A hot day in Portland

My day in Portland has arrived! I was so excited the whole morning... I couldn't wait to get going! Our start was delayed however, by me! I decided that I had to get some maple bars since it was my last day in Oregon. Also, Brian told me to eat some maple bars for him... and boy did I! If you have never had maple bars, you have not lived... these things are delicious!!! Very sweet, but declicious all the same... once you get past the pure sugar part ;D

Anyway, after our Maple Bar run, we were off! UDW and I drove to the MAX station on 122nd street and bought our all day tickets for $4.75. The train arrived shortly after and we hopped on. It was quite a ride to Skidmore Fountain, but definitely a less frustrating start to our adventure.

At Skidmore Fountain


Skidmore Fountain is the central landmark of Saturday Market. The market is a arts and crafts fair that opens up in downtown Portland every Saturday and Sunday. The market is amazing! You can find so much cool stuff there!!!! After walking around for an hour or so and seeing many different artists, photographers, sculpters, wood carvers and massuers (of all things)... I settled on one artist and purchased two paintings for $30.



I have no idea why that came in sideways...


We wandered for a little while longer and then decided to go on to our second stop... the Japanese American Memorial Plaza. The plaza was only a block away from the market and was filled with people. Essentially, it's a memorial park for the Japanese that were place in internment camps during the war. There were rocks with poems and others with government decrees. There was also one large rock with what we assume are the names of the internment camps. The plaza is definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in Portland.




One of the Japanese poems...


Sculpture inside the plaza...


After the memorial, we headed to the entrance to Chinatown. At the official entrance, there is a massive gate... called the Chinatown gate (hmmm...). The gate was beautiful!! And I still can't believe how big it was! Anyway, don't take my word for it, pics below.

Lion at the gate...




After the gate we headed to Powell's City of Books. The bookstore was in the Pearl District and by far the biggest store there. I don't mean big, I mean huge, gigantic, massive, monstrous... this place was ridiculous. I have included a picture of a directional sign from inside the store. The rooms are color coded based on genre... and each room is the size of NC State's bookstore (including the gift section upstairs). For those of you who know my love of bookstores... you know I could have spent DAYS in that place, just looking... I was astounded.

Just TRY to understand that sign...


After wiping the drool from my face, we headed to the central library as our last stop. It was recently renovated and let me tell you, they did a good job. When you walk in, you are confronted with an ornate staircase that turns and leads to all three floors. The children's library on the first floor contained a copper tree with animals "carved" into the trunk. The top floor contained unique art that I'm assuming was donated to the library. To sum it up, the library was beautiful... and a good stop for book lovers.

Library...


After the library we hopped on a MAX and headed to my aunt's and uncles place. Early dinner/ late lunch at Shari's (3rd time this week... I think the waiter remembered me ;D). Back to 'home' for movie watching and an early night. Train to Portland at 8:30am.

Day in Seattle tomorrow!
-Britt

The Coast...not the beach

Kyle and I on the coast...

Whew!!! Today was a long and exciting day...
Woke up around eight this morning and got ready within the hour. Jerry (UDW) showed up for the trip to the coast. After waking up Kyle (cousin) and making a quick car switch (for more seats), we were off.

The drive to the coast was uneventful... guess I should be thankful for that. But when we got to Cannon Beach we realized we were out of gas. That wouldn't normally be that big of a deal right, just go to a gas station and fill 'er up. Makes sense... one problem, the town had no gas stations... seriously, who does that? I couldn't believe it, we drove all through that town looking for one, nothin'. It got to the point where we were afraid we wouldn't make it to the next town for gas... luckily, we did because I wasn't in a car pushing mood (is anyone ever in that mood?)

Anyway... interesting fact about Oregon for you non-Oregonians, there is no such thing as a self-serve gas station. Yup, evidently, civilians aren't smart enough to fill their own tanks with gas. Well, UDW isn't... but that's a whole 'nother story. Okay, so it's really not that bad... it creates jobs, so I guess that's a good thing. I still find it kinda funny though... but I'm amused easily.

After a stop at KFC/Taco Bell for a quick lunch, we headed back to Cannon for a walk along the coast. Now, here's the deal. It's not a beach, people here will call it that... but a beach doesn't have rocks... at least that's what I have decided. On a more serious note, the coast here is definitely different from North Carolina.

Why are there rocks on the beach?????

For one, there are rocks, lots of rocks. Number two: that sand could actually cut your feet. Number three: it was chilly! Number... okay, I'm stopping that. It was really beautiful though. There are huge rock formations in the water with monster waves crashing against them. The mountains also come down and meet the ocean... extremely weird to a North Carolinian... I thought Mountains, Peidmont, and Coast were supposed to be separate, haha ;D
We specifically visited Haystack Rock... it was MASSIVE! We took lots of pictures with it... as you can see below.

Haystack Rock


I had to do it... Kyle and I are beast!


The rock needed a hug...

While walking along the coast (I just can't call it a beach), we saw lots of dead jellyfish. Well, more like dead parts of jellyfish. Again, an interesting sight for me... I almost feel as if the Atlantic is boring now... oh wait, you can actually swim in that ocean... forget my last comment ;D

Lots of jellyfish...


We also found a lonely little plant... pretty sure it's a long way from home.

After our hike on the coast, we drove up US-101 to some beautiful viewpoints. US-101 runs parallel to the Oregon Coast and there are some great places to stop for pictures. Again... you can see that below!

One of the viewpoints on US-101


One of the most beautiful views I've ever seen! Look at how the mountains come right down to the ocean. Look at the waves!!! Just amazing!


Needed I prove I was there !

As promised, we patronized Outback for dinner. However, my aunt visited the doctor earlier that day for some pain she was experiencing and she was not able to join us. Since she originally asked me to wear what she calls my peacock dress to dinner, I obliged anyway. We made a quick stop by their home and I changed into my peacock dress (I'm warming up to the term) and we headed to dinner.

Of course I ordered a massive steak (although not as big as my cousin) medium rare... and devoured the whole thing ;D. We had some great conversations at dinner and it was great way to celebrate Kyle and Steve's birthdays. Happy Birthday again guys!

Well that was pretty much it for the day, but I am exhausted!!!! It's draining the last of my energy to write this blog.

Should be more tomorrow... I think we are visiting Washington Park.

-Britt

Normal Day

Wednesday in Portland was a normal day. I woke up really early (5:45am) to take my uncle to work so we would have use of his car. I came back, watched three movies, then decided to shower and get some lunch. Right around that time however, my aunt woke up... so we headed to Shari's again for lunch.
BTW, I LOVE driving my uncle's Honda Pilot... maybe I should consider that for my next car... any objections?

We ran an errand after lunch, then picked up my Uncle Dummy-Wimp (from now on, UDW... if you want the story, just ask). A trip to Micheal's, where we dropped WAY too much money... and then we picked up my uncle from work around 4.

Dinner at a Chinese restaurant ended our day. However, my family would tell you that it was a perfect end to our day... somehow it came out that I was a southerner (probably from my big, loud mouth) and the waiter proceeded to joke at my expense for the rest of the night. I have to admit, it was quite funny... okay, extremely funny. But then again, jokes at Britt's expense usually are... ;D
As I was leaving he informed me that if I didn't want him to make fun of me, I shouldn't have announced that I was a foreigner... FOREIGNER?!?!?!?!?! I didn't even know ho to respon to that... I thought they were the foreigners, crazy people that don't say y'all!

Anyway, I ended my day with sleep around 9pm... and it's off to the coast and Outback tomorrow!!!

No pictures from today... but there will be tomorrow!!!

-Britt

I made it to Portland!

Well, I made it... and for the most part safely. ;D

Justin dropped me off at the airport around 6:35pm on Monday and it was smooth sailing for the first leg of the trip. I waited for about a half hour at the gate, boarded and about 15 minutes later we were off. We landed in Atlanta around 9:30pm and my connection departed at 10:10. I was relieved to find out that it was in the same concourse I de-boarded in.

I was NOT however relieved to find out that it had been delayed by an hour and a half. The thing is, the plane was there, and in perfect running (flying) condition, but we weren't allowed to leave. Turns out a flight from Maryland was delayed big time... and it carried 36 passengers from our flight. Since it was the last flight of the day, and AirTran would be responsible for the 36 passengers financially... we waited for them. How kind, huh?

Truthfully, delays don't bother me that much. I have been flying twice a year since I was seven, I expect delays at this point... but in this case, I was a little upset. You see, a friend of mine was picking me up from the airport, and she had to be at work by 7:30am the next morning. I felt sooooooo bad! Luckily, she took a nap before my plane arrived, and was able to sleep well after, so she wasn't dragging. As a thank you though, I took her to lunch at a cute deli called Eats Cafe and Market in West Seattle. Well, she took me, but I paid ;D.

The 36 passengers were all together... and all middle schoolers. There was a lacrosse tournament in Maryland and a group of middle schoolers from Seattle had attended with their club lacrosse team. Two boys sat next to me and we had a discussion waiting for the plane to take off. As it turns out, their team ended the tournament 0 and 5. I felt bad for them, but they seemed to enjoy the trip nonetheless. After take off, I was out!

After lunch, Shana (thanks again for your help girl!!!) dropped me off at the train station. I got my ticket and decided to walk around Seattle a little. My walk was, sadly, very uneventful. Since I was carrying a heavy backpack, and the sun was hot (who would have thought?)... my walk lasted about 15 minutes. I spent the rest of the two hours reading (and partially writing this blog) in King Street Station.

The train ride was uneventful as well... and almost depressing, at least compared to my last train ride to Portland. If you wish to hear stories about that train ride, ask me in person, I can't do that story justice with simple text. In short, Marshall, Brian and I were seated next to an interesting group of guys headed to Portland to celebrate a birthday... and they visited the dining car for drink refills quite frequently.
Anyway, back to this train ride, nothing happened. Seriously, the guy next to me wouldn't even talk... which of course, made me sad... I really do hate silence, I thought I was going to die from it.

Enough about travel... after arriving in Portland, I gave my aunt and uncles their Christmas gifts... yeah, you read that right...
Their gifts were from Kenya. For my aunt I brought a shawl... and my uncles got hand painted soapstone bowls. Everyone loved their gifts, but I kinda cheated, when the gifts are from Kenya, it doesn't matter what they are, they're automatically loved.

We headed to dinner at Shari's (sorta like a Perkins style restaurant). During dinner we discussed plans for the week. It looks like I'm doing a day at the coast, dinner at Outback (oh yeah!), and a day (or two) in Portland.

When we got back I went through my aunt's scrapbooking stuff, stole some for myself ;D and headed to bed... traveling really takes it out of ya!

More to come!

-Britt

I'm off!

In about two hours, a friend is coming to pick me up and take me to the airport. An hour and a half after that, I should be on a plane to Atlanta, then another to Seattle. I'll arrive in Seattle around 12:30am Tuesday morning.

I am really excited about the trip, and I will update my blog as much as possible (for real this time!) Please pray for safe travels... and safe luggage, I'm bringing stuff from Kenya with me, and I would prefer it not get lost... or broken.

You should hear from me soon!

-Britt