Chips Family Finally Escapes Portland

This week Sam , Trudy and I will finally get out of Portland. We will be visiting the southern Oregon coast(Bandon to Brookings) and Redwoods national park. We will also be visiting Bill Voss in Ashland and seeing some plays. Full reports on food and fun later.

Bon appetit to Mr. Chips, Trudy, Sam and Bill Voss.......all Roadfooders I had the pleasure of spending time with a few years ago on a trip to Oregon. You all sure do live in a beautiful part of the country!!!!

Jim, email me for contact information.
Bill

Chips!

Have a great time...

I'm looking forward to the report

prospective places....
lleechef & Zman:

http://archive.mailtribune.com/archive/2006/0317/life/stories/02life.htm
http://www.taylorsausage.com/
http://www.treehouses.com/

We did make our escape but not without some difficulty. Trudy developed an eye infection Monday evening and we had to agree to a Friday eye check-up in Medford in order to get the doctor's okay for her to come along. Trudy also had to put in eye drops hourly which she has done faithfully throughout our adventures.
We drove from Portland to Roseburg Wednesday and overnighted at a Motel Six. An unseasonal snowstorm and freezing temps caused us to get a late start Thursday morning. A hotel discount caused us to breakfast at IHOP and I simply had to order green eggs and ham and tease son Sam unmercifully throughout breakfast. The weather cleared up and we drove to the coast. Snow dusted the highway and mountains but the pavement was mostly dry. I counted 40 log trucks as we drove over the mountains. There was a covered bridge at a highway wayside and a Paul Bunyan statue in the logging town of Myrtle Point. At Coquille, we followed the meandering Coquille River past marshes and dairy farms to the ocean town of Bandon. We stopped at a marsh to view egrets and geese and looked at the Coquille River lighthouse, a lighthouse that had been damaged by a runaway schooner in the early 20th century.
Lunch for me was at a site reviewed restaurant called La Fiesta on the downtown boardwalk. I was able to look at boats in the harbor, eat an excellent shrimp fajita and partake of a fiery hot sauce with chips. I gave the owner a copy of the site review but he told me (in no uncertain terms)that reviews on the internet or non-local papers were of no interest to him. Nonetheless, this is a nice spot if you are in Bandon because you will get a good meal there.
A half an hour later we stopped at The Greasy Spoon in Langlois, site reviewed and a true roadfood delight. The Greasy Spoon is a 6 booth restaurant located in a mobile home trailer with a grandmotherly cook and a waitstaff. It was a little before 1p.m. 4 locals in a booth eyed Trudy, Sam , and me keenly and one asked where we got him. Trudy cheerfully explained while I talked with cook and shared the review with her. Amazingly she remembered Otisburg and the conversation with him about the smells and tastes of the place. She actually apologized for having only one type of pie , fresh baked cinnamon rolls, and strawberry shortcake for desert. Sam and Trudy had the cinnamon rolls but I had the shortcake. I stupidly let Sam have a taste and he asked if he could have the rest. The four customers, owner , waitress and Trudy all told me it should go to him. Cute teen-age boys always get what they want. The owner was a sweetheart, thanked me for the review, and sent us on our way with a great experience. Thank you, Otisburg, whoever you are.
Bandon is the cranberry capital of Oregon and the road between Bandon and Port Orford has a couple dozen cranberry bogs that are easily visible from Highway 101. Port Orford has a great beach featuring Battle Rock. It is a rock where six white dudes withstood a six day siege from local native American tribes. A natural tunnel under the rock connects two beaches and Sam spent an hour climbing the rock and exploring the beach. There are also about a dozen sea stacks easily visible from the beach. Port Orford to Brookings is one of the most unknown and beautiful stretches of coast I have ever visited. Sixty miles of sea stacks,mountains,Oregon's highest bridge, beaches(Sam found a Sand Dollar at one) each mile even more marvelous.
At Brookings, we turned toward the mountains. At Alfred Loeb State Park we took a hike through a Myrtlewood grove. A mile further we hiked through a grove of redwoods. It was a source of pride that these were Oregon redwoods(the first I'd ever seen in my home state). Sam was awestruck at the size and beauty of these magnificent trees and managed to avoid snarky remarks(except when I tripped). Dinner was kinda hit or miss. We took Bill Voss's advice and stopped at Wild River Pizza in Harbor .Microbrews and a lot of locals made it an interesting dinner(I loved watching parents playing pool with their young children)Much more to come.

We're right there with you - or at least on paper! Thanks for sharing your trip.

lostnthemail

snuck one in

Bill--I know the weather was a little iffy, ut why didn't you take Mr. Chips to to Jo's Fish and Chips stand?

Steve it was actually my intent for us to invite you to dinner on Saturday so we could all meet you, but I never saw them due to some unforseen difficulties. My time was limited to Friday afternoon and Sunday morning. You are included when they visit in the fall. As for jo's, it wasn't open this morning but I pointed out our very own fish & chips trailer to then as we left La Tapitia on Friday afternoon. It might seem like the Chipsters are here to eat but they are actually Shakespeare fans so those pesky plays got in the way. After I left them this mornig to go to work I know for a fact they stopped at Micel's taco truck

Another great trip report from Mr. Chips with an assist from Bill and his outstanding photo's. Thanks for sharing.

heh heh, he hasn't reported on most of the trip yet. he's MIA

It's been a rough week at work so it has taken me a while to finish the trip reports But in the spirit of a true roadfood warrior I will soldier on.
I forgot to mention our day one hotel. We stayed at the Best Western Inn in Harbor, the only Brookings-Harbor area. lodging on the waterfront. All rooms face the ocean and it was a delight to go out on the balcony and watch and listen to the surf. I've not had a room like that before. And the outdoor pool was heated so son Sam was very happy to swim and make friends.
Day 2 was a bad weather day. It rained continuously from Brookings to Medford(when there were not snow flurries) and there were snow flurries in Medford and Ashland all day. Our main purpose of the day was to make sure Trudy got to a one p.m. eye appointment and we had to go over a fairly treacherous mountain road to get there.
The most scenic thing we saw in the a.m was Jedidiah Smith state park near Cresent City, California The highway winds through redwoods, some seemingly inches from your car. The rather nasty rain, wet ground and time constraints kept us in our car but it was wonderful to once again be so close to these marvelous trees. Incidentally this state park was where the Endor scenes from "Return of the Jedi " were filmed and we hope to go back to find those groves.
The drive up the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Smith River canyon was enjoyable for me(Trudy was driving) and very scenic. It is never boring to gaze at roaring rivers in narrow canyons and we enjoyed the view.
Our first roadfood style stop was the Tayor Country Store in Cave Junction, Oregon. Locals gather for good coffee, cheap breakfasts and interesting meat(emu sausage, anyone). Thanks to Bill for the tip and we will be back when we visit the Oregon Caves National Monument.
We met with Bill in northern Medford and Cental Point before Trudy's doctor appointment. We stopped first at the Rogue Creamery in Central Point and partook in some of Oregon's best bleu cheese. The bleu cheese in the Stern recommended Burgerville salmon-hazlenut bleu cheese salad comes from here. it is a great spot to eat free samples but we also bought bleu and cheddar cheeses for weekend snacking. Next door to the creamery was Lilly Belle's chocolate shop. The owners have a fruit orchard where they grow their own fruit for chocolate covered fruit delights I thought of Dale(Wandering Jew) amd his dictates and ordered the regional specialty of a locally grown Chocolate-Covered pear which was sinfully good.
The hamburger spot where we are pictured is Jasper's. They have been around for a while and their specialty seems to be recreating interesting burger's the owner has tasted. My burger was a Blues brother's burger, hand -made and carefully weighed and with bleu cheese. Delicious.The place also has a burger happy hour from 3pm to 5 p.m daily where the burgers are a third off. A great concept which other places ought to copy.
Trudy's eyes were okay so we met Bill for dinner in Phoenix, Oregon. The restaurant was La Tapatia, a mexican grocery with a restaurant in back. I had a lighly battered chile relleno, Trudy, a Carne Asada burrito. A huge basket of handmade tortillas was served with dinner instead of tortilla chips. There was an amazing corn based drink whose name I wrote down and keep losing that was the real star. It is pictured in front of Trudy and Sam in Bill's photos and it was an interesting taste for those of you interested in new things.
The evening's play was "Fences" by August Wilson. The play is the story of Troy Maxson, an African-American garbage man in 1957 Pittsburgh. The story is about the life, relationships and rages of Mr. Maxson, a former Negro leage baseball player angry at the curveballs life has thrown him. The sub-text of the play is the way fathers and sons fail to connect and the destruction of the spirit that happens when this occurs. Mr. Wilson's words are powerful and the acting was strong. The lead was played by Charles Robinson, better known to most of you as the African -American clerk with the Asian wife on the T.V. series" Night Court".. He was powerful, profane and forceful, one of the best perfomances I have ever seen. I don't think it will ever be possible for me to forget this play.

Mr. Chips,

Thank you for the road trip report. Love pictures! Thanks for taking the time to post them! Your son is a cutie! Sound like you had a relaxing trip. It is fascinating to read about food from all over the country. The weather is unexpectedly cold in the Northwest this year. Your a true Oregonian because it did not delay the trip.

Laura

Day 3 of our jaunt was restful( if you weren't Trudy). Beef upsets Trudys stomach and her honking huge carne asada at La Tapatia kept her in bed much of the day. We breakfasted at the Wild Goose restaurant in Ashland(sans Bill). I had what may be favorite regional Oregon breakfast, fresh pan fried oysters with marionberry muffin. It is fresh, always tasty. One of the waitstaff is an artist who shows and sells her wildlife paintings in the restaurant and it was a pleasure to look at the art and chat with her.
Sam visited a comic book store and spent a couple hours reading and looking, finally purchasing a Japanese comic I knew nothing about but that did not appear overtly sexual. We had to cancel dinner plans with Bill(who was gracious) because of Trudy's lingering discomfort. Our dinner was at a goumet taqeria by our downtown hotel, Agave. The owner is the the former owner of the English restaurant where Bill took our own Wandering jew to eat during Dale's west coast visit last year. I was prepared to dislike it as I have occasionally been caustic and critical about mexican restaurants run by non-Mexicans( especially ones with faux Mexican names). But this place won me over with a mushroom and squash tamale for dinner and a fruit filled tamale served with Mexican cream for dessert. Both were sweet and savory samples of upscale Mexican cuisine and even a curmudgeon like me was happy.
The family seperated after dinner for plays.Trudy and Sam saw "The Clay Cart", a 3000 year old play by an Indian rajah which decried the inequities and unfairness of the Indian caste system with untouchables as heroes and some brahmin villians. They liked the sumptuous costumes and sets and Sam thought the female lead was gorgeous but Trudy's lingering stomach woes caused them to leave at intermission
I saw Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" at the New Theater. It is the 38th 0f the 39 Shakespeare plays I have seen. It is a surprisingly modern play about a Roman military hero who is put up for public office by the Senate but who finds it impossible to say the requisite nice things about the working class and who refuses to mask his contempt for the process. he is eventuall banned, goes benedict Arnold on the Romans and is killed by the opposing general who always hated him. The play was done in modern dress with WWII uniforms, 1950's syle suits and faux microphones for the Senate proceeding. Soldiers are dressed in modern camoflauge, one of the people's tribunes is female and dressed in a power pantsuit. it was done on a fairly bare stage exceedingly well

Great report, Mr. Chips. The Rogue Valley sounds like a lovely area.

Our trip home to Portland was a delightful ramble, once again aided by the wonderful Mr. Voss. We stopped for breakfast at the First Street Cafe in beautiful downtown Phoenix, Oregon. Located in an older house, the place serves wellmade breakfasts and lunches with the freshest of local ingredients.. Pictures of our breakfast are on Bill's comments above. I had very good quiche, Sam excellent french toast, Bill an omlette. All very good and examples of one of the better trends in oregon cuisine, good chefs locating restaurants in unexpected places that specialize in simple fare made with the freshest of local ingredients, always featuring excellent coffee. Breakfast is a great meal in Portland and Bill's Rogue Valley.
We followed Bill to the Phoenix flea market. One of the vendors featured L.A. stuff so iwas able to puchasea Lakers cap for one of my clients who is a Laker fan(grrr). The highlight was a tacco truck(again a bill recommendation) Tacos de Michel. Sam had chicken, I had beef tongue and an excellent converstaion(in Spanish) lamenting the younger Mexican generation's lack of interest in learning Spanish.
At last we said good-bye to Bill and turned northward. Our first stop was Heaven on Earth, a truck stop along I-5 that features plate-sized cinnamon rolls, marionberry pie and a dollop of Christian music, including occasional performances by a talented waitstaff. I love the place and it is well worth a stop. We also stopped at the K-R Drive-In in Rice Hill, Oregon(thirty miles north of Roseburg, 40 south of Eugne). The place is the "soup Nazi" of drive-ins. it features 30 flavors of ice cream and attitude. The previous owner featured two- page diatribes on order windowns telling you not to try to write a check(because she would fire on the spot any employee who accepted one), not to order two scoop ice cream cones with mixed flavors(or the staff who said yes would be fired), not to complain about inaccurate change, not to complain about slow service. I remember the woman serving me and bitching me out because i asked about credit cards. The windows mow feature a brief note about her death two yeats ago and the staff seems noticably more at ease.
The ice cream and portion size has always been the attraction. A baby scoop is one large, a small is two huge scoops, a medium 4 scoops. and a large six scoops. You can order two flavors if you get a medium but you still can't mix flavors on a small cone. I suspect the ghost of Ruth would smite the hand of any staff who mixed flavors.
Our favorite truck stop south of Portland just opened a Popeye's and Sam loves their chichen strips so we stopped there for him. I like the spicey fried shrimp and strawberry soda so w were both happy.
We had a wonderful trip and were glad to get out of Portland.

mr chips-
What an outstanding report! I really enjoyed reading about your adventures and glad that the family got to go away for a while. How is Trudy's eye now?

It is amazing that you have seen 38 of the 39 Shakespeare plays. What a noble pursuit! Which is the one left and how do you plan on seeing it?

As a Pittsburgher, it is probably no surprise that I am a fan of August Wilson. It pleases me to hear that you enjoyed the play so much.

What is the deal with the crankiness of the ice cream place. Don't complain about inaccurate change? You've got be kidding me! That must be some seriously fantastic ice cream to put up with that and I'm relatively easy going.

Thanks again for letting us join you on your trip!

mr chips - there was an Austin ticket for sale earlier in the week on a separate thread. Just thought I'd let you know.

quote:

Originally posted by zataar

Great report, Mr. Chips. The Rogue Valley sounds like a lovely area.

quote:

Originally posted by buffetbuster

mr chips-
What an outstanding report! I really enjoyed reading about your adventures and glad that the family got to go away for a while. How is Trudy's eye now?

It is amazing that you have seen 38 of the 39 Shakespeare plays. What a noble pursuit! Which is the one left and how do you plan on seeing it?

As a Pittsburgher, it is probably no surprise that I am a fan of August Wilson. It pleases me to hear that you enjoyed the play so much.

What is the deal with the crankiness of the ice cream place. Don't complain about inaccurate change? You've got be kidding me! That must be some seriously fantastic ice cream to put up with that and I'm relatively easy going.

Thanks again for letting us join you on your trip!

to deal with questions:
(1) The situation with trudy's eye is not good. She will need eye surgery on April 23. Unfortunately, this means I will have to cancel the Austin trip. Regrets to Cliff and all who I planned to meet there but Trudy needs me and I need to stay. I'm glad we were able to enjoy southern Oregon and the redwoods.
(2) The only one missing from the Shakespeare canon is Henry VIII. Fortunately, the Ashland festival is doing that play next year so I won't have to travel far.
Incididentally, I was introduced to Bill Rauch(OSF director) at the premiere of Coriolanus. He told me that once or twice a week since his taking the helm people asked him when Henry VIII would be presented again(I think it has been 20 years).Oregon has a large number of people who have seen the entire canon and I suspect next year's production will complete the canon for a lot of people.
(3) The K&R features Umpqua ice cream that is exceptionally good. Bill favors another drive-in in Rice Hill which also has Umpqua ice cream and a lot less attitude.

mr chips-
I am disappointed to read you won't be in Austin, but obviously you are making the right decision. I am sorry to hear that Trudy is going through this. Please keep us informed on how she is doing.

MrChips

What a great report, Sam looks like he is growing like a weed! Sorry to hear of Trudy's discomfort and upcoming surgery I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Is Sam going to play baseball this year?? I couldn't convince my son to go out this year, maybe next year.

Some day I will travel to the Northwest

Thank You for sharing your trip

CK, we'd look forward to your visit

quote:

Originally posted by bill voss

CK, we'd look forward to your visit

I look forward to getting out that way, Thank You!

Mr Chips-

Please, send Trudy my best.

I am hoping that everything goes well with her eye surgery.

Please keep us informed.

quote:

Originally posted by CajunKing

MrChips

What a great report, Sam looks like he is growing like a weed! Sorry to hear of Trudy's discomfort and upcoming surgery I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Is Sam going to play baseball this year?? I couldn't convince my son to go out this year, maybe next year.

Some day I will travel to the Northwest

Thank You for sharing your trip

Thanks for your kind word, cajun king. Sam is playing again this year. He got two solid singles in last Wednesday's game, stole a couple bases and has walked a number of times. Today he scored a run on a passed ball with a very nice hook slide that i definitely did not teach him. I love that he is playing ball though it does mean we probably won't get to Seattle until July.