Visit to Portland, Oregon - July 8th, 2008

After an unreasonably easy and pain-free set of flights, W and I arrived in Portland for some much needed vacation and the wedding of our friends Eric & Katherine.

Upon arrival, we grabbed our car and headed downtown to the Residence Inn on the riverfront. We laced up our running shoes and headed out for a 3 mile run along the waterfront and across some of Portland's many bridges.

Then upon the recommendation of my friend and local resident, Heather, we set out for the Pearl District of Portland on the streetcar, to the newly opened Deschutes Brewery and Pub. We had a great dinner that included our own personalized flights of beer. We browsed around some of the downtown stores, including a gigantic REI, the Puma store, and the North Face, wandered through the Pearl and found ourselves at a local gelato cafe. We grabbed something sweet and planned to catch the streetcar back to the hotel.

Unfortunately, everytime we arrived at a streetcar stop, the LED sign indicated that the ride was over 10 minutes away....so we just kept walking. We hit the Safeway for some sodas and snacks....and walked some more. We were approached by many of the locals who were interested in some spare change....so we walked some more, eventually walking all the way back to our hotel - a 3 plus mile journey. We figured we'd rest later. It was a great introduction to Portland...we're looking forward to our next adventure tomorrow!