Portland Rocks

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it's jen again...
amy and brad woke up friday morning in oregon at valley of the rogue state park. shocking, it was raining!! they hit the road to head the remaining few hours up to portland to visit their favorite person in the whole world (me).
after landing at rush hour, we showered up and hit the town, well the suburbs, actually. there was a snowboard photography show at a shop we checked out, then met up with friends for dinner. unfortunately, it was at the most so.cal shopping center in oregon, so we used up a gift certificate and ate at pf changs. ew. then we went downtown and met up with more friends at rotture.
saturday morning we walked from my house to breakfast (in the rain) at the little red bicycle cafe. then we met up with friends to hit a wine tasting at owen roe wineries. the tasting was in an old hazelnut farm building and had 18 wines from vines in california, oregon and washington. there was a ton of amazing cheese to go with that wine. then we went over to rex hill vineyards for a few more flights.
portland is a foodie town, almost all the restaurants (except pf chang's) use organic, seasonal local ingredients, making almost every food experience here something to remember. dinner at the farm cafe is the best (i think) portland dining has to offer. we had salmon, halibut, and an amazing butternut squash raviloi. insane goodness. before dinner we had drinks at rontom's, an awesome hipster haunt filled with midcentury furniture and a blazing fireplace. after dinner we met up with friends at chopsticks for kareoke, i'm really showing these guys some diveristy!!
breakfast this morning at the tin shed, and now these two are packing up to head to arches national park in utah. the rain is serving as a reminder of what weather feels like for our spoiled southern californians 😊

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Photos

driving into portland
this is what my commute looks like every morning

amy at rotture
drying her hands?

amy and sage
waking up in jen's house. looks just like any random morning in harrisonburg seven years ago...

jen and amy at owen roe
no leaves on the vines left in oregon this time of year.

amy at owen roe
this old barn was where many farmer's would bring their hazelnuts to be dried and roasted and then distributed.

robb, amy, brad + mia
in the hazelnut building

poaching persimmons
we spotted persimmons and mia and brad jumped out of the car and grabbed a few

gang at rex hill
our sears portrait

jen and amy at rontom's
this is one of my favorite spots in portland.

brad at chopsticks
note the song playing in the back

brad and amy
after a few drinks kareoke gets crazy!

Comments

[Laura Dobbs aka "dodera"]

can't WAIT!
I am so excited to "travel" with you guys and can't wait for you to arrive in MY town....I'm so glad we will be close now and can hang out all the time! I'm insanely jealous of your road trip...and love being updated on your trip. Have so much fun and call me when you're ready to come over for some of Jonny's cookin!

[Dan]

Tuneriffic
How have I known Brad for this long and never seen him sing karaoke? Although I never pegged him for a Madonna fan. Tragic. Tragic. Sounds like you guys are having a blast, despite the rain. Thanks to Jen for the update!