Oregon life; coffees,books and stripshows

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The train pulled into Portland station only 3 hours behind schedule. This isn't out of the ordinary for Amtrak, but always annoying when you have plans. I had kept in touch with a friend from Texas and was eager to see her digs across town. Kari has a great apartment across the Willamette River on the south east side of Portland, with one of the most attractive features I have seen in my world tour of apartments. An independent coffee shop with a wireless internet connection, sits opposite her front door. Life is good.


Although we had met only a couple of weeks earlier, it seemed as though an entire lifetime had passed and we clearly needed to catch up. We talked about boys in Texas, boys in California, and boys in Oregon and Washington. We continued exchanging our tales of life as a singleton on the road as we walked towards the hottest club in town. I had never been to Portland before, and I didn't know what kind of a place was considered hot property, but where we ended up was definitely last on my mind. Are there other people out there that know what kind of a place I'm talking about? Was Kari pulling my leg when she told me stripjoints were the pride of Portland? At least I've been to one show before, although I didn't expect a repeat of Las Vegas's Art of Seduction in Portland. Little did I know!


The crowd of people at the bar was a definite mix; the girl next door with her money making fiance, solo truckers, a circle of sex and the city girlfriends (Kari and I) and a few birthday parties drinking as much of the booze stock as possible. The performers entered the stage and kept our attention until we noticed the routine was in it's second rotation. Kari and I were a little more enraptured with the fire blowing boy in leather pants, although we chickened out of being his stage slave volunteers. This is the second strip show I've seen in just a few weeks and what do I think? Well, it hasn't filled me with any wild desires and I'm a little more determined to go for a workout more frequently. And I've also come to the conclusion that my Mr. Right ain't there. Well, he better not be.


As Kari organized the teachers and scolded some of her Spanish students at work, I opted for a caffeine appreciation day. One double tall non fat latte led to another, which then led to a great need to walk about. I reached the trendy Hawthorne District and gazed into the window displays praying for a winning lottery ticket. Jewellery amassed from the depths of the Amazon next door to free wheatgrass shots when bringing in your neighbours' recycling. The left leaning bunch from this area were full of curiosity and smiles, making me understand why Portland has been nominated as one of America's most livable cities over the last few years.


I stayed on the southeast side in the evening and enjoyed food and drinks at a couple of the local spots with Kari and her friends. The chilly atmosphere and people of Portland have prepared me for my journey home to Vancouver. Yes, the rest of the world seems to think that the Pacific NorthWest rain is what causes people to lead such chilled out lives, but I can assure you, it really is all about the people. They seem to be able to appreciate more.


I followed Kari to work in the morning, intending to tour oldtown before boarding my train out of town. I walked a few blocks and popped my head into Powell's bookstore, where I seemed to get stuck for the next couple of hours. Yes, it has a coffeeshop inside. My time in Portland has been very short, but exactly what I needed, thanks Kari. Now off to the original latteland, Seattle.

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Photos

Proud to be the President huh?
The shops in the Hawthorne District start political bashing young

Kari and I
polishing off a few drinks

Comments

[Max]

Keep them coming Fi
Hello Fi, Keep the stories coming girl. It is hard to believe it has been almost a year and a half since you bunked with us in Hanoi. Really loved you tales from South Emerica, makes me want to scratch my feet. If you read this drop me a line from your email and I will send you a photo of my 5 MONTH OLD SON SAM! Oh and YEN IS PREGNENT! All the best. Max