Days 23-25 - Portland, OR

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Got a little behind with keeping up with the blog. It turns out keeping up with a blog while exploring new cities with friends and working remotely was one thing too many. I'm writing this post about two weeks after our arrival in Portland. (But I'll back date it at some point just to confuse the historians.) Apologies for the delay to our fans following along at home. All 3 of you. The good news is I'm in the future now so I can assure you we've got some great content coming your way.


 We got to explore Portland for three days with our friend Marilyn. There are three things you need to know about Marilyn. 1- She hates historical houses. 2- She loves having her photograph taken. 3- She loves the feeling of warm sun on her skin. 


Case.


In.


Point.


Here she is having a terrible time. About to enjoy some really awful Thai food. (Don't worry, that was the last photo of you, Marilyn. Thought I'd get those out of the way first for you.)


There are also a few things you should know about Portland. Perhaps the most important being the climate is tropical enough to grow Jasmine (pictured covering the wall in the photo above). I first fell in love with the scent of this flower in L.A. on our road trip last year.



It has a lovely enclosed Chinese Garden the size of one full city block.




It has the world's largest rose garden with over 10,000 rose bushes of approximately 650 varieties that is freely open to the public. (Ok, I made up the part about it being the world's largest, but the rest is true. It's certainly the largest one I've ever seen.)


When your senses get overwhelmed by the vibrant colors and smells of too many roses (that's real, trust me) you can head to the lovely arboretum right up the hill.



No vacation with Marilyn is complete without dragging her to a historical house tour. Above are a couple details of the Pittock Mansion.


It has a lot of bridges and they are all a different style.


It has the most lovely city park I've ever been to, Laurelhurst Park. It was right down the street from our place and had lots of stuff happening every evening.


Like Shakespeare in the park. Friends having BBQ's, couples having romantic picnics. People walking dogs, playing hacky sack, corn hole, and having electronic dance parties and drum circles. Complete with quiet spots to escape and enjoy the big trees.



I mean, come on.


Finally, Portland has got some funk. I think the photos above and below perfectly sum up the feel of Portland.

We had lovely weather in Portland. The first day was the warmest where it got up to low 90s in the sun, but a dry heat so it was fine by me. It stayed in the 80s for a high the rest of the time. I learned that like L.A. and Seattle and unlike New England it is hottest at 5pm, but then it cools off every night which is great for sleeping. 

We loved the climate, the cheap delicious food that seemed to be everywhere, the cute neighborhoods with exotic (to us) plants and the amazing free city parks. What we didn't love was how bad the homelessness situation was, which also seemed to be everywhere. I really hope both Portland and we as a society figure that one out. And soon.

Next we headed to our friends house in Seattle for eight days of working, epic hikes, and city explorations. I'll try to get that post up soon, along with our time in Glacier. Then I think I'll just do one more post to sum up the highlights of the drive home as we'll have long driving days with little to no sightseeing. 

Apologies again for the long pause. I hope we didn't loose any fans because of it. Other than of course Marilyn after reading this post. Thanks Mom C. and Mom V. for sticking with us.

States traveled

  • Oregon

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 22, 2023 at 1:23 PM

    I don't why you are picking on me - you were wearing a long-sleeved jacket on that hot, sunny day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VanessaJuly 23, 2023 at 8:01 PM

      We both know it's cold in the morning until the fog burns off. Love you, Marilyn :).

      Delete

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