Riding around Portland or Loving Portland

Yesterday I finally made it to Portland, yay! I left the house around 11, with my bike on the back of my car, drove to the Willow Creek MAX stop. It took me about an hour to get downtown, I got out at the PGE Park stop (now called something else...) in NW Portland and immediately rode down to the water front (I beat the MAX, following it's same path which is always nice!) I had plans to stop but was enjoying riding too much that I rode down to the waterfront, North along the waterfront, across this bridge (picture below) with a bike/pedestrian path that is at the same level as the waterfront trail, then South along the river on the East side to I think Hawthorne bridge. After that loop I felt good about stopping and I went to the Alder and 10th food carts.


The food carts, which I failed to take pictures of (oops) were awesome. Too many options, it was hard to choose! I also wasn't too hungry because I'd eaten breakfast just before leaving Brooklyn. I ended up being a little boring and getting a panini. $5 for a sandwich and a soda! Awesome deal! I only ate half the sandwich then I sat by the Teachers Fountain at Yamhill and Park, sketching my surroundings and doodling. I think I sat there about an hour, soaking in the Vitamin D. I wasn't going to finish the other half of the sandwich so I decided I'd give it to a homeless person. This being Portland it didn't take long to see someone, so I stopped about 2 blocks from where I was, offered her the other half of my sandwich and went on my way.

From there I rode up to NW and sat at Bridgeport Brewpub and had a beer on the deck in the shade (where it got a little chilly) and doodled some more and people watched. It was quite pleasant. From here I rode my bike way out there to Upshur to check out Canvas Art, bar and Bistro. I got there and wasn't too hungry and peaked in, thinking I might move on. I saw that they sold some art supplies and remembered that I haven't been able to find my pencil sharpener. I went in and asked the lady behind the counter if she sold them, she lent me hers from behind the counter then came back a second later and said I could have it. I thought, aw that's nice, I might as well check out the menu and see if there is anything that sounds good for a snack. It was almost 5pm, happy hour! I saw an option "pint & paint". I was intrigued and asked about it. What it is: a pint of beer on tap and a little kit of paints and a palette and some brushes and you can paint on the white butcher paper they have there! I was sold. If I had someone to take on a date, we would go here :)



After painting and slowly sipping my beer, I decided to head back to the center of town... and get donuts! On Saturday when I went to Saturday Market my friend Laura and I walked by Voodoo Doughnuts but the line was like halfway down the block and didn't seem to be moving very quickly! So as I was riding I realized I was approaching and when I got to Voodoo the line was only to the door rather than out the door! I swooped up on my bike, locked up and waited... for a while to get my donut on. I went for the Voodoo and the fruit loop one (I don't remember what it's called).

This is where it's nice to have someone you are traveling with, you can each get something and split it. When traveling solo... you either eat all the things or spend more money for less food.



I loved the Voodoo. I am not normally into filled donuts but this one had raspberry filling that was like jam... it was so good and looked so fitting when half eaten! The fruit loop one was really good, I wanted to eat the whole thing but physically couldn't. It was sooo yummy. I'm totally going back here... in like a month! I ended up eating about half of each because this was, afterall, my appetizer for dinner!


After Voodoo I headed to the East Side to meet my friend for Ethiopian food at Queen of Sheba. I love Ethipoian food and I was really excited. I kind of knew where I was going so I didn't stop to check my map until I got across and I was on the right street and it looked like I should be there really soon. Suddenly I was way the hell up North and I still have no idea where I took a wrong turn. You can see on the map below that really long stretch of riding north... yeah. I don't know what that was about. It was pretty quick and easy to ride that far out of the way (which is a nice hint to the size of Portland).

In total, I rode about 17 miles around Portland, mainly in the West side. I'll go in again to wander the East side next time... and try some new food carts (and try to be more hungry/adventurous)!


Here is our meal at Queen of Sheba, we went with the vegetarian combo where we each picked 2 dishes. I find Ethiopian food to be so filling that I don't miss meat (not that I'm a huge meat eater anyway). It was tasty, I especially like the potatoes... mmm.


My new Oregon Love logo I just made, based on the green Oregon bumpersticker (and tattoo):



Oh man, looking at those donuts is making me really want another one.
Side note, I'm thinking about doing a green smoothie cleanse starting next week. For at least 10 days... I will keep you, lovely readers, in the know about that and how it goes when I do it. I also still have to get back to the beach house. So much to do eh?!

Port Townsend

Last night I picked up Spencer at the Edmonds Amtrak station and we hopped over to the ferry and arrived in PT about 11:30pm. It was nice to sleep in a real bed (with a memory foam mattress topper!) after being at church camp all week!

Today we took the bike path to town, went out for coffee (where when you get drip coffee to stay, they heat up your mug with hot water... dang that's service!). Then we went to the park which was beautiful, hung out on a big rock on the beach for a bit, played on the swings, rode to uptown and had a snack. Ben came and met us in the park with a frisbee so we hung out there for a bit, then got some pizza at Waterfront Pizza which was super tasty and came back to have dinner with Spencer's parents. We also gathered some berries; we were hoping for blackberries but found loaded bushes of evergreen huckleberries! Now we're just chilling doing computer-y things. A very nice relaxed day. Tomorrow I think we might get started on Spencer's cabin's kitchen. All these other plans for hikes and parties and jaunts to the coast are coming up so I don't know how much work we'll actually be able to get done... and there will be huckleberry tarts! I'm thinking I'll do it the homemade poptart way cause those are tasty! I'm also looking forward to getting a fire going so I can roast giant marshmallows again :)

I will be here in Port Townsend until next Friday when I'll head up to Vancouver BC to hang out more with the people I was just hanging out with at church camp!

Epic tale of my new bicyle.

So my cousin Marty and her daughter and I went yard sale shopping this morning. I was looking for a new bike and if I didn't find one I was going to go to Working Bikes when they opened at noon. I wasn't having much luck until the last sale we went to. There was a bright green Schwinn bike with dropped handlebars and "suicide" brakes (the kind I like). The bike is in good shape, clean chain (unlike the first bike I found), the frame is a little bit small for me but I decided it was worth it. I bought the bike for $75 which included a Kryptonite U-lock with the key, and a new Bell cushy seat. Already a steel. I wanted to take it to a bike shop and get a tune up and new wraps on the handlebars (cork instead of foam because my old bike had foam and it just starts to crumble off) and raise the seat. We stopped in to Dan's, the shop closest to Marty's house but they said it would take 2 weeks! I'm only in Chicago for a week so that's no good. So I google maped the other place they mentioned but it only had 2 stars for it's review which made me hesitant. I found another place, Barnard's Schwinn, and they had 5 stars and 38 reviews, a good sign!

The bike I bought at the yard sale with a lock and new seat, in really good shape (no rust spots)

I walk into the bike shop with my new bike and immediately all the guys who work there are impressed with my bike, asking where I got it. When I brought it to the back service counter the guy there told me in a year I'd need to replace the tires and both rims needed to be straightened out a bit, it's the strongest Schwinn frame they made, it's a color only produced for one year (1972) and when I told him I got it for $75 he said I stole it, that as it stands, it's worth $500! He said it's his favorite bike for riding and touring. Then I told him I wanted the seat raised and what work I wanted done on it and he asked me to straddle the bike. I stood over the bike and he could see that it clearly was a little to small for me. He said, "Let me know you something, follow me." I followed him into the back garage which is full of bikes and he moved some things and pointed to a bright green bike. I said "is that the same bike?" He said it's the same one but a bigger frame and he had just finished replacing the whole drive train and it has new tires. I asked him if he'd be willing to trade and he said he would! So we both win, we each come out with the same bike but one that fits each of us better!

Here's the two '72 bikes side by side... what are the chances!

I left the bike there to get the seat dropped down a little and the handle bars wrapped with white cork (it's going to be minty fresh!) and get the U-lock moved from the bike I bought to the new bike. I call this winning!!!

I'm very excited! You can see that he's a bit shorter than me so a smaller bike is better for him and a bigger bike is better for me!

My bike should be done later today or tomorrow, I can't wait to ride again! I will post a picture of it when I get it with its freshly wrapped handles.

WINNING!

I'm okay, my car is a little beat up, my bike however is totally unrideable :(

I've never had an accident before and yesterday evening, on the road from Ontario to the 1000 Islands Parkway, I had my first accident. The truck in front of me stopped short, so I stopped short so did the 2 girls behind me ending up with 3 cars bumping into each other. I'm glad my bike was hurt and not my car- the back has a ding in it but it's all cosmetic as I can still lock the back door and the bumper is just scratched. If the bike and bike rack hadn't been there the girl behind me probably would have been even closer in her SUV and likely caused even more damage to my car. I really wish I'd woken up in time yesterday to ride it around Montreal like I wanted to; that is hard to do after several rum and cokes though :P

All 3 of us (ladies driving the cars) are fine, actually the girl in the back who hit the girl who hit me had the most damage to her car, the middle car was a SUV and came out with like a tiny scratch and a dent in the license plate. Both girls were young drivers and freaking out about facing thier parents. I'm glad my car is mine and I have to report to no one, save for my readers! And what's a great adventure with a little snafu mixed in? Hopefully the snafu's stay small :)

SO Anyway... I'm at the KOA 1000 Islands in Ontario, Canada. This is NOT roughing it, so don't even think that I'm in my tent, out peeing in the woods... There is a main building with laundry, showers, 3 swimming pools, a TV that is on in the background with cartoons (perhaps the staff saw us two kids, of 27yrs, and thought we needed cartoons?) This is as cushy a car camping site as they come! And I'm totally ok with that, I didn't think I'd be "roughing" anything until I got out West. :) Today is going to be a nature day, and also kind of a maintenance day... check the tire pressure, tidy up the car that seems to have an explosion of stuff inside it... I may also stop at the bike store in town and see what they think about the damage to my bike and what it will take to fix it. Anyway after being in Montreal for a couple days and all that driving in Vermont, I'm ready for a day of calmness and nature :)

I think it's about time to build a fire, cook up some breakfast (veggies and beans! Yum!), clean the car and figure out where we'll hike today!

Please send good thoughts to my bicycle, I love you bicycle, I'm sorry you got hurt! I'll fix you up though! We will ride again, at least by the time I get to Chicago!

I'm in the capital of Canada!

Hi from Ottawa!

After the longest border crossing into Canada I've ever experienced (no I am not looking for a job in Canada, yes I am unemployed, my car is full because I am on a road-trip and no, I am not looking for a job in Canada), Ashley and I made it to Montreal! I will admit it took me a little while to really like Montreal. I think I was going to be more impressed by it. The original plan was to camp outside Montreal but then thinking about the time and money it would take to get into Montreal and that we were only staying 2 nights, we decided to book a hostel.

We arrived Tuesday afternoon and checked into our hostel. I would come back to Montreal just to stay at Montreal Centrale, it was the most amazing hostel I've been to. It was like a hotel, the staff was super friendly and helpful, I met some awesome people, great location... just great! After getting settled and getting the car into the parking garage we decided to go find some dinner. Ashley did a little research on Chowhound and we settled on, of all things, Schwart's, a Jewish deli famous for smoked meat. So we trekked over to pickles and a shared smoked meat sandwich then walked over to Parc Mont-Royal. After hanging out in the sun for a bit we walked down hill, and down to Old Montreal and the waterfront. We had not anticipated being out this long so we were both wearing inappropriate footwear (read: flipflops) and returned to the hotel tired and ready for a drink and some conversation. While Ashley popped in the shower I went to the hostel bar and bought some beer (2/$6!) and went to the "backyard" and sat with the group of boys who were speaking English and had space at their table. That night reminded me how awesome it can be to stay at hosteals (something I haven't done since my travels in Europ 5 years ago). I was up chatting with fellows travelers, from all over the world, until 2am, it was awesome.

Smoked meat, I'm glad we split it cause that whole sandwich would have put me to sleep once we reached the park with its beautiful green grass that I failed to photograph.


We went into a grocery store to check out the chip aisle. The USA does not have a big selection of chips compared to Canada! Today we tried All Dressed, delicious. They have flavors like Hot Dog, Dill pickle, Buffalo Wing and Blue Cheese and even bacon... crazy. I want to try them all!

In the morning we slowly got ready and had some breakfast and chatted with our new roommate, Miguel, from NYC who had just arrived the night before. We were planning to use the bike taxi system, Bixi, and explore more of Montreal with the main goals to see Habitat 67 and Marche Jean-Talon; Miguel joined us and tagged along on our little foodie/architecture tour of Montreal. (I love French btw, and I just want to get an audio track that tells me how to pronounce things, I don't care about speaking it, I just want to be able to read things!) Then when we were heading out we were joined by Sarah, from Winnepeg. So our little group of 4 navigated the amazingly bikeable Montreal. It was awesome, the bike system is pretty sweet for commuting but a bit of a pain for tourists. I should have just ridden my own bike and had my buddies rent bikes (of course then you have to deal with locking it up, but at least you can lock your bike next to where you stop without having to look for parking- it's as bad as driving!)

A Bixi station- awesome... when there is a spot for your bike to park,
or else you can end up walking a lot to find a slot.

Habitat 67 was amazing. We didn't even go inside - we just wandered around the outside. It was warm and breezy on the peninsula where there seemed to be an abnormal number of moths hanging out in the shade. The building is an example of amazing prefabricated concrete architecture. I learned about it about 9 years ago as a freshman in architecture school and it was quite exciting to walk around it. I love architecture :)

Habitat in the distance, it sits on a pier just outside the city; getting there reminded me a little of my trek in Amsterdam to Silodam

Habitat 67 was so cool to walk around!

After we spent a half hour wandering around Habitat we rode back to old montreal and returned our bikes. Then we walked around and ended up in Chinatown where we tried Dragon's beard candy. I didn't think it was that sweet but apparently my tastebuds are messed up cause all 3 of my buddies thought it was super sweet!

Mmmm Dragon's beard - (I'm clearly enjoying it)
this was pre-made stuff; someday I'd like to see it made in person

From there we walked down to Old Montreal and ate at Les 3 Brasseurs, I had the amber beer, brewed on site and pretty good though I've had better. Then we took the amazingly quiet (rubber tires rather than the metal tires of NYC) metro up to the March Jean-Talon, an open air market with beautiful foot laid out in bags and displayed in baskets, ready to be purchased.

Fresh produce at the Jean Talon market

After spending a while wandering the market and drooling over fresh produce we got on the Bixi bikes again and headed back to the hotel. After we started drinking some rum and cokes we headed to La Banquise for my first taste of poutine. I can tell you I was hesitant about poutine- fries, cheese curds and gravy did not sound good to me. Boy was I wrong! It melts in your mouth, so deliciously! The 4 of us shared 3 kinds: Classique, Matty (with bacon, mushroom, onion and green pepper) and Taquise (with tomatoes, guacamole and sour cream). We ate it all!

Poutine is delicious!