Well, after three long days of train travel, Wendi and KDcat arrived in Portland. I knew they'd had a rough trip (as I'd posted, Wendi experienced some serious motion sickness!), so I booked them into an awesome Bed & Breakfast, literally across the street from the raw restaurant they were planning to visit. That B&B is called the Lion and the Rose Victorian Bed & Breakfast Inn. Wendi said everyone there was super-nice. (There was a neat synchronicity about it, too, which I'll post in the comments section.)

Thanks to everyone for the motion sickness tips! Wendi's feeling better, but after such a long train ride, she and KDcat still feel the effects on their balance (feeling like they're still moving, slightly dizzy, ears blocked a bit etc.). I suppose train travel takes a little getting used to. But, again, they're feeling much better.

Even though it was a short stay in Portland, they managed to squeeze in a meetup with two Pure Jeevan family members, Ann Chatterton and Tracy Partridge Johnson (as well as Ann's children, Zoe and Zack, and Tracy's son Brandon). They met up at the Blossoming Lotus, an organic/vegan venue that offers some gourmet raw dishes. Here's a slideshow!

Here's Wendi's first "report from the field":

We all met at a fantastic restaurant, Blossoming Lotus, that serves organic raw foods. The food was absolutely AMAZING and Ann treated KDcat and me to a meal for which we are extremely grateful (especially since I was pretty much fasting on the train because of the motion sickness). Ann recommended that I drink a fresh juice including some ginger, so I had an apple, lemon, kale, ginger juice that gave me a sense of balance after the long train trip.

I also met with one of the owners, and did a quick video interview.We took pics of the food that we ordered (we were sharing all the dishes) and it was FANTASTIC. I think it's worth a trip to Portland just to eat at that restaurant! In the video, we have a quick peek? at their large kitchen and hear how the business is doing there in Portland. The restaurant isn't fully raw, but it's fully vegan and mostly organic.

As you can tell, Wendi and KDcat are totally in love with Portland! They felt very comfortable, and found the people extremely friendly and easy going. Tey say there's a hip vibe to the place and both? felt totally at home and like we would all fit it (which we don't feel in Pittsburgh). Best of all, things are all all in bloom! There are flowers, green grass, trees all in bud (lots of cherry blossoms), and there was even a freshly mown lawn that they joked about rolling around in because it looked and smelled so delightful after the stale air on the train for three days/nights. (And, for anyone wanting a comparison, there's a blizzard today in Pittsburgh. Yeah, I'm a little jealous!)

Bottom line:? Portland is definitely a contender for a place to relocate! I'll post that video soon, and maybe some additional pictures.

Additional Notes:

• You can friend Ann Chatterton on Facebook! (Ann, thank you SO much for treating Wendi and KDcat to such a delicious assortment of raw gourmet food!!!)
• Tracy Partridge Johnson is on Facebook, too! She also runs the web site Eighty Percent Raw.
• Our Flickr photo stream for this whole tour is here. (Going to this Flickr account will let you see names and descriptions not shown in the slideshow, above. So, if you're curious about something, check out the Flickr set directly.)
• Direct link to the slide show shown above.

Once again, we thank our trip snack sponsor, Natural Zing, for helping us to make this possible on our budget!