Portland by the MAX

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I awoke on Kristen's couch and popped right up (oh yeah, I'm a morning person like whoa...) Kristen had come down stairs and was helping the hilarious hung over Jake wake up and get ready for work. While she drove him to work, I took a much needed shower and dressed for a day in Portland.

We walked to the nearest MAX stop, bough all day passes, and took the MAX into Portland and met up with Greg at PSU. He had woken up and gone to work while I was still sleeping. Kristen also had some other friends coming to town that she wanted to spend some time with so we Met up with them as well. John and 3 other guys that Kristen knew from living in Hawaii were down from their internships in Seattle.

She took them to the coast so they could see the pacific with a sandy beach again. Apparently the Washington coast line doesn't have much sand and is more rocky or muddy. Greg and I took the MAX across the river to a freaking AWESOME sandwich shop called "BUNK Sandwiches" and ate the yummiest of breakfast sandwiches. I was wearing a t-shirt with a small silhouette of Texas on it and was asked by the cutest lil cashier if I was from there.

She was also from Texas! I asked what part -- she said Amarillo -- I exclaimed "I came through there!" -- she asked "does it still suck?" -- and then we giggled together.

While eating and conversing with Greg I noticed a spray painted stencil on the wall the said "Guy ate here!" which means I'm gonna have to look up the episode of the foodnetwork's show: Guy's Big Bite.

After waiting for about 10 minutes for it to arrive, Greg and I jumped on the bus and went back to his lab. I was planning a short solo excursion to the NE of Portland -- as close as the train and bus system could get me to Troutdale. Unfortunately, the closest the system got was Gresham, so I had to make a change of plans and deliver something to a place I had been asked not to go (long story, don't ask... please, don't ask.)

Greg and I over viewed the trip's best route via google maps and I was on my way out the door. I crossed through the Saturday Farmer's Market and melted over all the wonderful smells. Every good smell on earth was wafting around under the shady limbs of the park's trees, like a slow stirring whirl pool of invisible wonderful. I really wish I could've spent more time there and I promised myself that one day (probably when I start living here) I will hit the entire farmer's market by no later than 9am, and walk through the whole thing.

Once through the market I caught the green line MAX north to Pioneer Square to make a transfer to the eastbound blue line MAX. While there I got a call from Kristen who informed me that Greg was out of tailless amphibians to do his research on, so he had nothing to do at work. I invited him to join me (actually asking him to come keep me from getting lost) and he was in Pioneer Square with me within 15 minutes.

We took the MAX across the river and out the east side of the city, transferring to bus 77 and getting to McMenamin's around 1pm. A quick step inside to drop something off and we were on our way back again. Caught the 77 into the Hawthorne district and got a burrito lunch and a beer at Laughing Planet Cafe.

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For the record, "Mexican food" is an incredibly relative term in Portland. I would say that what they serve here under the name "mexican food" is probably the closest thing to mexican food in the city, but in the context of Texas and New Mexico, Portland's idea of mexican is actually closer to the gyros and falafels of greek restaurants. I enjoyed it, and ate the whole thing in 3 minutes flat, but the flavors were boldly bland (that is to say, strong amounts of typically bland ingredients) and lacked that spicy punch that I hold synonymous with true mexican cousine.

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Greg and I made our way to Bridgeport Brew Pub, passing through a PACKED park celebrating french culture. It was Bastille day and the festivities looked fun, smelled wonderful (even though I was full) and had enjoyable live music, high lighted by a super cool acoustic rendition of Daft Punk's "Around the World".

At Bridgeport we got in touch with Kristen and her hawaiian friends (super nice guys) on their way back from the beach. Greg and I split a pitcher of Bridgeport's amber ale over some interesting conversation on Portland's current housing situation (great renter's market). It was a good beer with the exception that it wasn't carbonated... it was gas'd with some other gas that doesn't diffuse into liquid as easily as carbonation. The same process that Guiness and some other dark creamy beers use. I didn't like that part too much, but the rest of the beer's flavor was tasty.

Kristen and the guys eventually showed up and we all enjoyed our beers & food before the guys had to head back to Seattle. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. Kristen, Greg & I headed out and stopped for some caffeine at a nice little coffee shop that started with a V -- I'll ask Kristen and find out what it was called later. I had an iced white chocolate mocha while the 3 of us enjoyed the late afternoon. Eventually deciding to start wrapping up our day in the city.

We caught the bus back to campus where Greg and I picked up our stuff and then we jumped on the MAX and rode it to their apt. We sat and relaxed for about 30 minutes before going to the coolest little grocery store I've ever seen: New Seasons Market. EVERYTHING looks and smelled sooo enticing, and it was all organic and locally grown. There was a huge beer selection that included my all time favorite beer, hailing from Delaware: Dogfish Head. I am always looking for it, but can never find it. Its brewed with raisins and the flavor just suits me too perfectly.

I bought a 6 pack and a frozen chicken alfredo meal (completely organic and gluten free and all that other ultra-healthy jargon). I decided to save the beer for tomorrow night when Greg's mom comes over for a cook out -- and its been so long since I had this brew that it was pretty hard to resist, especially after stuffing my face and drinking all day. The 3 of us ate our dinners an watched an episode of the Office before going to bed.

I stayed up til 2 am typing up these blog posts for the past several days that I've been unable to update. By the time I finished, I was super exhausted and couldn't possible type any more. Crashed out on the couch and slept hard!

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