When I Roll into the Wild Wild West: Everyone knows

Portland may literally be a land with a port but it should really be called the land of books, bike, beers...and falls.

Our first full day here we went to Larch Mountain in the Columbia Gorge area and hiked to Sherrard Point which was 14.4 miles with a pretty steep path in a fern gully-esk forest that seemed to have waterfalls around every corner like Wawas in Jersey. The first fall was the most iconic Oregon waterfall called Multnomah Falls (pronounced malt-NO-ma, and pictured above) that has a 620' drop and by 8:45 am when we reached the trailhead we were already noticing its popularity with locals and tourists alike who were out early taking the pics before the hoards of them arrive.

The top of Sherrard Point gives a beautiful view of 5 different mountains depending on the weather and since ours has been so great (and misleading according to the locals) we could see every peak including Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt Adams, Mt. Jefferson and the most impressive Mt. Hood.

While we were up there we meet a group of hikers who were all a part of a hiking meet-up group and one of the girls talked to Jen and I for awhile giving us suggestions for things to do and Ice Cream to eat while in Portland. Her name is Erika and she actually decided to join Jen and I after the hike to try said Ice Cream which was a place called Salt and Straw. They had super funky flavors like strawberry/balsamic/black pepper, or Pear and blue cheese. After trying about 5 flavors (I had a very nice and patient guy) I settled with a waffle cone with 2 flavors-chocolate gooey brownie and almond praline with ganache. Jen got a double flava-flav as well and Erika got some strawberry basil lime cheesecake one and the three of us proceeded to chow down. I should have timed us because we probably broke some sort of record. After that Jen and I still needed dinner (and I was amazingly enough still hungry) so we wandered to a sushi place, then headed back to our living quarters.

We are staying with a girl named Joelle who we found through AirBnB which is a website where people can put their spare rooms or even their own houses up for rent and it's a cheaper way to travel than hotels, plus if it's just a room rental then you get to meet, hang and stay with locals. Joelle's house has an oasis in the backyard with a huge garden, 5 hammocks, a chicken coop, a bee apiary and a plum tree where I have been picking fruit from every morning for breakfast. She also has two pianos, two guitars a drum, belly dancers finger cymbals (which I found way too entertaining) and a ton of instruments I had either never heard of before or seen in real life. When we got back we hung out with Joelle and Aaron who is another guest in the house right now and it somehow came out that we are all musicians or singers so Jen and Aaron took turns playing the piano and we had a solid three-hour sing-along, mostly to Disney tunes. I couldn't have asked for a better end to the day....maybe more ice cream.

Yesterday Jen and I awoke to the peaceful sounds of construction directly outside our window at 7am, which quickly jolted us into our day of city exploration. First we started in the Hawthorne district for some vintage store hopping, then we walked over to Hopworks Brewery for lunch and some local beer samples. Did you know that Portland is the brewery capitol in the country with more breweries (47 in total) than any other city in the country?! Sign me up.

our Hopworks Beer sampler

After lunch we made our way to the Pearl District where Portland also houses that nations largest new and used bookstore called Powells books. This store literally had a map you can pick up at the entrance to help guide you through the 65,000 square foot collection. Well done Portland. Jen found a few books and I just took pictures of the ones I was interested in reading someday...I don't need to add anymore weight to my bag and already acquired a few books on this trip that I simply haven't had the time to read. That's what trains and planes are for!

Post-Powells we walked to another Portland staple...Voodoo Doughnuts. I tried counting and reached about 60 different handmade doughnut varieties, their namesake being a voodoo doll shaped doughnut with a pretzel rod sticking in it like a needle and raspberry jam filling. Joelle told us inside local info which is to go in and ask for a bucket and they well give you a bunch of day-old (but still delicious) doughnuts for a more reasonable price. While waiting in line next to the glittered brick wall Jen and I decided to go for the local trick and ask for the bucket. Act confident. So I went up to the cashier (who by the way was showing of her jazzy hip moves to the Sir Mix A Lot song 'Jump On It' and added if they had anymore buckets (I was breezy). She returned with a FIVE GALLON BUCKET OF DOUGHNUTS. There must have been at least four dozen doughnuts in there...and no repeats. Our bulging eyes blew our 'local' cover so we quickly paid and got out of there. Oh yeah, and the price? $8.00. And the individual ones all cost at least $1.00 a piece depending on their intensity. We got a bucket full of intensity, and let's just say we quickly made friends throughout the streets of Portland. What's funny is that this bucket doesn't say Voodoo on it or hint that inside it's chock-full of doughnuts and yet, EVERYONE knew what we were packing. Their eyes twinkled and smiles widened as we would walk over and offer a doughnut. And these people knew those doughnuts inside and out, requesting Maple Bacon or the Old Fashioned, Mexican Hot Chocolate, etc. As Gram would say...mister, you'll get what you get and you won't get upset!

We had some leftover after passing them out to our temporary housemates and Jen had the idea to give the rest to the construction workers tomorrow morning. Maybe save the drilling until after 8 am sir?

Pictures doughnut do justice...