Portland Sample

Last weekend my mom looked after the kids while Sue and I got away to Portland with some friends. The Portland trip was organized by a friend who was turning 40, and who was also running the Portland Rock N Roll Half Marathon. Sue also did the run, while I chose to go mountain biking while they ran :)

We started off on the Coho on a dreary Friday morning, then drove down the 101 to get on the I5. Beautiful drive, and it was a chance for Sue and I to spend some time together in a way that we haven't been able to for a quite a while. Along the way I spotted a plane, and several sky divers.

Arriving in Portland in the early evening we didn't have time to do much so we grabbed a drink at the hotel bar, then called it an evening.

The next day we ate breakfast at Tasty N Alder. Wow, excellent breakfast place. Likely the best restaurant breakfast I have ever had. After that it was off to the race expo to get race packages and explore a bit. I found the Powerbar tent and they had energy chews that tasted just like the coke bottle candies I used to get as a child. Mmmm. The Clif Bar tent was sampling some bars, and I tried their coconut chocolate chop one. Yummy! I talked to the guy a bit, and mentioned that we can't get that flavour in Canada, so he slid me a sample bar to take riding with me!

After the expo we headed back to the hotel, then on to outlet mall shopping! At first I was not doing so well, but by the end of the day I had got a couple work shirts, two pairs of work pants, and a new watch. It ended well.

Sunday was the race and my ride. Everyone in our group did well on their run, and Sue set a personal best for a half marathon.

Sunday evening we had a group dinner at the Portland City Grill. This restaurant was on the 30th floor of a building, and had an amazing view of the city. The service was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed my dinner.

Monday the organizer, his wife and I headed over to Voodoo Donuts to stock up on some homeward bound treats. Then it was over to Tasty N Alder for our last meal.

After breakfast we packed up, jumped back in the car and headed home. I did enjoy our getaway weekend, but I do wish we had one more day in the city to just wander around and look, or shop. From what we have heard, Portland has some amazing eateries, and some really good food trucks. We were about 50/50 on the restaurants, and didn't get any food trucks. The coffee I had was excellent though!

I'd love to come back again some time and have more free time to explore.