PDX and Beyond
Okay, I left off at the Tacoma to PDX adventure so we’ll start from there. I took the train from Tacoma from Portland. It wasn’t that expensive to upgrade to business class so I did. Leather seats, no riff raff. All good until we had to get off the train in Vancouver, WA (just on the other side of the bridge to Portland) and take a bus to Portland proper. Groan. But it all worked out. I called Avis and they came to pick me up at Union Station. Got my rental car (a Ford Escape hybrid) and then drove to Yamhill OR, which is outside of Portland in the Willamette Valley - also known as wine country. One of my good friends has been living out there on a huge farm, so I spent a couple of days away from it all....
This is the house I stayed in. It was huge and very comfy to hang in.
This is the neighbor’s barn - one of the oldest and largest barns in Oregon.
This is June, the goat. She got her head stuck when she was waiting for us to let her and her brother Jack out to roam around.
We drove to the town of McMinnville to check things out and ended up at the Hotel Oregon on the patio bar. This property is a McMenamin bar/hotel - if you’ve ever been to Portland you should know that name - this family has been buying properties in the greater PDX area and converting them into interesting restaurant/bar/music venues.
Today I drove back into PDX proper. Staying at a rad hotel near Chinatown. We went to Powell’s where I proceeded to buy 4 new books (gah!) And then we headed to Chinatown where we had really tasty chow fun, roast duck and bbq pork.
We hit a few bars that were practically across the street from the hotel and then hit my favorite late night eats in Portland - Voodoo Doughnut. Behold the Capt. Crunch and Maple Bacon bar:
More aventures to follow. Tomorrow I am hitting the Portland Art Museum and I hope to go to a few more bars and get some street food before all is said and done and I return to SD on Friday.
Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing
