We spent October 17 to December 17 in Portland, Oregon and I must say that our time in Portland may be some of the most sweet, sincere, easy-living times of my life. To be perfectly honest, life on the road since leaving Chico in August was not always easy and fun. Axel really did not like home school and I found RV parks are not really my cup of tea. This, of course, does not bode well for the rest of of our adventure, but Axel and I will do our best. If it was easy it would not be an adventure. Jon, as usual, is unflappable.
For Axel and I to get into a permanent house for two months was amazing. I walked him to and from school each day for a total of 2.4 miles for me (1.2 for Axel). He loved Abernethy Elementary and his teacher, Mr Scholten, was one of the most caring, clever, and thoughtful teachers I have ever met.
We learned, as Portlanders do, to drop everything when it is sunny and carpe diem. We played lots of disc golf. Pier Park, Lunchtime, Vance, Dabney, Blue Lake, Milo McIver to name a few. My parents even visited for Thanksgiving and we got dad to Pier Park during a break in the storm while mom stayed back to play cards with Axel.
Dad and I at Pier Park
A rainbow at Blue Lake DGC,
Jon on course.
Axel putts during a frigid round at Lunchtime DGC
Sometimes Axel and I seized the sun on urban hikes. One day we hiked up to the urban volcano, Mt, Tabor:
View from the top
Axel found the USGS marker indicating the summit.
The statue of this old white guy at the top of Mount Tabor was defaced days later, following the election of the Donald Trump as president of the United States. Being in Portland during the aftermath of the election was a riot. Literally.
An unlikely looking gentleman supporting the marginalized. I really, really love Portland.
Axel and I noticed that on walks to school, many of the sidewalks still had loops with iron rings attached for hitching up your horse. When we had Craig and Jen Collins (Jen is my Chico State college buddy) over for dinner one night we mentioned this. Jen laughed and said yes, they are everywhere and sometimes people hitch My Little Ponies or other plastic livestock toys to them. Not two days later, on our Mt. Tabor hike, Axel and I saw this:
Plastic longhorn hitched to sidewalk.
Craig and Jenny were not our only Portland friends. My highschool buddy, Erin, lives there as well with her husband John and her triplet toddler girls(!). Erin turned forty and had a wine tasting birthday party to which I was lucky enough to score an invite. Erin managed to find a great sitter for the triplets,
Here is a picture of Erin's husband (right) sitting on the lap of one of his very old friends. Needless to say we were already pleasantly deep into the wine tastings. This endeavor began at 10am and went through three wineries, a dive bar, and, finally, Olympia Provisions for late supper.
Giant charcuterie plates, pickles, and more cocktails were just what we needed. The sober people delivered me back to my door at 26th and Division twelve hours after all this began. Happy Birthday Erin!
Sometimes when it was rainy Axel and I did short urban bike rides to places like Avalon, a nickel arcade and cinema. There are many inexpensive theaters in Portland.
The other thing there are a lot of in Portland: delicious places to eat. I think I ate my way through Portland. I ate for sport. There was just so much to try. Needless to say there will be some New Year's resolutions involving moderation.
Jon at Dot's cafe around the corner from our place.
Axel going big on a Chocolate Vahlrona Crunch at Blue Star Donuts
Build your own pancakes at Slappy Cakes- each table had a private griddle, squeeze bottles of batter, and your choice of toppings.
Jon makes a modern art pancake.
Axel, sleepy, awaiting his breakfast at Lauretta Jeans.
Food Coma
Jacuzzi Tub in the sublet. I miss many things about Portland and that tub is the top of my list.
I have so many cute cat pictures from Portland so I need to post some.
Before we left Portland it got really cold and snowy.
Hermes burrowed under this down jacket for warmth
Jon thought hats for the cats would be a good idea.
You can tell that Hermes really loves this hat.
Axel and I went downtown on TriMet to see the Christmas tree and shop a little. I dared him to throw a snowball at a cop but he knew better than that.
Finally, before winter break, Mr Scholten, Axel's teacher, made a homework assignment for all the students to go home and think of a goodbye wish for Axel. He even asked that each child review what they would say with their parents.
Here are the children wishing Axel bon voyage.
Some children even asked if they could come in early to make a goodbye banner and card as a surprise for Axel. Here it is. Words cannot express how amazing Abernethy, Mr. Scholten, and that group of kiddos were.
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