I was informed that they don't allow flash photography...BIG oops on my part...does that make me uncultured?) Anyhoo...there were displays of gilt furniture built by Queen Marie of Romania 
who dedicated the museum back in 1926, I have always been fascinated by icons, there is something about the face of the virgin Mary, that is so dreamy, introspective and ethereal that it has always intrigued me.
There was an occasional dam, a picturesque barn ...just total eye candy along the way! And of course, what trip from Washington to Oregon would be complete without a stop at Multnomah Falls, after braving the congestion of the parking lot, of course?!!
The weekend was a complete success, I found Trader Joe's, bought cases of wine (okay 2), yummy (you can't find that kind where I'm from) hummus and pita chips, experienced the Hollywood District of Northeast Portland
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Where at Trader Joe's (a much prized destination only enjoyed in the Western region of Washington State ...ahem, I live in DEEP Eastern Washington)...I saw a bumper sticker that read, "keep Portland weird"...the unvoice question was answered upon the arrival at our next stop, Safeway, where in the parking lot, there was a circa 1980-something black hearse being loaded with groceries by, none-other-than a midget decked out in goth-attire and his/her (I say she was female, DH insists he was male...I suppose it was anybody's guess...as I tried to as-politely-as-possible not to stare-but so wanted to take a picture with the phone camera) yes, you can say total culture shock, it's quite appropriate here, but funny nonetheless!
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I even subjected DH to my maiden voyage of Fabric Depot. He was pleased to find that they had a "man cave" and I was completely in awe/smitten/overwhelmed by the fabric choices! I was informed upon checkout (by DH, not the staff) that I had spent 90 minutes (is that all?!) browsing...he so, doesn't realize how lucky the budget faired by my only spending $51....really!!! (thinking there should some sort of award here for ultimate restraint) Perhaps now is a good time to mention that DH's choice of preferred retail therapy was to peruse the fine establishment known as Camping World, just so you know that it wasn't all about me!
