Lost in Paradise...er, Portland

Last week Karyl and I dropped off Erik at Lewis and Clark. This was a bipolar event for me. On the one hand I was trying to see my son off gracefully, and on the other I was quite happy to wander around downtown Portland and sigh deeply. The weather was wonderful; Mt. Hood watched from a distance as we toured the campus.

I kept having to remind myself that Erik is going to be fine. We are dropping him off at a beautiful liberal arts college, not shipping him off to Fallujah. Still, it was a bit off a tough time trying to walk the line between being helpful and being a pain in the butt.

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Whenever I visit Portland, I seem to fall in love, and I don't know why. I suspect that my affections for Portland are based largely on having lived there when I was 18- 22 - and so by power of association, I find the city so alluring. But then, how can you not fall in love with a city that has a salmon going through a building (on the same street as a great independent guitar store --"Pioneer Guitar").




Even the manhole covers grab at my heart. They have roses in the middle.






As we walked around there were all sorts of architectural wonders that caught our eye. The building to the right has great arches and the view out our hotel window reminded me of Harry Potter -- with its wide variety of characters with mythical powers.








We felt safe in our hotel room with lions and cupids supervising the coming and goings on the street below.









One morning Karyl was kind enough to humor me and walk to Stumptown coffee for a morning beverage. Here is the view from the inside looking out. If you can block out the fact that one is hemorrhaging cash, there is nothing like traveling. A leisurely morning walk through the crisp air, only to be greeted by a latte that is a work of art.




As we left Stumptown, I couldn't help but get a shot of this work of art. The front tire needs a little TLC, but was a gem. I love that Portland is such a biking town. I love that it rains there a ton and it is still the number one city for bicycling in the US. That is powerful. Karyl was very patient as my head would snap back and forth looking at all the different bikes that went hither and yon.



Much about Portland has changed, but the Outdoor Store still hangs on. Sigh.