i’m stuck in seattle, having missed my bus connection, and the trains still aren’t running south to oregon. luckily i have such great friends, and jordan and scott are already on their way to swoop me up and take me back to portland, oregon, otherwise known as “PDX.” while i’m waiting i eat two dinners; a BBQ pork sandwich and a gyro, respectively, as all i’ve consumed today is two pieces of overpriced and salty salmon jerky from the duty-free store on the border. by the time they arrive i am ready for my third dinner, and we get indian food.
we’re the only people in the restaurant, but you can hear the rowdy mariners fans in the bar next door when they cut away from the game to show barry bonds hitting home run #755. i’m planning to be at the home game on monday night, so i hope he can hold off his swing until then.
on the 2 1/2 hour drive back to portland we stop at a dairy queen. i get a cup of coffee from the gas station across the street and a small vanilla soft-serve. the only time i ever consume crap like this is with jordan. i think the only two times i’ve been to mcdonald’s in the past 5 years have been with him. we get home and fall asleep drinking Rogue Dead Guy Ale and watching reruns of Futurama.
Portland is both unique and representative of the very best of the west: it does two things very well, coffee and beer. a lot of cities, like seattle, do one or the other. i like to think SF has the best coffee out west, and Anchor Steam isn’t a lightweight as far as good beers go, but i may be amiss, since portland has Stumptown (so named for the immovable old-growth tree trunks that peppered the city when first settled), which is terrific, and a handful of tremendously tasty microbrews. there are Stumptowns cleverly inserted into the most traversed parts of the city, including Powell’s bookstores, and the lobby of the amazing Ace Hotel, a 1920s downtown institution reimagined as a hotel and lounge and art space.
Another thing Portland has that elsewhere lacks are fantastic old buildings, namely theatres, converted into cheap second-run cinema houses with built-in microbrews and bars. for 3 bucks, you can see Hot Fuzz, and get a cheap pitcher of good, local beer along with it. you sit inside an enormous old theatre decorated with lavish chandeliers and art deco accents, and you can put your beer down on a table right in front. it’s like hanging out at your house, except your house is a 1920s theatre with THX and a huge screen.
we hike through Forest Park, a redundancy Scott (from CA) points out smacks of the same veracity as Ocean Beach. it is an enormous park, similar to Stanley Park in Vancouver, that encompasses a large part of the city and is chock full of beautiful old-growth forest, hiking trails, and spectacular vantage points of Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and sordid other snowcaps that dot the northwest landscape.
i leave portland as easily as i had arrived, on a $2.00 bus with a free transfer to the MAX, the light rail that goes directly to the airport. Jordan has found his home here and i can’t imagine him living anywhere else. i’m happy to see him doing well and having found companionship in his favourite place.
in the meantime, i have finally uploaded pics from alaska. a sample is below.
this is the summit of mt. roberts, which we scrambled, taken from the “golden ridge.”
this is juneau harbour, taken from the same vantage point
an eagle soaring in ketchikan, alaska
the rest of these can be found here
enjoy.
