Portland, Oregon
Today was our day in Portland and it was awesome. The drive up, not so much, but the city was cool. Well, let me take it back, the drive wasn’t so bad. It was just mountainous and dark for half of it because we left a little late in the day for a ten hour drive. And the mountains are beautiful, but scary. Things scare me and I feel as though I’ve been facing those fears a lot more recently and Brianna’s been helping me through them and been super positive throughout.
So yeah, the drive up was great for the first half and it just sucked when it got dark, but the area near Sacramento on I-5 was so beautiful that I need to go back there and check it out. Sacramento’s supposed to be a quieter city than San Francisco, but that may be just what I need. I hate traffic and I hate hills.
Which is kind of what Portland is full of, but it’s cool because Jen and Jesse drove us around all day. We met up with Jen and Jesse around noon and Jen, Brianna and I went and got some Mexican food and then went to Powell’s Books and Stumptown and Voodoo Donuts. Voodoo Donuts are crazy and awesome. Jen’s was shaped like a four-leaf clover (Portlanders seem to love St. Patrick, seriously, everyone was wearing green!), Brianna’s had bubble-gum flavored sprinkles, and mine had Froot Loops on top. It was quite the experience. Seriously, where else can you eat a donut like that? That’s right, nowhere. Portland = rare donuts and books.
We met up with Jesse and we all went to this park where there is a circle and you stand on a dot in the center and you can totally hear your voice echoing back at you, but no one else can. It’s like you’re hearing yourself in a microphone. I can’t figure out the science behind it, so I will assume magic.
Then we drove around for a bit contemplating the food situation and we got to a Thai place that everyone loves and we all ate delicious Thai food until we were full.
The day was eventful and I think we got a good feel for the city. We will pass through again on the way back (Seattle, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Sacramento) and hopefully we will have some more adventures, though I don’t know if I’ll want to park in their driveway again. That hill is impossibly steep, like 80-degree-angle steep. Jen had to drive my car back up again, because neither me or Brianna could do it! These are the kinds of hills I am afraid of. Apparently Washington’s supposed to be worse. Well, we’ll see tomorrow…
