20th November, 2009
This was ages ago, but I wanted to mention it, because we had such a great day riding our bikes in from Cliff & Sam’s house. We wish we lived in the city. Unfortunately it doesn’t fit the plan just yet.
I think this was also the day we were finally convinced that there are good places for eating and drinking to discover in Portland.
13th February, 2009
The “Frying Pan” being Perth of course. The “Freezer”,
No doubt my posting will continue to be sporadic as we focus our efforts on finding a new home here in Portland. I’m taking the opportunity this morning, while Jon makes a slow rise from bed, to get a few notes down. I’m writing from the room of a janky hotel, picked out specifically for its dog friendliness. In fact, the mutt is curled up quite contentedly on the bed this very minute.
Given his continued restlessness in the back of the car, I would say that he didn’t enjoy the trip up. He did greatly enjoy the snow when we stopped, as can be seen from the photos. For the humans, it wasn’t such a bad trip. There was an odd road block just before the mountains, with a radio alert informing the 6 mile bank up of highway traffic that all cars without tire chains on board would be turned back. After more than an hour of crawling forward, we got to the road block and were simply waved through without any inspection or explanation. Very weird.
So we were somewhat tentative as we drove upwards and the temperature headed down towards freezing. After a few miles of ice free road I eventually followed the example of the other maniacs that passed me by at break-neck speed, as if nothing had ever happened, and put the foot down. I figured my indicator for ice would be those same maniacs piled up in a ditch on the side of the road.
Yesterday and today are all about driving past available housing and getting a feel for the neighbourhoods we could live in. We’ve already thrown a good handful of listings out based on location. We’re very much in love with the Hawthorne / Mt Tabor area, but living there means a sacrifice of quality and quantity over a place in the suburbs.
The leading contender for suburban living is Beaverton. Ironic I know. Unfortunately there were no listings in Cockton. Today will be our first look at the Beaverton housing and neighbourhoods. Looks like we’re ready to go.
