Norwitz Notions

When we were trying to figure out what to do on our one day in Portland during a heat wave, we met some moms in Salem who said we should go to OMSI.  To where?  To the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry.  An entity big enough in Portland to warrant its own set of […]

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At the end of our day-long trek into Portland, we met up with a friend and her son at Kalga Kafe, a vegetarian restaurant in the southeast part of the city.  Dinner hours are 5pm-midnight (it serves lunch weekdays) and it hosts live bands some evenings.  Since this was a Saturday night, we thought we […]

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I’ve lived in cities with large central libraries before (like Boston) but the locations I’ve lived recently tend to have smaller ones (with access to more books via inter-library loan).  Portland has one of those old-fashioned but refreshing monuments to reading.  A library where you actually want to spend time, not just kill it. Multnomah […]

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Our first day of travel from Petaluma, CA to Vancouver, BC was our worst.  We took I-5 and, despite keeping the A/C on recirculate and me being on oxygen, I got pretty sick from the pesticide exposures driving past all the agriculture.  Miriam was in even worse shape.  Screaming, tantrums, and two episodes of extreme […]

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Unlike our misadventure of the night before, our two night stay at Champoeg State Park, just south of Portland and north of Salem, was peaceful, quiet, and medically uneventful.  We arrived with concerns.  Since it was a weekend, and we were only booking a few days in advance, there were just two campsites left.  I […]

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The first overnight stop on our road trip from Petaluma, California to Vancouver, Canada, was in Southern Oregon at the Indian Mary Campground in Merlin. By Google Maps, it’s 410 miles and a 6:30 hour drive. With extensive stops, it was more like 9 or 10 hours. Indian Mary Park Uninc Josephine County, Oregon 7100 […]

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This huge and beautiful park is worth the couple mile detour for anyone travelling along I-5 in Oregon.  Our first stop was the picnic area.  They have a large covered section of tables, which was taken when we were there so we ate at a table in the sun (during a heat wave unfortunately). The […]

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I go to Expo West for my soap business, Tikvah Organics but, for the past several years, Michael and Miriam have joined me and we turn it into a vacation. Miriam charms exhibitors by asking for seconds of foods like pickled herring, I make business contacts and get to stuff myself silly with the latest […]

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When it came time for Miriam’s 3rd birthday party, we didn’t know where to hold it. Our house is too small and full of cats. The weather is too iffy to plan something outdoors. And we can’t stand most of the venues that turn children’s parties into entertainment extravagances. Fortunately, we discovered the Boys and […]

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There are basically two ways to drive between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles or San Diego: 101 or 5. I took I-5 for years, and it is the fastest route, but it goes through hours of agricultural areas and just isn’t safe for me anymore. Add in a 3 year old who […]

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Most of our Thanksgiving dinners are in the community room of Ecology House, an 11-unit government (HUD) complex for people disabled with chemical sensitivity. Every year, with the help of the Environmental Health Network, the residents there host a (supplemented) potluck dinner for the entire chemical sensitivity community. It’s great fun. I share the disability […]

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Todai is a small buffet chain specializing in sushi and a variety of Japanese and Chinese foods, with a smattering of other things. They started in Hong Kong I believe and had a strong presence in California. But they’re growing. They have many restaurants in South Korea, a couple in mainland China, and one in […]

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