Portland- Day 2

My 2nd day in Portland, I headed away from the city to the suburbs.  My first destination was the factory tour at Bob's Red Mill.  I eat their products every day, many days at multiple meals. I thought it would be fun to see how they were made.  The one way streets messed me up a bit and I did a big circle, driving down skinny residential streets where only one car fits at a time while trying to read my map and avoid crazy bicyclists who don't obey stop signs, before ending up on the correct highway out of town.  I gave a big sigh of relief and  made it to the factory with plenty of time until the 10 am free tour.

The 1 hour 45 minute tour began with a movie explaining the history of the company.  Then it was time to peek through the windows at product being made.  If I had to use one word to describe the factory it would be "clean".  It was amazingly clean with no flour dust floating around and everything neatly organized.  They have a huge building, seven acres under one roof!  After looking through the windows and learning what was going on inside, the tour guide brought us over to a table where many of the products the company makes were on display.

While we were looking things over I looked up and saw Bob Moore himself walking up.  He was very nice and talked with us for about 10 minutes.  I tried to get up the nerve to ask for a photo with him but I just couldn't force myself to do it, drat!  He's 83 years old and still works more than full time.  I could tell from listening to him that he LOVES interacting with people and it sounded like stopping in with the tours is a regular part of his day. 

Someone asked the tour guide about Bob's commitment to Non-GMO foods.  She said that while they try to buy non GMO, it's not a #1 priority (they aren't worried about wind drift, etc.).  Bob's priority is getting people to eat more whole grains.  He's given millions of dollars to Oregon colleges to help them study the affect that nutrition has on health.  It reminded me of the question I get a lot about the produce co-op.  Is it local?  No.  The priority of my co-op is getting people to eat more fruits and vegetables and having access to them at the lowest possible price is the way I try to do that.  Local is almost always more expensive.

After the tour, I headed to the factory store for some lunch and to purchase some items.  They do a good job of getting the fresh baked bread smell outside and my stomach was definitely grumbling by the time I walked in.  I had a veggie sandwich and then wandered the aisles trying to decide what I wanted to try.  As I was leaving, I saw Bob walking in, another chance to schmooze   He radiates joy and it made the tour a lot of fun to get to meet him.

outside the store

inside the store

My veggie sandwich

It was exciting to see what was across the street from Bob's factory store,

We eat a lot of Dave's Killer Bread that we buy at Costco.  It was exciting to see an outlet store for it.  I also learned that Dave's uses Bob's Red Mill flours.

After the tour, I drove over to the Portland Temple to spend some quiet time.  I always feel like a dork when I go somewhere for the first time and aren't sure where anything is but I managed to bumble my way around, asking for help when I needed it.  It's a beautiful temple, completely different from the Seattle Temple I'm used to. 

I got back to the hotel with some spare time.  I didn't have quite enough time to get my bike and ride up the road for a cupcake and make it back by the time Dode is finished so I did my produce order instead, much more fun!

Once Dode was finished with his meeting, we set off for dinner.  He'd had lunch at the conference so I didn't have to worry about choosing somewhere that would appeal to his tastes.  We went to Blossoming Lotus, a vegan restaurant.  I chose the Live Nachos based on reviews off TripAdvisor   Have I mentioned that I'm a spice wimp?  They were tasty but too spicy for me.  I also had the BBQ Tempeh with collards and corn bread.  The tempeh was yummy.  I can never get my tempeh at home as sweet and not bitter as they did.  I want to know their secret!

Live nachos

BBQ Tempeh

Since having ice cream wasn't too terrible on the tummy, we went to another ice cream shop, Salt and Straw.  

I chose a single scoop, 1/2 sea salt and caramel ribbon, half honey balsamic strawberry with cracked pepper.  Dode got snicker-doodle   I liked the ice cream last night better but I might have not been the best judge since I was stuffed full of nachos and bbq tempeh! 

I can't believe I'm half way through the trip.  The days are going by so quickly!