And the Trip Back to Oregon

My short trip to Tokyo was over and I took the N'EX train back to Narita. It's a good way to go. By buying a round trip ticket, I saved money too. So I bought a few things to enjoy on my way to the airport and on the flight back. These almond cookies were rather good. They went well with this Salty Litchi drink. Someone had a bottle in a photo and it was at the local konbini so I thought I would try it. Well first it was to have something cold to put on my injured right leg the night I fell. The bottle is a good shape for that. The drink was interesting. I thought it would taste salty but it really didn't.

I found these at the same konbini. Chestnut KitKats and they were pretty good. I think I ate these on the plane.

This Hiroshima lemon cake was also enjoyed on the plane. I was walking back through Ikebukuro Station after returning from Venus Fort and there were booths in front of one of the department stores. I could not resist buying a few treats for the trip home, this being one of them. Like I mentioned before, a lot of lemon flavored foods this time around. I learned on the flight there that while Hawaiian Air is not a bad airline, the food left a bit to be desired, especially since they do not give you a choice at meals. So I made sure to have a couple things to eat.

Since it was dark on the ride to Narita and then the flight to Hawaii, I didn't take photos. I also didn't take photos in the airport in Hawaii since I did that previously. And there wasn't much time in between flights since getting to customs was a very long walk, followed by another long walk to the departure gates. Finally we boarded our plane bound to Portland, Oregon. Hoping we would beat Hurricane Olivia which was headed directly to Hawaii.

 Well, we sat in the plane at the gate for at least a half hour, due to inbound planes flying around Hurricane Olivia. On the same flight path our plane needed to take to get to Oregon. So I took a few photos of the U.S. Air Force planes that were landing.

Finally we were taking off. The sky was getting darker but Olivia wasn't near Hawaii yet. Still stormy weather was being sent towards us thanks to Olivia. My trip was book ended by these storms.

Honolulu and Diamond Head in the distance. 

Not as sunny as the day I first arrived. Still warm. 

Aloha Honolulu. Still the color of that water, beautiful. 

Goodbye Hawaii. 

A very long sunset off in the distance while we flew into another night. Going back in time. 

Finally arriving at Portland International Airport. Where there is a Lego version of our beloved Multnomah Waterfall. 

Complete with little visitors.

I still have a few things I want to post about from this trip so this isn't the last post. Next up will be a few food things.

Snapshots

I've been posting photos on Twitter without much explanation. One or two may look familiar but these are new croppings and maybe a tweek or two. So let me write a little explanation here.

Top is Mount Hood and downtown Portland Oregon from the viewpoint of Portland Japanese Garden in 2012. The trees are taller now so one can't see as much of Portland.

Middle is looking east at the Columbia Gorge and the Columbia River from Vista Point. On the left is Washington and the right is Oregon. This was November 2013. Honestly could imagine Lewis and Clark and company paddling their boats down there. Love how undeveloped it still is.

Bottom is the beautiful Multnomah Falls. I definitely recommend going there if you ever visit the Portland area. Taken in July 2012.

The Sights and Sounds of Multnomah Falls

Just a couple videos I took of Multnomah Falls in November 2013. This is the lower falls from the observation deck.

This is the upper falls filmed from the bridge. It is a bit windy up there so that is the other noise in the video.

My prior posts about Multnomah Falls are here and here and a look at a few dishes they serve at Multnomah Lodge is here.