WE FEASTED ON COLUMBIA RIVER KING SALMON AND SEARED SCALLOPS WITH PORK BELLY
Our spirits lifted at Portland’s Heathman Hotel, where we’d booked the glamping package. The girls were delighted by the tent outfitted with a kid-size mattress, toy lantern and Goodnight Oregon, a bedtime book. Downstairs at Headwaters, we feasted on Columbia River king salmon and seared scallops with pork belly. Sonia befriended the hostess, who conjured up a colouring book and crayons. Mira was drawn to the library – a dazzling space with double-ceiling-height shelves, art and armchairs.
Before comedy series Portlandia skewered it as a hipster haven ‘where young people go to retire’ and ‘the dream of the ’90s is alive’, Portland was nicknamed the City of Roses. We took that as our cue and spent the morning at the International Rose Test Garden. A few artists had easels set up among the 650 blooming varieties.
Our drive had been fuelled largely by coffee and ice cream, and two artisanal refills got us through the final stretch: Case Study in downtown Portland and Sofie’s Scoops in Olympia, the state capital of Washington.
We reached Seattle about 95 kilometres later, miraculously on schedule. It felt good to unpack our stuff at the Kimpton Alexis Hotel, knowing we could spend the next week walking around downtown – eating your body weight in ice cream and sitting for hours does take its toll. But being in one place came also with the bittersweet realisation that our amazing adventure had come to an end: five days, three states, and two children full of memories.
Originally published in October 2019. This trip was completed in partnership with Hertz.
hertzmultibrand.com/cathaypacific
回到車上，窗外流動的景色換上綠油油的草地，一群母牛欣然享用新鮮嫩草。又到雪糕時間了，而我們剛好來對了地方：位於太平洋西北部的奶品老字號Tillamook Creamery，它由牧場主人領軍，去年在110周年前夕開設旅客中心，設施美輪美奐，還備有多款芝士供人免費試食、另提供煙肉芝士通心粉、「邪惡拉絲」烘芝士三文治，以及朱古力櫻桃和越橘莓雪糕等教人食指大動的奶製品。
我們原來的下一站是Cannon Beach小鎮，需繞道北行，但眼看快到下午5時，因此唯有把此站也放入下回再續清單，然後朝東面向波特蘭進發。入城之際，我們在這次旅程中初嘗交通擠塞的滋味，Dilip稱：「Tami果然沒有說錯。」
我們在波特蘭的酒店Heathman Hotel預訂了豪華露營套餐，一掃在路上滯留的悶氣。兩位小公主看到營內的兒童床鋪、玩具燈籠和睡前故事書《Goodnight Oregon》，便已雙眼發亮。我們先到下層的Headwaters餐廳飽餐一頓，享用哥倫比亞河帝王三文魚和煎封帶子配豬腩肉。酒店女主人向Sonia「變出」填色冊和蠟筆，把她逗得開懷大笑，二人迅即結為好友。Mira則被圖書館內樓高兩層的書架、藝術品和扶手椅的氣派迷倒。
電視喜劇《Portlandia》把波特蘭塑造為「年輕人的退休勝地」和「90後樂土」，使之成為潮人熱點，但其實在這之前，這裡早已有「玫瑰之城」的別稱，因此我們專程前來朝聖，整個上午都在國際玫瑰試驗園賞花。園內共有650種薔薇盛放，吸引好些畫家前來寫生。
我們在途中享用哥倫比亞河帝王三文魚和煎封帶子配豬腩肉
咖啡和雪糕是我們這次自駕遊的主要「燃料」，而我們最後的「補給站」，是波特蘭市中心的Case Study咖啡店和華盛頓州首府奧林匹亞的Sofie’s Scoops意式雪糕店，讓我們得以一鼓作氣奔向終點。
我們再驅車跑了約95公里，竟能如期抵達目的地西雅圖，實在不可思議。當我們在酒店Kimpton Alexis Hotel卸下行裝後，立時感到如釋重負，因為在接下來一周，我們可以「腳踏實地」，在市內隨處漫遊。畢竟，以雪糕作燃料，坐著駕車數小時說不上是健康之舉。不過，安頓下來後，我們真正感受到這趟見識之旅終於告一段落：五天遊歷三個州分，為孩子帶來美麗的回憶，這教我們感到不捨。
原文於2019年10月刊登。這段公路之旅有賴與租車公司Hertz聯手合作完成。