We drove back from Union on Sunday after a post wedding brunch. I was feeling more than a little tired due hosting a post wedding party in our hot tub until 3.00am so we just drove the 5 back to Portland rather than taking the 6 hour coastal rode. Another reason to come back to the Pacific Northwest.
The wedding was lovely, went without a hitch and everybody enjoyed themselves. Lots of dancing, no one can resist a Michael Jackson medley or a slow dance to U2's 'All I Want Is You' but when they bought out the conga, i made a swift exit to the ladies room. What is it about wedding gear that makes you dance so ridiculously? Maybe it's the high heels but no matter what i did i couldn't stop myself from dancing just like my mum when she dances to Tina Turner.
It will be sad to leave Portland, i like it a lot. It's exactly how i expected it to be after reading about the Pacific Northwest. It's very Pacific Northwestern.
Something that was definitely Pacific Northwestern was the Oregon Brewers Festival
They all came walking out of the woods for this one and many of them didn't bother to wash and shave. Lenny and I are pretty weak beer drinkers, I mostly drink spirits and wine and the closest i get to a beer is a shandy. However, when in rome and all that. We got ourselves a mug and some taster coupons and went for it. We did not have a clue which of the 75 different beers to try so we stuck to West Coast brews and tried 2 organic and 2 non organic. A couple of IPA's and a couple of ales. They all tasted the same to me...blurgh. So that's 4 tastings. We sat next to a guy who had obviously made his way through half and was hoping to hit 70 just that day. He had been everyday out of 5 days.
Aside from the fact that i can't stand the taste of beer i still really enjoyed myself. I especially liked the Whoo Hooing. All it took was a single person in a giant beer tent to "Woo Hoo" and then the whole tent whooped and hollered for about a minute after. Pretty impressive.
One of the highlights was the 10 mile bike ride we went on yesterday along the Willamitte Waterfront and the Springwater Corridor. The path was lined with the most colorful wild flowers i had ever seen, fox gloves, tall dandelions, poppies, baby's breathe, Forget-Me-Not's etc and the scent of them as you rode along was intoxicating. The dandelion fluff created a layer on the path and between the flowers that looked like fog from a distance and piles of cotton wool up close. We rode through wetland, past Ross Island into the small neighbourhood of Sellwood and back. The Springwater loop runs for 40 miles and had i known beforehand i would of scheduled the time to do it. It would be worth coming back for.
We made another trip to Powell's because Lenny hadn't been. I told him i would stay in the front of the store by the magazines and wait for him. The next thing i know i am lost in the Orange section thumbing through the literature shelves. It's just the smell of all those books that just draws you in.
We spent the evening having dinner with Jason's parents and sister at The Chart House
A little uptown and swanky for my taste but the food was delicious (I had the dynamite Mahi-Mahi) and the view was magnificent. It overlooks the whole of Portland with views of both Mount Hood and Mount St.Helene.
So now, i've the flight back to NY to look forward to. I was just notified that i have been upgraded to First Class again...shame.