Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Relaxing in Portland
| Stoker's Log |
| Vacation Day One |
 |
| 8/18/09 |
| Portland, OR |
Now the real vacation begins.
We slept in late this morning, really relishing it, and then headed into town with my parents to take care of the bike. The friendly guys at Bike Gallery helped us tear down and pack up our giant bike in an electric scooter box so that we could send it home via AmTrak. Then we got a custom made box from the post office and filled it with parts, tools, shoes, and other equipment that we didn't want to stuff into our luggage. We enjoyed lunch at a delicious Italian buffet (though they insulted my mother by offering her the senior citizen discount), browsed briefly in REI, and spent the rest of the afternoon on the deck admiring the spectacular view and Kyle's strange tan lines.
We spent the evening out with our wonderful hosts and their son-in-law and daughter, who is also named Jillian. We had dinner at a swanky place downtown and shopped at the Oregon University bookstore (mostly for my brother, who loves the Ducks). Then we walked the streets of Portland a bit, admiring highrises with windmills, a giant mask, and a sign for our frisbee team's beloved P-Funk.
We were also impressed by the sheer volume of cycling traffic. Cyclists were everywhere, and cars had no choice but to respect them and share the road. Once again, Oregon was clearly a bicycle paradise.
Our ultimate destination was, no surprises here, a baseball stadium. The Portland Beavers, the Padres' AAA team, were facing the Iowa Cubs.
Initially down 3-0, the Beavers rallied to pull off a comeback and ended up winning 6-3. It was a great game and I really enjoyed myself. I also enjoyed a gigantic bag of cotton candy.
I did share some with the kid sitting in front of us, but it was still way more sugar that a human being should ever consume in one sitting.
Speaking of dangerous temptations, after the game my mother and I demanded that we stop at the world famous Powell's bookstore. It was wonderfully vast, and even though it was close to closing time I still walked out with a pile of books, including Orlando, Ultramarathon Man, and a few travelogues (which I justified as "research.") If we had had more time I may have needed a wheelbarrow to get out of there.
We got back to find that everyone else was asleep and that the view from the deck was just as impressive at night.
| posted at: 06:25 |
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