Our Excellent Adventure

Interesting, adventuresome, unexpected.

Today we ventured back into the big city. Although we had a planned itinerary and strict schedule to follow, things didn't seem to work out quite the way we had expected. The morning started out simple enough, taking the Max into Portland and deboarding at the Skidmore Fountain. Here we found the Portland Saturday Market, located in the Chinatown/Old Town District and right along the Williamette River. This market happens every weekend from March through Christmas Eve on both Saturdays and Sundays, and showcases hundreds of artists, musicians, and food vendors. Allison and I had a great time walking through the many, many booths, admiring ceramics, paintings, jewelry, screen-printed tshirts by local artists, soaps, handbags...just about anything and everything! We each found a necklace at one particular booth. The pendants are gorgeous...and made from a ceramic mixture that contains ash from Mount St. Helen's eruption in 1980. For $5 a piece, we think we got a pretty good deal. Allison also found a screen-printed tshirt designed by a local artist who looked about our age (probably younger than me, though, and older than her...maybe more Michelle's age. Who knows? But he was young). The entire atmosphere at the market was a lot of fun. There were drummers beating sticks on old buckets next to the fountain...a saxophone player down by the river...a diverse population of visitors to the market..so many sights, sounds, and smells to take in! For lunch, Allison and I shared a meal of sesame chicken with white rice. And I was able to find a bubble tea (yum!) to drink.

One thing I forgot to mention earlier - this weekend was the weekend of the Portland Pride Festival. Today was the day of the festival's parade downtown. We saw some things we've never seen before...mainly a bunch of scantily clad cross-dressing men. Interesting, to say the least. Allison and I did have a chat with a couple festival participants as we crossed a street once...Allison told one man that he was beautiful, and he replied with, "Oh thanks, honey! You're beautiful!" Downtown was very busy sporting it's rainbow colors today, but we decided to skip the parade.

So anyways, after the Portland Saturday Market, Allison and I needed to board a bus to head to the western edge of town to visit Pittock Mansion. However, due to it being Sunday AND there being a festival in town, bus schedules were all messed up and our bus never came or we missed it or something. Rather than waiting around for who-knows-how-long, we decided to walk. Twenty-three blocks (minimum). Genius. We made it about 18 blocks, and then we came upon a bus stop with a bus driver waiting there. Turns out, he was just waiting to start his shift driving the bus that we needed to get on. Yay! We chatted with him while we waited for the bus to come. He was super nice...has two kids that are both going to college to be teachers, used to live in Alaska and Colorado, enjoys the mild winters in Portland...pleasant fellow. When the bus arrived, we boarded and headed towards the mansion. Our good luck couldn't last forever, though. Turns out, Bus 20 has two routes - the short route and the long route. We were on the short route, and needed to be on the long route. Bummer. So we got off (by this time, we were out of town a little ways, on a curvy road that lead up a forested hill) and began walking again. We didn't quite know where we were going, but we had a map and a general idea, so we progressed onwards. After receiving a little help from a kind woman driving a BMW, we made it to the mansion...finally!

The Pittock Mansion was completed in 1914, and overlooks the city of Portland. The rooms inside are absolutely gorgeous. We saw several bedrooms, the sewing room, the music room, the dining room, the social room, the kitchen, the refrigeration room, many bathrooms, and a grand staircase, all exquisitely furnished. Outside, the grounds have beautiful flowers and neatly trimmed lawns and trails. There was a wedding party being photographed outside, and another photo shoot going on, too. The views of the city and the river were amazing!













To get back to the bus stop, we had to complete a half mile hike through the forest and down the hill on a dirt path. Allison and I, both wearing sandals, were obviously well prepared. Somehow, we made it. Our feet were dirty and sore. And we had to wait about a half hour. But finally, the bus did come. I don't think I'm really doing an adequate job of describing how much our bus hassles had drained us of energy, but we were both exhausted! We made it back to the MAX, rode it to our stop, and then made a quick stop at Trader Joe's for some groceries before heading home.

After preparing tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner, ironing my scrubs for the week, and preparing for tomorrow, it's finally time to call it a day. Rotation #1 begins at promptly 9am tomorrow...wish me luck!