so Colleen pulled the lever to get off at the next possible stop. It actually worked out as THIS street had the signage for people in cars. It took 15 minutes to walk up the steep, winding road.
The mansion itself was great. Self-guided, with very clear, informative signs. The place was basically a circle, with little pods going off in different directions so it was more like an octagon. It seemed like a great place to play hide and go seek! Had it been a clear day, there would have been a great view of the city and mountains behind. (Alas, it was on the foggy side.) When Jon and Colleen got the kitchen on the first floor, they heard a dad reading or explaining, via the signs, everything about the room. Eventually Jon and Colleen got past them but until then, our self-guided tour wasn't so guided. And, just like the day before, they were treated to some mis-information (they knew that because they had READ the signs, not just skimmed them.) Colleen later saw two little girls in flower girl dresses.After exploring the three floors, Jon and Colleen got directions to take a trail down to the main road and the bus and then went outside to take a look over the overlook (cause that's what you
do at an overlook). They saw what looked like a high school girl having a photo shoot and the two girls in flower girl dresses having a picnic with their dog. They said something like, "Let's come here always" - a line you'd expect to hear from a Jane Austen novel. (Are these Portland kids wise beyond their years or what?)After a stop at the gift shop for a pin (no sales tax in Oregon!), Jon and Colleen went to the Gatekeepers House, not to be confused with the Caretakers House (a mistake they and everyone else in the house made, only to be quickly corrected by the guide.)
Jon and Colleen found the trail very quickly, and soon descended down, down, down into the trees. They soon lost track of a family hiking. All was good until the path split three ways. 
There was no mention of the path splitting in the directions. Again with the incomplete directions! (International Fountain, Colleen's talking about you!) Going down to the right led them back up again, clearly in the wrong direction, so Jon and Colleen went back to the fork and went to the left. At least they went down this time. At the end of the path, which widened out so that it COULD have accomodated vehicles, there was a fence, with a dog on the other
side. After they were past the dog, it started running after them! The dog apparently knew this was a steep road though, and didn't follow all the way. After descending down, down, down the road that was the road indicated on the cartoon map that Jon and Colleen were originally going to take to the mansion, they were glad they DIDN'T get off there, as they
NEVER would have found the place going that way. (You can't trust the cartoon map!) After 20 anxious minutes waiting for a bus, a bus FINALLY arrived, which Colleen felt compelled to flag down.With some time to kill before the 4:15 Willamette Jet Boat, Jon and Colleen took the street car and bus to the adjacent OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). While walking to the museum, they saw jet boats doing what can only be described as burnouts. Hmm.
They didn't have time to explore the museum, but they did have time to tour the on-site submarine, the USS Blueback. Jon and Colleen learned the sub was the last non-nuclear sub, and only had about 2 seconds of footage that appeared in "The Hunt for Red October." A little b0y surprised the tour guide when, in response to him saying something to the effect of the Navy not having a lot of causalities that the Army did.
Having some time to kill, Jon and Colleen got their Jet Boat tickets and then Jon got a snack in the museum. Fortunately, when they came out of the submarine, the sun was out.
Having seen the burnouts, Colleen was worried about whiplash so she and Jon picked middle seats (they had their pick since they were at the front of the line for the second boat.) They ended up next to a family from Loveland, Colorado.) Andy, their guide, treated them to a fun, wet ride (moreso for the people on the sides, it appeared), commentary about the state of Oregon's bridges and a running joke: "They have a great view ... especially when we go by."
Sadly, the Willamette Falls were pretty lame (apparently they do get bigger) but there were quite a few characters IN the water, including a woman paddling a surfboard ("We see her every day,") a guy apparently lying down in his boat Andy thought was doing his laundry and a guy waving frantically at us.For dinner, rather than go with one of the ethnic offerings offered by the state fair like trailers surrounding the hotel, or Habibi, Jon and Colleen went with a selection on the cartoon map a few blocks from the hotel, Jake's Grill, a restaurant promising "comfort food" in the McCormick and Schmick's family. Colleen had the pot roast, which was good, but nothing to write home about, the bread was as tasteless as the Fisherman's Restaurant in Seattle, but the blueberry shortcake was to die for. The people watching was much better. Jon and Colleen saw some people wearing torn jeans coming out of a limo, a couple that went past the restaurant, then in, then out again, and Gov. Gary Locke not only checked in, he also filled water glasses. Colleen was delighted there was no tax when it came time to pay the bill, but that was short-lived when she realized she had to figure out the tip the old-fashioned way!
Pittock Mansion: A (lost the plus because of the long journey)
USS Blueback: A-
Willamette Jet Boat: A+
Jake's Grill: B+ (plus for the dessert)
--POSTED BY COLLEEN
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