What happened in Portland?

That's a very good question!
Let's go through it and then add more photos!

Thursday, June 18th
--Jen kindly picked us up at the airport. We weren't expecting that, so that was very cool. We headed over to pick up the rental car. Giant white blemish that doesn't have a turn radius - is all I have to say about that. After a quick hour or two spent at Jen's place in SE Portland, we noticed that we love hanging out with her son, Gavin. He's almost two. Such a cutie. Cheek-pinchingly cute!--
--Then, we heard from Jimena and Alex, who would be our couchsurfing hosts for our long weekend. They were at home and we could come over at any point! Sweet. We hopped into the giant blemish and scooted off to their apartment in NE Portland.--
--Jimena greeted us calmly and sweetly and I immediately felt at home. Hands down the coolest chica I've met in a while. Jimena is from Costa Rica, but she's feisty and intelligent and down-right fun to talk to. I felt like I'd known her for years. Once Alex got home, we thought about making some dinner, but once the topic of sushi came up - that was it! To the sushi bar we went!--
--Saburo's isn't just sushi. It's giant sushi for a good price. The wait was of goodly length, but Jimena and Alex assured us it was definitely worth the wait. Um. Understatement. Saburo's is the best sushi EVER! I was in Unagi heaven!--
--My stomach was feeling very strange after so much rice and fish. So, we hopped back into Alex's car and while discussing the fantastic qualities of a good sturdy old car, we ventured deeper into the neighborhood around Saburo's. We ended up at Mike's Drive-In, which has an assortment of hamburgers, fries, and the like. But we only wanted one thing. Milkshake. Not just any milkshake. An Oregon berry shake. I say just "berry" because there was more than one variety. I had the Oregon blackberry shake. I completely calmed my stomach and I felt suddenly whole and sleepy and .....goooooood.--


Friday, June 19th
--Most of Friday was spent hanging with Jen and Gavin. Before heading down to Jen's place, we thought we'd be nice and pick up some lunch (we were sleeping in a lot. work? what's work? we on vacation man!). So, we Yelp'd. We were in the mood for Mexican and found a place on the way called Cha Cha Cha. Very yummy, very affordable. Jen loves it too, and we got her the favorite burrito.--
--Once we got to Jen's, she surprised me.
"Guess who I just got a text from?"
"Who?"
"Craig."
"Craig? um..."
"Craig from high school."--
--Now, let's stop right there. High school is this place, where I felt out of sorts. I wasn't myself when I was that age, mostly because I didn't feel like I could be understood by many. Sure, I had my good friends, Jen included. But most folks only got to see parts of me. And that's fine. Who knows who they are at 17 anyway, right? You're still growing, you're still learning how to be yourself. Craig was a... friend. Yes, he was a friend. High school categorizes people for you. Friend. Enemy. Smart. Slut. Rich. Virgin. Class clown. I could go on. So, Craig was a friend. He was also a bit of a clown. He and I just never saw... eye to eye. On lots of things. We're both opinionated. So, I wasn't as excited to see him as Jen was.--
--"Oh, Craig! Wow..."
"Yep, he's in Portland."
"What."
"He wants to hang out with us tomorrow night."
"..."
"Can you help me find a good place to go for dinner?"--
--Sigh. I love Jen. You are my best friend. Why are you doing this to me?!
So, we looked online for a good dinner location downtown, since that's where Craig and his partner were staying. More Gavin time ensued. Chris got home after work, and we ordered food in, sat on the couch and watched "Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day".--

Saturday, June 20th
--Jimena and Alex were off paragliding or something in Tillamook for all of Saturday. So, we set out into the heart of Portland - the PSU Farmer's Market. Oh, fun! Flowers, bread, honey, apple cider, veggies, berries, cookies, lavender soap, slightly-Zydeco music. Yes, love love LOVE the Farmer's Market. Even if it was a bit too small for my taste. I like 'em big. Gimme 1-2 square city blocks. But that's when you have all day to browse and purchase. We didn't. So, half a city block was just fine.
I ate a pulled pork sandwich for lunch, bought some cookies and berries, and some photos were taken.--
--After our jaunt in delicious food country, we headed to Powell's Books. I was determined to find something fun and cool. And at Powell's the adventure can take all day. If you're not sure what kind of book you want to buy, you could definitely spend too much time browsing and not finding. This place is just a maze of colors (each genre has a room practically) and people (and they say sorry for elbowing you as they pass!) and smells (cafe in the back plus paper and leather). I found a Thai cooking book based on the festival calendars (on sale), a copy of Corduroy (my favorite book growing up, also on sale), and some books on tape (also on sale). I don't think I wanted to spend more than $30 there and I settled for $22. Pretty good in my opinion.--
--One of the streets downtown was pumping out dance music, which is weird at any time of day, but it wasn't dark yet. So, we wandered over to where the music was coming from. Curious. There was also a voice talking, in a very perky directive tone. Imagine this if you will: Lady Gaga's "The Fame" pumping out into the street, emanating from a large speaker system set on a flatbed truck. Three exercise instructors on the flatbed. A "class" of twenty or so following their movements and directions. The rest of the community looking on as they dance-fever their way to a slimmer figure, from the safety of brunch-style tables and chairs. Newspapers, coffee, croissants, chocolate. Did I wander into the Kool-Aid section of Portland? Did nobody write a memo about how the masses, just in that one block, would be high for a few hours?--
--We were slightly disturbed by these events and ducked out before it got to our heads. We didn't have much time before we headed to Henry's to have a high school reunion. Sort of. Henry's is awesome. Very trendy downtown Portland, but also very laid-back elegance. The beer menu is why I helped pick that for the place we'd meet. Yes, I like beer. Yes, beer goes well with meeting old friends. Yes, beer helps conversation when you might not have anything to talk about.--