That time I hit up the PDX.

Yeah, this is a very long blog post. But there's some great stuff in here, I promise.
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Romantic Trains

Last week, I traveled to Portland, Oregon, for the first time in my life, to visit my brother, Justin, and his girlfriend, Summer. And to see Portland.

The first thing that I have to say about that, is that I took the train, the Coast Starlight, from Salinas, CA, all the way to the PDX. (Psst! That is the airport code for "Portland.") I left on Wednesday, February 8th, and arrived on Thursday, February 9th.

Train travel is so romantic.



Also, ladies who sit next to you on the train and complain relentlessly that they wanted the window seat but were not given the window seat, and thus, they cannot sleep, they are romantic too, and they are not getting your damn window seat already.

When the train is emptied by two thirds at least, and there are plenty of window seats in the vicinity, ladies who complain about having to sit in aisle seats but insist on continuing to sit in aisle seats while complaining about not being able to get a window seat, they are still making train rides romantic when they do that.

The most romantic thing that ladies who complain about not getting window seats whilst there empty window seats in the vicinity aplenty is spread out with obnoxious sighs of relief, dramatically snapping the curtain shut, after you have exited your seat when the train has arrived at your station. They are so romantic, those ladies.

Train-ertainment for Me: Twitter feed, GReader, and I watched The House of Yes on my iPhone, via Netflix.
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Ignite 10, Powell's Books, and Tangled

Soon after Justin picked me up at Union Station on Thursday, we got some coffee at Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Fun Fact: Apparently Portlanders tend to be a bit nicknamey. I prefer "stumptown" to "city of roses" or "bridgetown." Seems more specific and historical.

Later we went to the Bagdad Theater for Ignite Portland 10. "So, it's like show-and-tell for adults," Summer later said, astutely. We ate tots and popcorn and watched the short talks. Here are the talks. The snapshot is from "The Sociology of Cute." Fun Fact: Cee Lo is cute. Which is why we like him.

Later, we drove downtown to Powell's Books, so I could find a Portland book. Fun Fact: Yeah, it's a pretty damned awesome book store. On the way home, we swung by Burgerville. MB called while we were driving around, and asked me what I thought of Portland. I had just spent the last few hours feeling overwhelmed about the multitude of awe-some things to do and see in Portland, so I said "I hate to admit it, but it's like Minneapolis times three." (But Minneapolitans get to be outside in the sun all spring and summer! Nyah!)
"That's funny, because I heard that Portland is like San Francisco divided by three."
"So San Francisco is Minneapolis, cubed?"

Back at the house, Justin did some work while I tried to watch Tangled in the livingroom. [Montage of woman drifting in and out of consciousness on couch, in front of Disney movie, sometimes a cat on her lap, squinting at the TV in an attempt to connect the previously remembered scene to the current scene.] STILL haven't seen all of Tangled, dammit.
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SE Portland and the Nightlife

That is the cat who will sit on my lap if Justin and Summer aren't available and she is desperate for human cuddling. Gladys.

I left the house on Friday around mid-day, to explore the shops and the neighborhood around the streets Hawthorne and Belmont. J&S live in this neighborhood, so I decided to walk. It was sprinkling, and I thought it would be no big deal to walk in a little sprinkling rain. Halfway to Hawthorne however, I was soaked. So I popped into a few stores looking for an umbrella. Decided to enter a Powell's Books for the second time in 24 hours. They weren't selling any umbrellas.



So I grabbed a slice of pizza and drank a glass of wine, thinking that perhaps the sprinkling would stop. It didn't.



Still on the search for an umbrella, I explored a couple of the vintage shops on Hawthorne. Vintage umbrellas! But they didn't have any. So I bought a hat instead.



More sights and cute gift shops on Belmont!



Lil' cupcake. So yummy! Also, messages posted up and down the block about damning the man and such. I wondered whether posting these in Portland is a little preaching-to-the-choir. More power to 'em, though.

Walked through the Lone Fir Cemetery, an historic cemetery located in the neighborhood, because the guide book told me to.



It was cemeterial.



I arrived back at the house soon after Justin had returned from work. And soon we were all getting ready to go out for a night on the town. Here's where we went:

At Tapalaya, we ate from small plates and bowls of jambalaya, blackened catfish, Crabby Mac (macaroni and cheese with Jumbo Lump Blue crab!), gumbo (with andouille sausage), crawfish fritters, collard greens and smothered brussels sprouts, and our server was from Brooklyn Park, MN.



Then we went to The Kennedy School so some of us could smoke a cigar in The Detention Bar and so all of us could enjoy drinks in The Detention Bar and The Honors Bar and The Boiler Room Bar. The Kennedy School is a renovated elementary school with bars, restaurants and a hotel. Yes: drinking and smoking in school. Neat, huh?



Next we encountered a Pirate Party - and Summer's boss - at The Space Room. Took pictures at Sewickly's. And were offered Jello shots with whipped cream at Vertigo. ("The Bar-muda Triangle," said Justin.)

Um, walked home at the end of the night.
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The Day That Would Never End: Down the Town, Giant Mimosa, The Grotto, Whitney Houston, Elvis and The Broasted Chicken, Glass Moose, Karaoke, and the 90s Jukebox

On the morning of Saturday - the day that wouldn't end - I didn't think that I wanted to do much more than hang out on the couch. But we could do a few things at least, until it was time for Summer to go to work.



During our journey down the town (this is how we say "downtown" now), we got coffee at Flying Cat Coffee, where I had the opportunity to say aloud "Rrraawwrr, Glitter Bear!" The barista smirked, and we all talked about little plastic creatures, meticulously glittered, and abandoned.



Drove down the town to the Winter Farmer's Market at the South Park Blocks. (That's the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the "Big Pink" US Bancorp Tower, above!) At the Farmer's Market, Justin bought some meat on a stick, and I took a picture of a fish flying through a building.



Next, it was time for brunch and the largest mimosa I've ever been served at Genie's Cafe. I had Eggs Benedict with Cajun ham and potatoes O'Brien.



My guide book had promised views of the Columbia River and Mount Hood from the top of the The National Sanctuary of our Sorrowful Mother, otherwise known as The Grotto, so we went there next! Plus, I wanted to see the altar that's set into the cliff. Once we arrived, and I realized how very religious this site is, it seemed unfair for Justin and I to visit without our mother and our Aunt Joyce. This place totally had Mom and Aunt Joyce written all over it.



There are upper and lower levels, with trails through the trees, and the stations of the cross. We took the elevator to the top, and walked among the chapels and statues. Some of them were dedicated to the Mysteries of the Rosary. The upper level gardens of The Grotto also feature a labyrinth, like the one at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, which is based on the one at the Cathedral at Chartes.


The Meditation Chapel

The discussions of Catholicism in the news lately have been making me feel exasperated, and I have to say that walking around the Grotto made me feel a little emotional and sad about all of this. Thinking about the experience now, I am reminded of the reasons I used to pray. Especially how I used to pray when I felt scared or sad, and how it always, always made me feel better. How homilies that tried to make sense of life used to bring me peace. That stuff was good. And I think that's what religion should be. Religion should be something that gives you solace. Religion should do for you. Because no one knows what's out there, and why, and no one Ever Will. Religion that polices your life, your biological functions, cannot bring you solace, because as a human, and especially as a woman, you will inevitably break the rules. And you will grieve.


View from inside the Meditation Chapel

It's nice to know that wearing my trench coat with my tall boots makes my silhouette resemble that of a dominatrix.



After taking in The Grotto, we drove back to the house. Summer had to go to work for a few hours. While she got ready for work, Justin and I sat on the couch and explored our various Internets via iPhone and iPad. I read in my Twitter feed that Whitney Houston had died.

Five minutes later, I was still reading other people's thoughts and reactions, and sniffling about Whitney Houston dying.

At this point in the blog post, I'm going to have include a few vids here and there, in memoriam.



Summer left for work, and Justin and I left to hit up Movie Madness, the sweetest video rental store I have ever visited. The store features a huge collection of film costumes and props, as well as films categorized by director, actor and [either screenwriter or producer]. I found The Bodyguard by noting on the customer computer that it was produced and written by Lawrence Kasdan, and searching the Kasdan section. Other rentals: Trekkies and Innerspace

• Props in photo above left: Hat from Some Like It Hot, building (the dilapidated one in which the inventor Sebastian lives, I think) from Blade Runner, clapper board from Blade Runner, falcon from The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca movie posters, Austin Powers and Dr. Evil outfits from Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
• Costumes in photo above right: Faye Dunaway's dress from Bonnie and Clyde, Julie Andrew's dress from The Sound of Music (from the montage in which they sing "Do Re Mi," and the reason I took this photo), and Alice's Faye's dress from Hello, Frisco, Hello

Justin and Summer's Favorite Prop: Bust of Marvin, from Pulp Fiction. Yep, it's creepy.

Before returning home, Justin picked up some cheese puffs. "That's why Summer's so great," he said. "She puts up with the stuff that I do!"
"Stuff like randomly renting Innerspace and buying a two-gallon container of cheesey puffs?"
"Yep."

I don't think that's too much to put up with.

Source: google.com via Amanda on Pinterest

At the house, I ate my brunch leftovers and Justin ate cheesey puffs. We watched the original Star Trek episode "The Devil In The Dark" on Netflix.

Then we watched Innerspace. I don't think I've seen it since I was a kid. I wasn't that interested in watching it this evening, but that was because I either wasn't aware, or had forgotten how freaking silly and campy this movie is.

Robot-armed assassin. One robot arm, multiple attachments. Oh, and shrunken villains.

I nearly died.

Oh, and fun scenes of San Francisco.

Summer arrived back home, near the end of Innerspace, and finished watching the film with us. Then it was time to go to the Pink Feather Restaurant & Lounge. I didn't know why Summer and Justin wanted to go there specifically, other than the indication that they served broasted chicken, so I didn't bring my camera.

I should have brought my camera, though. Two words for Why: Elvis Impersonator



To review, Justin and Summer took me to a place that serves broasted chicken (looked and tasted "fried" to me), with white gravy on the potatoes and an ice berg lettuce salad, while an Elvis Impersonator absolutely delights the local Portlandian crowd with his crooning. Holy fucking yes! Here are some Elvis antics:

• Handing out long-stemmed roses to the ladies in the crowd while singing to them. Summer and I both received roses.
• Handing out teddy bears to a couple of special birthday ladies in the crowd.
• Fake strumming a guitar along with some of the songs. Fake Guitar Strumming!
• Having his entourage switch out his scarves during the performances.
• Wiping his face sweat with one of the scarves before draping the same scarf over the neck of an elderly woman in the crowd and kissing her cheek tenderly.

I was be-side-my-self. (And just to clarify, our amusement was not derisive! Not at all. We love that everyone loved Elvis. We loved Elvis!) Favorite Elvis Performance of the Night: "Suspicious Minds"

Luckily, Summer had her camera!



In my normal/we-are-both-in-our-30s life, at this point in the night, after the dinner and performance, my husband and I would go home and have a night cap in front of the TV before going to bed. But when I hang out with Justin and Summer, it's all about "What can we do next?!" And I still hadn't heard all the Whitney Houston songs I had on the brain, or cried as much as I wanted to, since learning of her death earlier that evening. So we HAD to go somewhere else.



We ended up at the Doug Fir Lounge. It has a modern-rustic thing going on with the decor. Loved the glass moose head. Drank a cocktail each. No Whitney, though, so we left soon.



...And ended up a couple blocks later at Galaxy Restaurant & Lounge. They were doing karaoke. (According to my guide book, karaoke is their thing, but I didn't know this at the time.) I think we all thought we would only have one drink each, but then a dude got up to do "I Will Always Love You" on karaoke, and I was sniffling some more, and then there some other fun karaoke songs (highlight: "Space Oddity"), so we ended up staying until the bar closed. There were even a couple more dude renditions of a couple more Whitney songs!

When we were leaving, I helpfully butted in to the argument the hipsters at the next table were having about who sings "Time In A Bottle." Hipster A said "It's Cat Stevens," and Hipster B argued "No way, it's totally Jim Croce." It's totally Jim Croce, right?! I shared my knowledge. Hipster A remained skeptical. (Silly Hipster, I was watching Time-Life Singers and Songwriters infomercials during midnight airings of The X-Files when you were still wearing diapers and watching Teletubbies!) And no, I probably wouldn't be blogging about this minutia if I'd been wrong.

Then Summer, Justin and I discussed "What can we do next?!"



What we did do next was go to the bar where Summer works, where her coworker and friend Jess was just about to close up for the night. Jess changed her mind about closing up, so we could stay and plays Whitney Houston on the jukebox to our heart's content. And later, any other random songs we thought of. Summer insisted on hearing Reba, we played for Ween for Justin, Jess was a surprise Guided By Voices fan, and I delighted and amazed all with my performance of En Vogue's "Never Gonna Get It."

My bartending skillz.

We played a lot of 90s songs. (Highlight: "Let Her Cry," by Hootie and the Blowfish! Gosh it had been forever since I listened to that song.) I guess we were feeling nostalgic.



Fun Memory from 1993: I am singing along with the The Bodyguard soundtrack, very loudly and passionately. At this time my bedroom is a converted porch located just off the living room, and thus my bedroom door is a crappy glass-paneled door, which for some reason does not latch all the way. Directly after I finish bellowing along lovingly to "I Have Nothing," 11-year old Justin comes to the door and says, "Amanda...people can hear you." Apparently we had company in the living room. I swear he was blushing on my behalf.



I remember singing "Greatest Love of All" in my elementary school choir.



Goodbye, Whitney.

At almost 5 AM, someone looked at the time. I don't know if everyone experienced an "Oh shit! Moment," but I did. So we went home and hit up the broasted chicken leftovers. Summer and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Guard #1: How Tonk look?
Guard #2: Tonk look good. Me fat.
Guard #1: No, you look good. Tonk fat.

And I ate chicken and cried.
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Biscuits n' Gravy, 90s Country, CR Gorge, Waterfalls, and VD Doughnuts

After all of the wonderful (and varying!) things that I'd experienced the previous day, I had no particular expectations for Sunday. And then Sunday turned out to be equally awesome.



...Starting with Biscuits and Gravy! At Pine State Biscuits. My meal is on the left, The Moneyball: B&G with a fried egg. It was gooooood, I'm tellin' ya. J&S each had one of the beasts on the right: The Reggie.

After biscuits, we headed out of town, toward the Columbia River Gorge, stopping only for gas and treats en route. (Fun Fact: Whoa, you can't pump your own gas in Oregon! No self service! I had no idea that was A Thing, anywhere!) (What happens when you're driving across a rural area in the middle of the night and no gas stations are open? In South Dakota, you'd just pay with credit card. Do they stay open in OR?!)

Justin and Summer had queued up several country songs from the 90s on Spotify, before we left the house. As we started to listen, Justin said "So, Amanda, you got your biscuits and gravy, and your Blow Pops, we got some country music going on, and now we're headed out to the Columbia River Gorge..."
"I know. This is the Best Day Ever!"



This is the view of the Columbia River Gorge, from Vista House.



Cute Justin and Summer:



After leaving Vista House, we took the winding Historic Columbia River Highway through the hills and the trees, in search of more views and waterfalls.


This is Latourell Falls. There is a trail that leads you to the falls so you can experience the base up-close. Just look at this photo below. It only begins to speak of the majesty of this waterfall. The height of the falls, and the intensity of the impact below, surrounded by cathedral walls of basalt - it did things to my soul. It felt emotional!

So amazing.



Next, we arrived at Multnomah Falls, the tallest waterfall in Oregon.


Amanda, on the bridge. Photo by Justin.
View from the footbridge at Multnomah Falls:



On the way toward taking a photo of me on the bridge, Justin took a couple of pretty photos with my camera. A trickle of falls on the hill:



Summer, in the crook of a tree:


We messed around in the gift store. I successfully talked myself out of buying a ton of tourist junk.

Finally, we stopped at one more waterfall before returning to the city, Wahkeena Falls:


At Wahkeena Falls, Summer hiked up the side where there appeared to be a slight crevice in the cliff walls. She didn't emerge very quickly, so after snapping a couple photos, I followed her up there. Then Justin decided to investigate. Only it wasn't much of a crevice. Just enough room for three adults to cram into the space of a closet, out of the way of the mist rising from the falls. "I'm feeling so Goonies!" I said.

It didn't seem at all weird to be standing in there together until a random hiker (all decked out in hiking gear and paraphernalia) decided to follow us, and ended up peering around the corner into what looked like a private little party in a cliff wall hall closet. "Oh, sorry!" she said. "I was watching you and thinking 'where did they go?!'" We laughed, and climbed back out.

Then I was feeling Goonies, The Descent, and Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Before quite reaching home, we did have one more stop to make...



It was obligatory! Notes on Voodoo Doughnuts: The cashier was kind of a doughnut-bully. I mean, if you're going to be pissed that customers need to ask you to describe the different doughnuts to them before they can order, be pissed at your establishment for not providing descriptions anywhere. The doughnuts are good, though. I may get as much pleasure from eating a regular bakery's glazed/raised doughnut, but the Voodoo gimmick - the creative flavors and names - is still fun. We ended up ordering the Old Dirty Bastard doughnut, the Voodoo Doll , The Loop doughnut, the Memphis Mafia fritter, and a cake doughnut with coconut.

Then it was time for Summer to go to work. Justin and I watched Hot Tub Time Machine. The movie had its moments, but overall I was wondering why everyone seemed to think this film was so great. (And the husband-name-changing-adulterous-harpy-wife subplot was thoroughly offensive. I'm chalking it up to the mini-misogynist zeitgeist of the last couple of years.)
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Grey and Cold, Down the Town, Thai Food and Gladys

On Monday morning, it was raining again. Justin and Summer both had to work, and given all the excitement of the weekend, I didn't feel particularly ambitious. Summer dropped me off downtown, though, so I could do a little bit of exploring. It was cold. I ate lunch. The Minneapolis Library > The Portland Library.



This is the Portlandia statue.


Scary, huh? (If I was a child, I would be haunted by this statue!)


This is Mill Ends Park, "the smallest park in the world."

Portland, you are so goofy.



The Portland Oregon sign, which faces the Burnside Bridge. Looks prettier at night, obviously.



After work, Justin swung by downtown to pick me up. We drove down Mississippi Avenue, and then we tried to find a pod with Food Carts for dinner. Justin's favorite cart was closed, however, so we decided to get Thai food instead. I had the Pad Thai. Then we came home. Justin gave Gladys some catnip.

Watched Trekkies. Then Justin had to do some work in the office. I cuddled up with my laptop, on the couch. Justin finished his work, and we were still up when Summer arrived home, watching the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy." It features the very first appearance of Klingons!
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Pasta on Valentine's Day helps a body cope with thwarted plans.

Tuesday - Valentine's Day - was the day that I was supposed to get on the train to go home. My travel plans, however, were put off for one more day, due to reasons I still feel too annoyed about to describe.



So I only did some minimal exploring on Tuesday. Walked down to Flying Cat Coffee. Ended up getting some food cart food after all - a delicious, enormous burrito from a cart on Hawthorne Street. Cuddled some more with my laptop, and had a crabby "I have to leave tomorrow instead" phone call with MB. He made me feel better.

The bright side of staying one more night, however, was the extra time I had with Justin and Summer! Justin and I did some hanging out after he got home from work. Since it was Valentine's Day, Summer's friend/coworker Jess didn't want to be on her own, so she accompanied Summer back to the house, and they made dinner for everyone. Linguine with a creamy mushroom and garlic sauce, and bread with oil and balsamic vinegar. Bottle of wine. The four of us curled up in the livingroom and watched a horror movie (well, it was Valentine's Day, after all!), Quarantine. The film is sufficiently scary in that tight, minimalist fashion.
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The Train Ride Home

I boarded the train for home on Wednesday.



See that white speck of a mountain in the distance, in the photo above? Is that Mount Hood, y'all? I snapped this photo soon after we left Salem, OR. Can you see Mount Hood from Salem? I'm asking because I didn't get to see Mount Hood during my WEEK in Portland. It was too overcast the whole time! On the drive to the Columbia River Gorge, there rose ahead of us, at one point, the spectacular base of a mountain, but the top half was shrouded in clouds. That was Mount Hood. It this Mount Hood, too? Google wouldn't tell me.



Anyway, the ride home was peaceful. No seat-mate this time, so I could spread out on both seats and actually sleep. And I wasn't *callously* hogging the window seat to which I'd been assigned!

Train-ertainment for Me: Twitter feed, GReader, and I watched Kicking and Screaming on my iPhone, via Netflix.

When MB picked me up at the train station, he asked if I would rather live in Portland than Minneapolis.
"Mm, no. But mostly because it rains a lot in Portland, and Minneapolis has that whole lots-of-people-I-love-close-by thing going for it."
"Well, then would you rather live in Minneapolis or San Francisco?
"Hahaha! Yeah, San Francisco."

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And that was my Portland trip. People I Love + A Terrific City.

Thank you, Justin and Summer, for the wonderful vacation!