Portland II

It was nice to wake up in the Hawthorne District again, despite the heavy rain. The three of us, plus Travis and Josh, had a good wander around the area and picked up some good breakfast at 'Bread and Ink.' Then we hit some thrift stores, I bought a ridiculous hat and we spent time in 'Powell's Books.' It really is a great area to relax and people watch, which we did over frozen yogurt. It is also a great area to turn into a complete scenester; I contemplated going barefoot again.

A quick diversion to Vancouver was followed by a drive downtown to meet Ibrahim, a contact formed via my dad and his friend in Sheffield. It was another great example of how friendly and warm people are over in this side of the world. He was such a kind, caring man and so enthusiastic about meeting us and letting us meet his family. He took us for some lovely Thai food and then on to meet his wonderful wife, Shania, his children Jabril and Fatima, as well as his mother, mother-in-law and sister. They were all so receptive, so welcoming and we had a fantastic time. It has been such a positive experience to meet so many different types of people but to find them all so open and excited to embrace a simple guy like me into their lives. It's something we should do more of back home.

We spent that night in a truck-stop on the edge of Portland, which wasn't quite so glamorous. The day improved back in the city, where the three of us along with Adam, Ryan, and the latter's friend Lizzie went for an incredible breakfast at 'Jam' on Hawthorne. We then, minus Lizzie, went for a great walk around Forest Park, which is named pretty accurately and also played host to some owls and a raven that spoke in the animal rescue area. Feeling nice and muddy, we sat down to a bubble tea in the Pearl District before we headed back to the hostel...for my third trip there in just over a week. It was Ashley's birthday so me one Alex took her out for some food at the Baghdad Theatre and had a nice, chilled evening.

We started our easy Sunday with some more thrifting, followed by some oatmeal and coffee at a family cafe on Hawthorne. Then we wandered around Division and met the other Adam for a walk and relax in the Belmont area, including a sunny siesta in the park. And after some goodbyes we were off on the road to Eugene, Oregon - a sleepy little town where things got interesting, hence the lack of blogging.