Fort Klamath to Portland
We arrived in Portland (via Bend) on Friday the 24th. Quite a long drive. And uninteresting except for the vast number of trucks coming down the North 97.
We packed for an African Spring, and have been a bit cold, so stopped in Bend at an outlet retail park (it was well advertised and was perfectly targeted at South African's who believe that "Summer" means "Summer"). Karen and I bought some additional warm items to help us get through the cold of the North American Spring.
For some reason we also believe, illogically, that as we go further North it will warm up? Karen also believes that if she believes the weather will warm, it will warm.
We were warned about the 'off gridders' (homeless) in San Francisco but hardly saw any people living on the streets. Portland however, has tents put up in doorways, along the streets and in the small park close by the hotel. Sad to see how very young many of the people are. And the heavy drug taking. Very depressing.
Portland is dominated by the Williamette River (named after the Whilamut people who previously inhabited this valley). There are 12 major bridges that dominate the Portland sky line. They are all very very different and striking in their own way.
We chose to stay at the "Canopy by Hilton" in the Pearl District. The hotel rooms are very nice. The F&B less good. And the service at a level a Zimbabwean would sneer at, start a hospitality school, and make $$$ (proper ones).
Saturday was about wandering. We caught one of those tourist buses. Which was OK. The driver was also the tour guide. She could also talk to people outside the bus. And she'd boom "I see you bicyclist" when a cyclist got a little close. And when she mentioned something interesting, two of her older USA passengers would exclaim "ooh" or "wow wow" very loudly. Cute man.
We jumped off a bit early at the river stop. Had lunch at the Pine Street Market (basically a food-court serving great beer, Mexican and Asian food and donuts in so many variations). Then wandered.
And came across the Portland Outdoor Store. They sell cowboy and outdoor stuff. There was a cowboy looking to buy some new boots (they definitely gave him the Dusty Fog look). He looked good for a short guy in tight black jeans and a matching seam patterned tight shirt. And the mirror showed him so. But when his tall blonde wife/girlfriend drawled "they look great Lyle, but do you need to buy them now?" that was the end of that.
Karen did a similar thing when I looked at an outdoor hat. "When will you wear that?" she asked.
We visited Powell's Books which was the best, bar none, bookshop we've ever been into. And packed with people; locals and visitors. I don't think there's a book in English that's been published in the last few years that's not on a shelf there.
What was also cool, is they combine second hand books with new books. And there's a specific service section that buys back your old books (they obviously have to be of a certain quality). But for Karen and I, that was a true book lover's idea. Very cool.
On Saturday night we went to catch some live music (it seems that this is something that one should do in Portland). We went to the Alberta Street Pub. We caught the backend of The Acoustic Giants (two guys on acoustic guitars whose story telling was as entertaining as their songs), Caleb & The Monsters (who we both liked; but only really, after listening on Spotify, live) and Bikini Drone (whose live performance was completely different to their popi-ish Spotify library).
(Acoustic Giants)
Bikini Drone
Sunday was a bit of a travel day. Waterfalls and Cannon Beach.