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Again, Portland
I last visited her two years ago, and I've been saying I was going back 80% to visit her, and 20% to visit Powell's Books. Subrata gave me a lift to the airport, and everything went smoothly. Karen picked me up and I settled in at her place fairly quickly. We went out for gyros for lunch, and also bought some lottery tickets, as the Powerball lottery was nearing $100 million. (We didn't win, although Karen did pick up $100 on Saturday's drawing.) Thursday Karen was working, although I met her for lunch, so I spent the afternoon walking around downtown and doing my shopping. Parts of Portland are very well-designed, especially because I know much of the city is fairly new. They have light rail running from downtown to the east side and to the airport, and it connects to a streetcar line that runs from the university through downtown and to the northwest side, and which is clean and timely. The bus system I understand it also pretty good, although I haven't used it. And being a pedestrian - at least around downtown - is pretty easy. Although the city has been hit extremely hard by the recession (maybe even harder than the Bay Area, adjusting for size), it's still an attractive place. Powell's Books is one of the largest bookstores I've ever been to (maybe even bigger than the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto). They sell both new and used books, and sell on-line as well. The cool part is that they shelve the new and the used books together, which makes browsing easy. (The downside is that they have a disincentive to stock used copies of books currently in print, since they can probably make more money off of new books than used ones, in general.) I spent probably two hours in Powell's, and made a few finds. I discovered that Alfred Bester's two classic novels, The Demolished Man and The Stars My Destination, had been published in hardcover editions when they were reissued a few years back, so I picked up copies of those. I also picked up two collections of Epic Comics' color version of the Akira comic book, at good prices. And quite a few random books. I did, ultimately, resist picking up a first- or second-edition hardcover of Walter M. Miller's classic novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, which were running around $50. I'm trying to decide whether I regret this, as it is a genuinely great novel. Tough call. That evening we dithered about dinner plans, and ended up going to McMenamins, a chain of restaurants which - according to Karen - buys various historic sites which are in danger of being destroyed and turns them into restaurants and shopping sites. This one was in an old elementary school and also sported a small movie theater. Looking around I conjectured that it had been built circa 1920 since it had the same architectural feel as my own elementary school (which was named for a World War I casualty from the vicinity). Indeed, the school dated from 1915, so I felt smug. The food was good, too.
We had a good time driving around the east side, which has many charming neighborhoods (including those just off Hawthorne), looked in several little shops (as well as a comic book store - Excalibur Books - which has revamped itself considerably in two years and has an excellent back issue stock of which I availed myself), and generally had fun. In the evening we went to see the Portland Beavers, who play in PGE Park, a 20-something-thousand seat stadium nestled into downtown Portland, and which was renovated a few years ago. Other than its size and the quality of the team, it feels quite a bit like a Major League stadium, which is good since they're apparently trying to attract the Montreal Expos which MLB is trying to move (but don't get me started).
The game - against the Expos farm team - was pretty good, in the sense that "beating the crap out of the opposition" is a pretty good game. Capped by a 7-run inning late, the Beavers won something like 13-0. For some reason they handed out frisbees before the game, which people threw on the field after each of a pair of home runs (and risking the umpires forfeiting the game to the visitors). Still, the Beavers prevailed and we got fireworks afterwards. Woo-hoo! Oh, and if you decide to go, try the double-smoked sausages. They're yummy.
Saturday we drove out to the coast to do a little hiking. It was a very long drive, although we did stop to see the largest tree in Oregon:
We went into Washington state (my first-ever trip there, by the way) and went to the vicinity of Long Beach, and did our hiking on Cape Disappointment, which is surely one of the best names for a natural feature ever. It's at the mouth of the Columbia River, and is presumably named for its effect on sailors before a lighthouse was erected upon it. It's also at or near the end point of the Lewis and Clark expedition, and has a Lewis and Clark "Interpretive Center" (what did they speak a different language or something?) on it, which will probably be great once they finish all the displays. The hike is not as easy as the guide books suggest, but there are some beautiful features.
Long Beach itself is a 20-mile strip of beach. We walked along it for a little while, watching the end of a kite festival that was taking place that weekend. There are a few other things to see there as well, including the skeleton of a gray whale which died on the beach a few years ago:
We eventually drove home and had some very good ribs at a local brewpub. We also played one of three games of Scrabble we played over the week.
While Karen collected herself following her walk (and cooking us some tasty wheat-free pancakes), I borrowed her car and went off to hit another comic book store (which yielded less satisfying results than the first one). When I got back I suggested that we go to the Japanese Gardens and Rose Test Gardens, which are in the large park set in the hills in part of the city. On the condition that I drive, Karen agreed. Well, if you're ever in Portland, these gardens are not to be missed. The Japanese Gardens, in particular, are stunning. Set on five-and-a-half acres, they represent several different styles of Japanese garden, and are immaculately maintained, peaceful and calm, and beautiful. They even have a nice little gift shop. The Rose Test Gardens, as the name suggests, aren't intended for aesthetic beauty - they're hundreds of rose bushes arranged mostly in rows - but they're still beautiful in their quantity and variety. Some photos from both gardens:
Monday it was time to go home. We had lunch at a pretty good burger joint called Burgerville (whose milkshakes are notable), and then Karen dropped me off at the airport. Another excellent trip. Maybe I'll go back before another two years have passed. Debbi managed to pick me up at the airport despite her ankle, though I drove home. Everything went smoothly, and I helped her pack up and head home. She's doing better than she was when she met me, but it's going to be another week or two before she's really fully functional again. Hopefully she'll be all well by the time we go to Hawaii...
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As I mentioned before I Left (a rare instance of my actually announcing a vacation in my journal before taking it; I'm just paranoid enough that I rarely do so), I went to Portland from August 20-25, to visit my friend Karen. Karen's an old friend from grad school who actually finished her PhD. We have a running joke of my making sardonic comments about "hitting the eject switch" and so forth from grad school whereas she stuck it out.
Friday Karen joined me for some more shopping, this time on Hawthorne, a kind of retro-feeling shopping district on the east side. Powell's has a store there, as well, and Karen picked up practically as much stuff as I did! My big finds were a volume of the original-issue series of Peanuts comic strip reprints which I was missing, and a very well-priced copy of Superman from the 30s to the 70s. This book is a mostly black-and-white sampling of Superman comics from the decades it notes, and I've owned a battered copy since I was a kid. Finding a nearly-perfect copy for only $12 was quite a nice surprise. Now I just need to find a copy of the Batman volume...
Sunday Karen spent the morning doing some training; she's into speed-walking (I don't think that's what she calls it; I keep forgetting the name for it, though) and is training for a marathon. So I spent the morning and early afternoon reading and browsing the Web and hanging out. I also called Debbi and learned about her sprained ankle, which I reported last entry.
