Slanted, not enchanted

Day 22

We sadly depart our little yurt on the goat farm and head for civilization. We take our sweet time leaving though (it was harder than I thought to leave behind a life on the farm), so we don’t get to Portland until the evening. **Note to Stacey: they are looking for help. Open invitation** We weren’t able to get ahold of anyone in the area through couchsurfing, so we ended up in the northwest section of town since someone had recommended a brewery there. We got a pitcher of IPA at Lomoc Brewery, split a garden burger and portobello mushroom burger (I got fries and she chose salad), and happened upon the local trivia night. We stuck around to play, and fared better than I thought we would. I mean, we got last place, but we got 14 out of 30 instead of the 5 I thought we’d get. Notable accomplishments: presidents on Rushmore (I pulled Jefferson out of my butt), the spelling of pterodactyl, and got 1 out of 4 of the Hs in 4H. We then talked to a local group of folks who gave us some advice on things to do around Portland, which we added to our list that other people have been putting together for us.

We walked over to a local coffeehouse for a tea and a brownie (and some wifi), and stayed until closing. Slept on the street. So far so good.

Day 23

We go to a coffee shop in the morning for coffee (Micah), and internet so that I can post photos. This has become somewhat of a routine because they offer one indispensable service: bathrooms. Who doesn’t need to pee first thing in the morning? Typically we get up when Micah’s bladder is ready to burst and we head to a coffee shop. Sometimes, like this morning, she goes without me because I have the tendency to be rather grumpy in the morning hours. Some people I know can attest to this (hint: everyone). It’s pouring rain off and on like the clouds have diarrhea, but since we don’t want to stay in coffee shops all day, we start walking toward downtown.

We duck in and out of shops as the rain dictates, but since we have our rain jackets we can also give the weather the middle finger....as long as we’re OK with soaking wet pants. Some of the little vintage clothing shops are cool, but mostly the shops aren’t that great, and we just move along. Fact: Downtown Portland kind of sucks. This is not an opinion. It’s a fact. Sure, there are plenty of pubs and shops and trinket stores and Powell’s, but 1) there are pubs elsewhere that are better, 2) we don’t have any money for the expensive things in shops, 3) no one needs trinkets, 4) unless you are looking for the weirdest, smallest print run book, you can skip Powell’s - the prices aren’t great, so unless you need something specific, what’s the point?

We ate a packed lunch, which was yummy, and then walked back to the van.

Micah’s friend set us up with one of her friends, Britta, and we ended up going to her house for dinner. We ate with Britta, her boyfriend Guillermo, and some of their friends. They had just been to Olympic National Park (one of our next destinations), and had managed to collect a ton of oysters that they just picked up off the beaches. So we ate oysters and homemade pizza, drank beer and wine, and were merry. They were both really nice people. The other people were OK, but one guy could only speak if he had a story to tell that used the word “awesome” or “amazing,” and two of them never said a word (that I was able to hear). So I bet they were nice, but who the hell knows? We then went with Britta, Guillermo, “awesome” guy, and “awesome” guy’s girlfriend to a concert of Gratatillium. It was their CD release party and they knew one of the dudes in the band. It was pretty good, but people in Portland are a little bit too cool to dance so it was a weird mix of 10-15 people dancing and about 70 people standing around looking cool or disinterested. I feel bad not buying the CD because they were pretty good, but, well, I didn’t buy it. So no use fretting.

We slept in our van out in front of Britta’s house, but the road was kind of on a slant so we woke up pretty crooked.

Day 24

Coffee. Internet. Bathroom.

We took our bikes out because the rain had stopped (FINALLY!!), and biked from the northeast to the southeast section of town up to Mount Tabor. It was a really sweet bike ride, but the uphill dominated me. Micah did fine, but my bike is a little bit small for me, and not as fast as hers, and I’m a wuss I guess. But it was a great ride. Once there we hiked around and got a great view of the city. And then we left because that was really the only thing to do there.

We then biked to Alberta St., which has tons of funky little shops and eateries. Fact: the sections around downtown Portland do not suck. There are tons of great pubs and places to eat all over the place. Plus the vibe is way friendlier and you don’t feel like you’re going to be overrun by people who are just too damn cool. We did the Portland thing and ate at a food cart. See, it’s cool in Portland to have a little section of a block dedicated to several food carts. It’s “the” thing. So we did that. And it was pretty damn good food. Venezuelan I think. Excellent.

After having our fill of walking around we biked back to the van and went to a movie. I’ve been wanting to see “Greenberg” for a long time, and man was it ever fucking worth it. So damn funny. There was one part (and I won’t spoil it because you all must see this movie) that cracked me (and most other people in the theater) up. But I didn’t stop laughing when everyone else did. So Micah shushed me because I just wouldn’t stop (and was apparently laughing a little too loudly). This also marked the second time in a month that I got to drink beer while in a movie theater. This after having never before done this in my life. Great movie, pizza, popcorn, beer. All in one place. Beer + popcorn was only $6.25. I didn’t even want the popcorn that much, but what a good deal! I know some people (Enoch), who would never do this, but how can you pass up a good deal like this?

Then we slept on a slant. It feels like I’m going to tumble down onto Micah at any moment. Starting to get annoying.

Day 25.

Coffee. Bathroom. Reading (no internet needed!).

We head down to Hawthorne St., but I’m fairly grumpy and in no mood for shopping. Micah soon tires of my attitude and we head back. You know, sometimes I just can’t handle the walking into shops and looking at stuff kind of thing. Sometimes it’s fun, but I’m just a little burnt out. I find out later that I think I’m just a little burnt out on doing stuff, but this only occurs to me once I realize that I’m being kind of grumpy no matter what we do.

The best part of the day was going to the Amnesia Brewery, where we got some beers, ate some snacks, and played cribbage out on their patio. That was great. I ended up losing to the best hand you can get in the whole game, but that’s fine. Still fun.

Later on we went around with Britta and Guillermo to these art exhibits that were set up all around the city. They do this on the first Thursdays and Fridays of the month, and plus Britta had a piece in one of the shows. So we got on our bikes and went around, which was awesome. It’s so nice to be able to bike everywhere, and the weather was finally cooperating and giving us clear skies. The first two art exhibits that we went to were pretty terrible, but there were refreshments. The first had Budweiser (in a briefcase), some cookies, muffins, and scones. I tried one of each. Except the Bud. The second place had this vegan rice and bean dish, plus salsa, chips, hummus, and veggies. So I ate a bunch of that too. Then we went to Britta’s exhibit, but they had already closed! Crap! They ended up letting us in to see the pieces, and it’s too bad we only got to look quickly because the ones in this show were a billion times better. Maybe 3 billion times better. Maybe. Then we biked over to a place for dinner. I got mac and cheese, but returned to my semi-grumpy state, so it was only kind of fun. When we went to get our bikes some dude was lighting his glove on fire, which smelled terrible. What an idiot.

Then we slept on a slant. Grrrr.

Day 26

Our last morning in Portland. Britta let us take a shower (felt great), and we went to breakfast. Oh, and we had to buy a bike lock because I nearly broke the key off in the lock that I had brought from home, and we were lucky enough as it was that we were able to unlock our bikes in the first place. Guillermo managed to smash it flat with a rock after I managed to twist it nearly halfway around. We unlocked the bikes, but the next time the key turns it will break in half. So we did that as well. And then we drove off following the Columbia River toward Hood River. We took a hike at a place called Desolation Mountain or something awful. I don’t remember exactly. But it was straight up. Treacherous uphill climb. At the top we got a creek and decided to head back down, foregoing the 6 mile loop. We went out to a lookout that gave me the jeebies (so high up and looking straight down!), took some photos, and made our was down.

In an incredibly intelligent move we got some camping info at Hood River from two of the most useless “Tourist Information” employees I’ve ever seen. As Micah pointed out, “when do you think those two old women last went camping? Ever?”. Good point. But we got some maps, and (this is the good decision) decided not to head to Mt. St. Helen. I really just needed a day to decompress. We got to our campground, picked a spot next to the creek that got some sun (this has been the best day yet as far as weather goes), played some frizbee, and r-e-l-a-x-e-d. Perfect.

Slept pretty close to level. What a nice change of pace.

P.S. The campsite was $10, but their drop box was “out of order” (how is that possible?), and no one came around to collect. Thus, free camping.