Aug 10- 30th Busy in Portland

Yes, Portland has been awesome. I know the news about riots every night and violent protests have been concerning, but we have been in a peaceful enclave and have not had any issues. Most of the demonstrations and riots have been in the Downtown corridor, while we are in SE Portland. The riots seem to happen after 10pm and we are usually home by 9. So for us it has been a wonderful adventure with excellent weather, a walkable neighborhood, beautiful parks and connecting with old friends.

Here’s what we have been up to. We explored the beautiful Oregon Zoo which was a fun adventure and with all the new exhibits under construction will be amazing by Fall 2021. We went to Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to see the Body Worlds exhibit. Unfortunately, the rest of the museum was closed.

We are on a mission to find the best ribs in Portland. So far, we have savored Podnah’s Pit BBQ, Holy Trinity BBQ , Bark City BBQ and Matt’s BBQ. We give first prize to Holy Trinity. One day we drove the Columbia River Gorge so I could show Robin my old rock climbing spots, Rooster Rock and Beacon Rock.

We spent another day driving to Seaside and Cannon Beach, Oregon to walk the beaches. Another day we drove to Moulton Falls, Washington. Gorgeous scenery everywhere here. Beautiful parks around this city. Laurelhurst Park is our local walking park filled with old trees and eclectic visitors from aerial acrobats, to juggling classes, tai chi groups, tree climbers, bocce ball gamers etc. Mount Tabor Park and Summerlake City Park are also scenic.

We connected with some old friends of mine from the South Pacific trip at Lewis and Clark College. Kathy hosted and Lisa, Gini, Wendy joined Robin and I for a pot luck on Kathy’s patio. A few days later we had lunch with Dick Hartung another South Pacific participant.

We are getting along amazingly well as new retirees, suddenly together 24/7 and in 300 sq feet of living space in a new city. Yes, life is really good. We miss our daughters and hopefully they will come visit in the next leg, Lynden, WA, 5 miles from the Canadian border.

Portland Art Museum is a full day experience

We spent one day we called Bike and Bites. We rented a deuce coupe bike for an hour and rode the waterfront trail. Tried to take the Steel Bridge to the other side, but it was up. Fun ride though. We then stopped at our favorite, Portland Sports Bar and Grille for steak bites, garlic fries and a hefeweizen. Scrumptious!!

We finally made it to Pittock Mansion. We had walked the grounds previously, but this time we went inside. Self guided historical tour was educational and entertaining.

Goodbye to Portland. Next stop, Lynden, WA.