ROAD TRIP: BEREA TO PORTLAND

(Posted by Appalachian Diva)

Sometimes life hands you unexpected and serendipitous things. In my case, that thing was the chance to take a cross-country trip to Portland with my dear friend Suzanne, who is moving there. Since I had some free time, I jumped at the chance to not only hang out with a dear friend, but also to take a great road trip and see a part of the country that I’ve never experienced, and which I’ve heard is beautiful. We’ve decided to share our adventures with you, dear reader. We’ll both be adding entries, so check back often.

We got a later start than we had intended, due to the fact that Suzanne had a much harder time than expected cramming all of her stuff into her new Volkswagen Passat. Oh, and did I mention that in addition to LOTS of cool shoes, some antique furniture, quite a bit of organic coffee, and a really cool old ceramic churn (that I am coveting really hard), we are also traveling with Bella The Wonder Dog and three cats. The cats are currently drugged in their little carriers, so they are not much of a presence except for the occasional weak meow or strong bout of flatulence.

We finally got out of Berea around 5 PM, after much cussing and gnashing of teeth induced by Suzanne’s new bike rack, which seems to have been designed for persons with more manual dexterity and/or spatial skills than either of us seem to possess, AND after stopping at the post office to mail out several boxes of cool shoes and pillows to Oregon.

Since Suzanne and I are both foodies, we have decided that food will feature prominently on our journey. We are aided in our quest by a book called Roadfood by Jane and Michael Stern. It tends to emphasize diner and barbeqeue-style restaurants over any other style of cuisine. We stopped to eat at one of the restaurants recommended in Louisville, KY, called Lynne’s Paradise Café. I’d been there before, but it was Suz’s first time. The décor is funky and kitschy, with a wacky store that sells bacon gift wrap, guns that shoot tiny nuns, and “angry mob” action figures. She had a fried green tomato BLT and I had some black bean chile. We toasted our trip with a mojito (me) and an espresso martini (Suz) and stopped on the way out of town for some Krispy Kreme donuts (because calories don’t count when you’re on a Momentous Road Trip) and drove as far as Evansville, Indiana, where we were welcomed warmly by the Patel Family of the local Comfort Inn. After a great night’s sleep, we drugged the cats and are now on our way again….