Black Bear Diner

There are several locations, so this could be somewhere you go when you travel, but for us it is a place that we sometimes meet with friends, especially if we want breakfast foods.

 We enjoy the black bear carvings that circle the outside of the restaurant...

and climb the pillars inside.

There are paw prints along the walkway as well, and a gift shop where you can find fine bear related merchandise.

But the best recommendation I can make for the restaurant (though it is an embarrassing one), is that I completely forgot to photograph the food. There were five of us there, and I mean to take pictures, but then it came and it was delicious and we were in the middle of a good conversation. When I remembered everything was largely gone and no longer suitable for photography.

The best are the sweet cream pancakes. They are delicious and enormous. You might thing you want to try multiple things, but if you get a triple stack - or possibly even a double stack - of the sweet cream pancakes, there isn't going to be room for anything else.

The worst is the biscuits. If you order the biscuits with gravy that can be fine, but they are a side for several dishes, and without the gravy they are dry, which you notice more because they are so big. Substitute a piece of toast.

The other potential worst has been that they are always crowded, but we went on a Monday night and it was great. I don't think enough people read this blog for me saying that to ruin it, so try going on a Monday night. (Thought it was spring break, which could have had an impact.)

The staff has always been friendly, though they can understandably get more harried at crowded times. At least the popularity is well-earned.

Prices are reasonable, especially given the portion sizes. Our party of five ate for about $15 per person, including tip.

They do have non-breakfast foods, and those are pretty good, but the breakfast is great and served all day, so that has become the way we use it.

https://blackbeardiner.com/

ETA: The location we go to is on Canyon Road in Beaverton. 

Pacific Northwest - Prepare Out Loud

That doesn't sound like a tourist attraction, does it? It still feels reasonable to talk about it in this space.

Tuesday night I attended the Hillsboro Prepare Out Loud presentation. Sponsored by the Red Cross, we talked about local earthquake history and that one is coming. We talked about the impact and things you would want to have ready in the aftermath. We talked about how people don't like talking about it and preparing for it, but how it is necessary.

If you follow my Sunday blog, you know I have spent time on earthquake preparedness before, and I probably will again. There are two things that make it seem worth talking about here on the travel blog.

One was a video on a woman who had been through training and was at the beach during a false alarm. Even though she knew she should immediately start heading to higher ground, she didn't because other people weren't and it made her feel like maybe she was wrong. Because it was a false alarm, that ended up not killing her, but do not rely on that saving you.

I hope to make it to the coast at least once this summer; some of you will probably spend more time there. We should all know what to do, and feel confident in our knowing it. That can save lives.

The other thing that seemed relevant was when the speaker pointed out that in this beautiful (volcanic and earthquake-constructed) Northwest landscape, we tend to camp a lot, and that can give us the materials we need after an earthquake.

I'm not really into camping, but some of you are; this fun recreational time can also be valuable preparation time. The multi-taskers out there will welcome this perspective.

Since I am not traveling much now, this blog is currently focusing more on what is right here. That is great, because I love this area. It is also an area that is overdue for an earthquake. It makes sense to know more about that. The Prepare Out Loud presentation was excellent and helpful.

Presentations are currently scheduled for Gresham (April 5th) and Newberg (April 9th) but they are making their way around. Keep an eye out.

For more information, see http://www.redcross.org/news/event/local/or/Prepare-Out-Loud.

PDX - Alibi Tiki Lounge

The Alibi is not the only tiki lounge in Portland, but it is the oldest, having been established in 1947.

I do like the decor, with floats and fish traps and assorted paraphernalia lit up and hanging from the ceiling, but that isn't why I go.

I go for the karaoke. More specifically, I end up there because they are amenable to private karaoke parties that can start early and be used as fundraisers, where you can easily stay when the regular karaoke starts up at 9.

There is a smaller screen where you can face the audience, but you can see here the very large screen that everyone can read, and the space that can reasonably allow some dancing.

That area is elevated, with a long central table and several side booths. You can see one of the booths. Navigation is okay, but gets better as more people move the end chairs flanking the booths to anywhere else.

Prices are reasonable and the staff is pretty good. Accessibility for wheelchairs looks like it would be terrible, and the women's bathroom is poorly set up, issues that can be explained by the age of the Alibi, though not necessarily excused.

At the same time, thinking about both tiki lounges and karaoke lounges, I've seen way more dank many a time. 

https://www.alibiportland.com/

PDX - Tanner Springs Park

Just as the Streetcar turns left to make its way up to 23rd and then come back down, you pass a park.

I had passed this park many times and been intrigued by it. First it was the glimpse of the walkway constructed like Tetris pieces - not quite regular but not too chaotic. They are bordered by posts that remind me of reeds, which are kind of mirrored by the vegetation on the other side of the water.

One interesting thing I learned by entering the park was that the rails had been donated by the Portland Terminal Railroad Company. They were re-purposed here, which turned out to be a general theme of the park.

In between the rails there was beautiful blue glass that softened the look and referenced sky and water.

Upon closer inspection, you can see images of dragonflies and other possible park denizens in the glass.

I find it incredibly beautiful.

The other feature that drew my attention from the streetcar is the terracing built into one side. I like the geometric effect. It is a little more structured here than with the rails, but still visually interesting, especially with how the grey of the concrete and green of the grass play off against each other.

Once in the park I was even more smitten to find that the park had features for filtering rainwater.

Beyond that, it is simply a beautiful park with lots of fascinating little details.

You should stop by and stay for a while.

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?propertyid=1273&action=viewpark

American Muscle Cars at the World of Speed Museum

My trip to the World of Speed Museum was a family trip. I heard they were having a Mopar exhibit and knew we had to go.

I knew we had to go because we had been a Mopar family, even though I had never really understood what that meant. There was a certain similarity among certain cars that we had, and some guys I hung out with were way more excited about that than others (really just Scott). I have always been the family member the least into cars, but I knew at least some cars would be familiar.

They were, but also the exhibit did a good job of creating a context for me. First of all, that opening sign. Motor + Parts = Mopar. I guess I figured "motor" had to be a component somehow, but I hadn't known that - it was just a word people used a lot.

Though that Dodge and Plymouth and Imperial and all of these things are Chrysler built but we don't call all of them Chryslers? That still seems pretty weird to me.

The displays of the cars themselves were fine. You could see the bodies and engines, and they all looked immaculate. That is good, and I bet for people who work on cars it is great.

The thing that helped me most, though, were the signs. They included two in particular that I don't have good shots of.

One was about the Pontiac G.T.O. itself, credited with starting the tradition of muscle cars. The big thing is the increase in engine size, but even the name links it to the Grand Tourer Racing class cars. They aren't really related, but giving someone a more powerful and faster (also louder) engine and making them think of racing is something that captured the imagination of drivers and become very popular.

Suddenly "Little GTO" by Ronnie & The Daytonas made sense; not just the lyrics, but also why the song would be written, and why you would be excited about that particular car.

Many of the placards were informative (Oh! That's what "hemi" means.), but one in particular intrigued me without too much specification.

It was about John DeLorean. Yes, his name evokes gull wing time traveling cars and cocaine, but before that he was a General Motors executive and managed the development of many of these cars, including the G.T.O. and the Firebird.

When cars started moving toward great fuel efficiency, economy, and maybe even safety, there was a quote from DeLorean. I think it was something about how they would put a smaller engine in the G.T.O. over his dead body. (This is where I wish I had a legible photo.)

But it made me wonder, if they had kept the G.T.O. big and loud, would he have foundedthe DeLorean Motor Company and put out the DMC-12? And I feel like the answer is probably, because he had kind of an ego, but I can only speculate. Perhaps for the sake of the Back to the Future franchise, fuel economy has really worked out.

Oh, and maybe for the planet too. That could be good.

The Mopar exhibit ended in December, but it was being replaced with a Corvette exhibit that will run through April 15th.

We had one of those once too!

http://www.worldofspeed.org/