Discoveries in Portland

My friend and I spent the day in Portland. Our goal was to do something different and adventurous. Someone suggested Forest Park, so we packed up our bikes and headed over. We didn't know what to expect, and we were amazed and in awe of this massive park that is basically a natural rainforest right smack next door to downtown Portland. Our bikes still had road tires since when we heard the word "park" we thought a la Portland Park Blocks. Instead, we ended up spending over two hours trying to mountain bike on our road tires. Sometimes frustrating, but really fun and a great workout. Totally coming back to Forest Park for trail running, hiking, or mountain biking with my mountain bike tires on!

After our time in Forest Park, after having caught some breathtaking glimpses on the way over of Mt. Hood and the Columbia River, we decided to just wander Portland and see what we found. We went over the St. John's bridge that we had traversed almost five months ago on the STP. We went through the community of St. John's and then wandered our way past University of Portland. The neighborhood surrounding U of P is gorgous! Old unique houses kept up so well, and many with stunning waterfront views. If I was ever able to afford such a place, I'd move there fast!

We then wandered our way past the Rose Garden and found ourselves in the Pearl District. Upon parking and walking around, we found a great swimsuit shop on 11th street called Popina Swimwear boutique. Tons of cute suits, and such a great variety. Many of the suits are made by a local designer and sewn right in Portland. For all that, they weren't horribly priced. Most of the suits ran around 80 bucks, depending on what you got.

By this point it was 3 and we hadn't had lunch, so we were ravenous! We spied the Deschutes Brewery and decided to give it a try. Seems to be a touristy type of place, but we split the Yellow Belly burger on their menu which was touted to be the best burger anywhere, and actually I know it sounds trite to agree, but it was indeed a great burger with a normal patty plus pulled pork, goat cheese, and lots of other things.

AND! We got ourselves out of the Pearl District with no problems at all! No confused wanderings or missed exits! We just drove straight out of there! Score! This has been a life goal of mine! :)

Hoping you are thankful and festive,

Karen