Portland

Have you read part one yet? I was in Oakland before Portland!

Little 35mm love from Oakland.

Hello, blogosphere.

I’ve been without internet ever since I got back from Portland. My roommate cancelled it because she’s been housesitting (as have I) and she didn’t really see a need to pay for it if she (we) wasn’t around.

I'm not upset that the internet is gone, I'm just upset that she didn't ask me.

So I’ve been typing this on Word for the past three weeks and have now uploaded it so you fine folks can read about my time in Portland.

I'm a big fan of Portlandia, but moreso, I'm a fan of Portland.

A place with towering historic buildings, few vacant lots, plenty of public parks and a city-wide free restroom program? Sign me up.

But really. Portland feels like home (and by home, I mean downtown Phoenix) to me. The only differences are

1.     Portland has a lot of apartment building infill

2.     A lot of people smoke in Portland

3.     Bikers actually wear helmets in Portland

So, basically, Phoenix, but filled with more...er, free spirited individuals. That is me trying to avoid the h-word. Here's the lowdown on my time spent there.

Amtrak

I took a train from Oakland (well, Emeryville) to Portland. It was my first Amtrak experience, sans-Surfliner when I was a wee kiddo. My mom was super nervous about the whole ordeal.

"I want you to keep your wallet on you at all times."

"Are you sure you don't want to fly? What about homeless people."

"If you can upgrade, do it."

Ah, mom.

The train ride was inspiring. The Coastal Starlight left the Emeryville station at 11 pm, which left me chugging along through the north Bay Area at night, with yellow industrial lights shining through my window seat and Explosions in the Sky streaming through my earbuds.

Geri

I'd like to describe it as romantic.

At least until I had someone sit down next to me. The moment disappeared when I realized I had to sleep in a chair all night, which was uncomfortable to say the least.

On the bright side, Geri, the lady I sat next to on the 17 hour ride, was incredibly nice. We spent time talking about how it takes a very particular type of person to be a nurse, how weird it is to be an only child, and I concluded my little photographic adventure with her.

Portland, NW

If you don’t know, Portland is divided into quadrants. There is NW, SW, NE and SE, which makes navigating really easy once you understand it.

I was able to do a good bit of exploring in Portland. Unlike Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco, I had a tour guide.

I spent the entire week I was in Portland with Rhea, my mentor and former youth pastor. She and her husband moved up there a little over a year ago because they wanted to start a family.

Rose Garden + Rhea

Now, she is pregnant, and she and Brandon are living in a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment with a dog and a cat (which is actually the spawn of Satan, and I generally like cats).

The apartment was our home base when we were running around eating ice cream at Salt and Straw, walking to or from McMennimans, hiking up to and around Washington City Park and whatever other crazy adventures we embarked upon.

Speakeasy hidden here.

I also had the chance to see my friend Sydney in Portland. She moved there (from Phoenix) the exact same time I was coming to visit, so we went out one evening, found a speakeasy (ok, hidden underground bar) and ate pizza, drank beer and listened to live music. It was really disorienting seeing her in Portland, since the entire time I’ve known her we’d both been in Phoenix.

Portland, SW

blueberry+bourbon+basil

My favorite part of SW is the combination of doughnuts for grownups from Blue Star, and really good coffee from Heart. Rhea, Brandon and I spent a lot of time walking around the day we went to find out whether Rhea’s baby was a boy or girl. And later, we went to a park and had a gender reveal party (which was actually in NW but whatever, I’m grouping it here with the day of doughnuts and good coffee.)

Portland SW also includes (I think) the Saturday market. I remember going with Whittley and Becca two summers ago, but I liked it more with Rhea. We took time wandering through stalls, but also didn't take forever. We also split an elephant ear and I didn’t vomit (which happened last time I ate one of those.)

Portland, NE

I wasn't surprised when I found out Rhea was involved in two different churches. One of the two, Door of Hope, is fairly popular and just relocated to NE. We spent a good bit of time with people there, beginning with Church in the Park on Wednesday night. It was really encouraging to see a bunch of people--families, children, teens, older adults--gather in a public park with food and picnic blankets to worship God and listen to a pastor. 

The other really nifty thing that happened in NE was a $3 Blitzen Trapper show. If you aren't familiar with their music, Blitzen Trapper is a modern folk-rock-country band from Portland. They are fairly popular, and a $3 show was a big deal. We saw them on a whim my first night in town, and it was a great pacesetter for the rest of my time in Portland.

Portland, SE

We ventured to the Hawthorne District my final day. We tried the night before, and arrived after most everything was closed. It had been a long (and really hot) day, and it took a lot of energy to leave the apartment.

But the drive across the Willammette was all worth it for the sticker I bought at Powell's Hawthorne. I'd been on a mission to find one of those little Oregon outline stickers with the green heart in it, and I finally found one.

We also stopped inside the Hawthorne Goodwill. It was by far the fanciest Goodwill I have ever been to. Usually I enjoy thrift shops because it is so difficult to find good things (read: deliciously out-of-style but still in style things), but this Goodwill was teeming with upscale resale. It was thoroughly amazing.

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To be honest, I can’t believe I’ve been back for three weeks now. I’ve been back for longer than I’d been gone!

Coming back to Phoenix was weird. It seemed like nothing had changed in the good ol’ PHX, but a lot changed within myself while I was away. I realized that I want to be a border reporter (think: Arizona/Mexico, Dominican Republic/Haiti, Cuba/America, etc). I also realized that I enjoy spending time by myself, especially in a new atmosphere. I have a tendency to accept places as they are, and not wish for them to be any different. I also really like traveling alone.

I actually already have plans to go back to Portland in October. One of my best friends (Brenna, she was in Colorado on my birthday last year) is moving to Portland, and I’m joining the caravan of people moving her up there.