{"id":755490,"date":"2010-01-01T14:35:00","date_gmt":"2010-01-01T22:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/2010\/01\/01\/heading-to-washington\/"},"modified":"2010-01-01T14:35:00","modified_gmt":"2010-01-01T22:35:00","slug":"heading-to-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/2010\/01\/01\/heading-to-washington\/","title":{"rendered":"Heading to Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Driving to Washington for the holidays, we decided to break up the drive into two days.&nbsp; We stopped in Medford for the first night and stayed at the <a href=\"http:\/\/hamptoninn.hilton.com\/en\/hp\/hotels\/index.jhtml;jsessionid=A32PENYHZ3E2CCSGBIWM22Q?ctyhocn=MFRORHX\">Hampton Inn<\/a>.&nbsp; This is the perfect place for our family.&nbsp; They had large rooms, a whirlpool tub, a swimming pool and spa, and breakfast the next morning.&nbsp; All for under $100!<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2794\/4234945352_3257ee1806.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nWe arrived early enough to track down dinner.&nbsp; The hotel clerk suggested we go to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.porterstrainstation.com\/\">Porter&#8217;s<\/a>, but when we got there, the wait was about 45 minutes.&nbsp; We checked out a few other chain restaurants, but wait times were all high.&nbsp; We were all road weary from the drive and I was ready to run through a fast food restaurant when David spied <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thaibistroonline.com\/\">Thai Bistro<\/a>.&nbsp; The decor is dated and makes the restaurant appear a little &quot;iffy&quot;.&nbsp; But, i was so tired and bordering cranky, I was willing to risk it.<\/p>\n<p>The restaurant was the only restaurant that was not full (not a great sign), but it was not empty either (looking better.)&nbsp; They sat us at a table right in front of an aquarium.&nbsp; The aquarium needs alot of love, BUT, it had some of the most unique saltwater creatures we have seen. <\/p>\n<p>We were excited to discover that the menu was full of options that we have never seen before.&nbsp; We ordered the Pot Stickers, Apple Salad, Thai Beef Salad, and (of course) Pad Thai.<\/p>\n<p>The attentive server brought us a complimentary cucumber salad appetizer.&nbsp; It was delicious.&nbsp; Then, the pot stickers.&nbsp; They were delicious.&nbsp; Then, the Apple salad.&nbsp; Guess what?&nbsp; DELICIOUS!&nbsp; And so on&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>We have discovered a fabulous place to dine in Medford!&nbsp; The flavors of all the dishes we tried were fresh, simple yet complex, and layered.&nbsp; The chef is obviously well trained in Thai cuisine and takes it to an elevated&nbsp;gourmet level.&nbsp; If we closed our eyes, we could imagine ourselves dining at the fine asian Seattle restaurant, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wildginger.net\/\">Wild Ginger<\/a>.&nbsp; It makes me wonder how many people miss out on some incredible culinary experiences because they can&#8217;t get past the first impression.<\/p>\n<p>After dinner, we went back to our room and David began the boys first chess lesson.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2774\/4234947826_7de5f96788.jpg\" \/><br \/>\nThe next morning, after a simple breakfast, we swam in the indoor pool and spa for an hour before hitting the road.<\/p>\n<p>We had a late lunch in Albany, OR. at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allannbroscoffee.com\/beaneries\/I-5_beanery.cfm\">Allann Bros. Coffee I-5 Beanery<\/a>.&nbsp; They had a variety of sandwiches, soups, and salads.&nbsp; But, the bonus was homemade pies!!&nbsp; YUM!<\/p>\n<p>We made it to our destination (my mom&#8217;s place), late in the evening, looking forward to holiday festivities!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Driving to Washington for the holidays, we decided to break up the drive into two days.&nbsp; We stopped in Medford for the first night and stayed at the Hampton Inn.&nbsp; This is the perfect place for our family.&nbsp; They had large rooms, a whirlpool tub, a swimming pool and spa, and breakfast the next morning.&nbsp; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-755490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-fun"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.centerdeep2.com\/riverbendprep\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}