Strawberries . . . the harbinger of summer we’ve been waiting for. We acquired a half flat of “fresh from the field” berries at Nanneman Farms stand on a brief road trip this week.
The weather has been a bit janky these last few weeks. We woke up to a fresh dusting of snow early this week. We were starting to think summer may never get started.
Then the days warmed and forecasts brightened. We figured it was a good time to head west over the mountains.
Our destination, Portland, Oregon . . . primarily to visit family and friends. We did manage a trip to Powell’s City of Books, all of which has been on the ‘to-do list’ for a few weeks.
For 30 years we lived on the edges of the Rose City, so there’s no novelty in a trip to the city, but Powell’s is difficult to replicate in any location.
Most of our reading material these days is supplied by the local library and a majority of that is ebooks. Technology has profoundly altered our relationship with books.
Independent authors, which make up a large portion of our reading material, frequently only distribute via eBook. JQ has become an avid audio book “reader”.
So, between Libby.app, the county library system and Hoopla our reading material lives in a tablet or e-reader.
We’ll avoid the Cascade range passes as avenues of travel from November to May. However, when the fresh fruit comes into season the Willamette Valley becomes a destination . . . our “go to the source” location.
Moving between the high desert and the coastal rain forest makes the trip that much more interesting.
As we get into the heart of fruit and produce season there will be more quick trips to the farm stands in the valley.
Nanneman Farms in particular offers seasonal berry varieties you’ll never see on the shelves of your local mega-mart.
We enjoyed an Eastside Pub, Ancestry Brewing, which if you get a chance has great burgers and fine pints.
