A Day and a Half in Portland
Recap: Recently, I took a road trip through the Pacific Northwest with my former college roommate and have been writing a series of blog entries about the trip. To get up to speed, you can view my previous bog entries from the road trip series: Comfort Zone and Down Time in Seattle.
Can I just say I love road trips? L.O.V.E them. Almost as much as I hate road trips. They are the ultimate double edged sword; you get to see a little bit of everything, but damn it, you only get to see a little bit of everything. Portland Oregon was the first official stop on our road trip and we had budgeted roughly, oh, about a day and a half to spend there. Would that I could go back in time and smack my short-sighted planning self: A day and a half in Portland? Seriously, you think that's enough? No, I mean seriously?!?
Sadly, bereft of time traveling ability, I will have to content myself with planning a future trip and editing my photos from this one. Featured below for your viewing pleasure are some of the highlights from part one of our journey.
Portland Saturday Market
I had a list. A long one– of all the things I wanted to do and see in Portland. First up was the Portland Saturday Market. Open from March through December, it is an outdoor arts and crafts market that features over 250 local artisans, along with food vendors, wine and cider tastings and live music. I thought we could spend an hour or two there (seriously), and then hit the International Rose Garden or Powell’s. But, suffice it to say, we spent almost the entire day there– to my delight and my wallet’s chagrin.
Bicycles Galore
I knew that there was a huge bicycle friendly culture/way of life in Portland, but when I saw entire bridges blocked off for bicyclists, I had a momentary lapse and actually thought, Wow they really do love their bicyclists. Turns out that the Providence Bridge Pedal was taking place that day. Over 18,000 riders rode different routes through the city that included 6-10 bridges and crossed the finish line, conveniently enough, next to the Portland Saturday Market. Highlight: The Beat Goes On Marching Band played Somewhere Over the Rainbow at the finish line. I have no idea why.
Air B&B
I think “disappointed but oddly reassured” is the best way that I can sum up my first Air B&B experience. It was not tidy enough for my inner clean freak, not close enough to the city center to walk to, but ultimately not scarring enough to scare me off the Air B&B experience. Highlights: Merlin, the resident Main Coon mutt who hates luggage; raspberry bushes in the front yard that served as a little appetizer on the way to the Waffle Window.
Waffle Window
Portland has cultivated a reputation for being weird. What I find weird is that the Waffle Window franchise has not found its way to Pennsylvania Dutch Country! How did we miss this? In between roadside stands selling Whoopie pies, buggy rides, homemade ice cream, and root beer, there is a big gaping hole where the Waffle Stand should be. Hmmm, my second career path is suddenly becoming more clear.... Although there are a multitude of mouthwatering, finger-licking flavors available at the Waffle Window including Berry Bliss, Tomato B’s, and Banarumba– I can’t help but think that a Chicken Gravy option might help round out the menu.
Rocky Butte
The Joseph Wood Hill Park sits on top of extinct volcanic cinder cone butte known as Rocky Butte. Driving up a long, snaking road to the park, your conversation will naturally turn to real estate as you the eye the swank, modern, homes complete with expansive views of Portland and the mountains, perched on the steep embankments on the side of the road. The park sits at the peak; walled in stone, studded with pillars and Gothic style lights, and offering panoramic views of Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Mount Hood, and Portland. Take a picnic in the evening or grab a coffee early the morning and enjoy!
About Town
So even though we didn’t get to see everything in Portland in a day and a half (who would have guessed), we still managed to drop in at Pioneer Courthouse Square, browse at Powell’s, and take in an outdoor movie at Portland Art Museum. Not too shabby for a day and a half.
Comfort Zone
Last week, while my friend drove me to the Philadelphia airport to fly to Seattle, Washington, I kept up a steady stream of chatter to try to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. I was nervous which isn’t really that different for me, so I’ll say more nervous than usual. I was about to embark on a trip which was definitely outside of my comfort zone, let alone the eastern time zone, and I had a number of concerns:
- I planned a road trip with my college roommate, currently living in Seattle, who I had not spent a significant amount of alone time with in almost 10 years. The road trip was to begin and end in Seattle with stops in Portland, Talent, Ashland, Tillamook Oregon and Gasquet California. Not only was it important to me that the trip go well, I felt that the outcome of the trip would be a significant indicator of the status of our friendship going forward. Would we be those stylish old broads in floppy hats and Jackie-O sunglasses thirty years from now on a train to Milan if I drove her batty with my obsessive picture taking on this trip? I had my doubts.
- Believe it or not, this was my first time flying by myself. Me, navigating public transportation, is a lot like me trying to solve a geometry problem; I make a stupid mistake and then spend a good 20 minutes trying to figure out where I went wrong. Arriving on time, checking my bag, clearing security, finding my gate, successfully boarding the plane, and not getting sick on the plane mid-air– was as daunting as the Pythagorean theorem to me.
- All of our reservations were made at Air B&B’s. Now I agreed to this in the spirit of saving money, and also to save money. Did I mention saving money? I am a person who has watched about a baker’s dozen too many Law & Order episodes to feel entirely comfortable with the idea of of staying in a stranger’s spare bedroom in Portland, a tent in Talent, or a remote village in Gasquet. Details such as compost toilets, outdoor showers, chicken and goat pens, and warnings about being awoken by roosters crowing and “element of roughing it” sounded about as appealing to me as a trip to the dentist. BUT... in for a penny, in for a pound, right? I crossed my fingers, as my friend booked our air B&B’s, and tried to take comfort in the fact that, Law & Order not withstanding, our trip was now guaranteed a good story or two.
- In terms of street photography on this trip, I had given myself the task of actually talking to people instead of taking photos of them from a block away, curtsey of my telephoto lens. Although the former sounds like it should be ridiculously easy and the latter kind of creepy, I find it to be a challenge. From a distance, you can observe and photograph without interrupting or disturbing your subject. From up close, the subject is aware of you and the camera and that can change the whole dynamic of the photo, for better or worse. Plus you have to make small talk, an art form onto it’s own. This was definitely going to be interesting.
As I stepped out of the car, on the curb in front of the sign for US Airlines, I reflected, not for the first time, on how much I must really love to travel despite airports, social anxiety, irrational fears, rational fears, an abhorrence of packing, and sense of direction that could rival a toddler with an ear infection. And yet, I do all of that and more, to see someplace new, to see someone I love, to travel outside of my comfort zone. Stay tuned for the next segment of my trip.