Portland, Oregon
We made it to Portland around 2 in the afternoon on Sunday. Driving up to Sole’s house, and seeing her out in the year waving us down was priceless. It’s a nice feeling to see her outside of Yellowstone, in her element, and living her own life. It made me realize how Yellowstone really gives you tunnel vision on a person: you know them as the person they are there…with the title given to them by Xanterra, and pretty much not much else. To really get to know a person there takes effort. I’d like t think I made a couple of really close friends, ones whose lives beyond Yellowstone aren’t entirely mysterious to me. Sole is one of those friends. She is a truly great person, and someone I hope to keep in my life.
We spent the night walking around Portland, and met up with another girl from Yellowstone, Sam. We went to an amazing bookstore, and I bought a journal for my trip abroad, and a book called “Love is not constantly wondering if you are making the biggest mistake of your life.” It was pretty good, actually.
Anyways, we went to the grocery store, and I insisted on cooking dinner. It’s been months since I’ve been able to cook my own food, and I cherished the opportunity. Sam and I cooked a delicious pasta sauce from scratch, with the following ingredients:
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 small can of black olives, sliced
1 small jar of capers
1 Portabella mushroom cap, sliced
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 bag Angelhair pasta
1/4 lb lean beef
I sauteed the garlic and shallots in some olive oil, then added in the beef. Once the beef was cooked, I put the olives, capers, and mushrooms in, and sauteed the whole bunch for another minute or so. Then, I added in the tomato sauce, and cooked it for 5 minutes on low heat, adding in salt, pepper, and oregano to taste. While that was cooking, I put the pasta on and cooked it to al dente. Then, I strained the pasta and cooked it in the pasta sauce. Delicious. It was nice to get the flavors I’m used to back in my system. Felt like home. My parents are going to be spoiled when I get home…I’ll be cooking up a storm.
We spent the night out in the backyard, camping out. In the morning, we woke up and got a late start because Ray lost the key to his car. Well, actually, the tip of the key broke off at some point when we were packing up the car, and we spent hours looking for it, even though he has a spare. We finally gave up the search and hit the road. This time, we headed directly North. Olympic National Park was next on our list.
