A Disappointment of Donuts

I tried a new to me donut place recently, Paradise Donuts & Coffee. I was looking forward to enjoying their made fresh donuts.

I'm old enough to remember Dunkin' Donuts before they went to centralized donut baking; when each store made their donuts fresh several times a day. The memory of those donuts are why, when I dragged out of bed on a recent Sunday morning, I was expecting to be rewarded with warm, fresh donuts. Nope. Sad face emoji.

I was there a half hour after opening. My selections made, box packed, I looked forward to giving these a try.

Sadly, this brightly colored box held a bakers dozen of disappointment. More sad face emojis.

Not a warm fresh donut in the bunch. Not only that, they all tasted like day old donuts. What? I've come to find out that the donuts at this Paradise Donuts are NOT baked fresh in the store. No, they're baked at another location the night before and then delivered to this location. A dozen sad face emojis.

To be fair, the donuts were ok. They tasted almost as good as any SuperMom's donut or grocery store donut I've had. Almost.

My takeaway? When it comes to donuts I should have quit while I was ahead. Smiley face emoji!

Hot and fresh!

Happy dining!

Voodoo Doughnut - Portland, Oregon

I had only a few things on the must do list for my drive up the West Coast with the Dining Companion's hermana. Voodoo Doughnut in Portland Oregon was one of them. After all, how could we be in Portland and not visit Voodoo Doughnut? It's doughnuts and Voodoo. I know right?

Lining up for doughnuts

As we expected there was a line but we only waited about 10 minutes before we headed inside...

So many choices!

Racks of doughnuts and stacks of iconic pink boxes waiting to be filled

Time to get serious and pick out some doughnuts.

Bacon Maple Bars

Decisions, decisions...

Cap'n Crunch, check. Oreos, check.

Classic Voodoo Doll doughnut

We ended up with a dozen wacky and delicious doughnuts. Our very own pink box of happiness. 

If you're traveling to Portland put Voodoo Doughnut on your must do list. They're open 24 hours a day so whenever you hit town the doughnuts are waiting. Go get some!

I only wish there was one near me.

Happy travels!

A Long and Winding Road...

How lucky can one person get? The Dining Companion's hermana needed someone to drive with her from California to Washington state? Pick me, pick me!!! Guess what? She did! 

That's how I found myself heading down the famous California Highway 1 on a cloudy Friday morning. The views were stunning. None of these pictures do it any justice.

Day one found us headed out of the Los Angeles area towards Hearst Castle. We planned to tour the castle and then have lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur. Which is what we did, but, and it's a big one, it was pouring rain by the time we got to Big Sur. The usually breathtaking views the restaurant is famous for were nowhere to be seen. Lunch was a little disappointing but we made the best of it and got back on the road.  Our destination for the evening was Morgan Hill, CA.

People camp along the side of Highway 1.

By the time we got to Morgan Hill we had been on the road for over twelve hours. That can only mean one thing, beer and bed. Day one down.

We were up bright and early the next morning and ready to hit the road again. Not before breakfast though. We found a great diner nearby and fueled up for the day ahead.

 

Leaving Morgan Hill we headed inland a bit and took California Highway 5. We were headed for Oregon. (We made some stops along the way that I'll cover in upcoming posts)

 

We stopped here to take a few pictures

 

The drive through the mountains was amazing. 

Day two ended in Medford, OR. We weren't on the road nearly as long as the first day so we made it to Medford with time to take a look around town and grab some dinner. 

We set out early on day three for our final destination, Seattle. We did make a side trip to Portland, because donuts. More to come about that.

After 1200 miles, rain, rock slides (teeny, tiny ones), drifting sand warnings, various wild animal crossings (deer, elk and bear. Oh my! And wild boar too!) we made it to Seattle Sunday evening. That gave us one day to hit the highlights. And that's exactly what we did.


Happy traveling!


Coming soon: We visit Hearst Castle, get sidetracked by olives, and eat cursed donuts. All that and much more. Check back!