Portland

While I love Eugene and the many wonders it has to offer, I also adore (and miss) big cities and all THEY have to offer. So today while I was looking online for a book called The Lost Steps, and I discovered that Powell's in Portland has it, I decided to head North.

I've been to, through and around Portland. I've been to the airport three times and the Rose Arena once, and that pretty much covers my experience with Portland. Being two hours away, I really need a good excuse to go, and I also need a nice list of things to occupy my time while I'm there. Because while I might drive 3 hours to see a lake in an old volcano, driving 2 hours to go shopping is a bit ridiculous.

My first stop was Powell's bookstore, which I have heard a bit about from people in my book club. For those of you who have been to the Half Price Books on Northwest Hwy in Dallas....you ain't seen nothin' yet. Powell's is ginormous. For those of you who have been to Booked Up in Archer City, TX....you're on the right track. The store itself is actually several different buildings housing several "types" of books. I mistakenly went into the Technical Books building first, but I walked out with a cool gift for a coworker for secret santa and a book for myself called Coma. Eventually I made it to the main store on Burnside. Because of the Wordstock Festival going on, the place was beyond packed. Lines to get in, lines all over the place. I really had been looking forward to aimlessly wandering around with my mouth slightly ajar and drool dripping onto my shirt. But with all these hipster Portlanders around, I had to keep my cool. Plus my parking meter was going to run out soon. The book I needed was on the first set of shelves, so I grabbed it and found a parking place in line.

I decided to get a little lost in the Pearl District on my way back to the car, and ended up going to Lexi Dog, which was enticing because A) I have a dog named Lexie back home in Texas and B) Luna is spoiled. It's a "boutique and social club" for dogs. They had a wide variety of treats (organic and homemade) and special birthday-ish treats. Apparently you can actually host a dog birthday party there for a nominal fee of $110. I think Luna enjoyed her day at the arboretum just fine. I walked out with a relatively cheap package of Duck and Potato treats for the dogs at home. The election gear for dogs was half off, but there were no Obama shirts for Luna, and she is not a member of the Democrat or Republican parties, and that's all they had.


Then I called my friend (actually the girl who lived in my room before me) to see if she wanted to grab some dinner at Al Amir, an Eastern food restaurant my old roommate suggested. In the meantime I decided to cruise around Portland, and I almost killed a biker (it totally wasn't my fault...but he still fell off of his bike and cussed me out, which I probably would've done too if I was him. But I maintain that it wasn't my fault). I found my way easily to the restaurant, with no bikes stuck on my front bumper. I really enjoyed the food! I got the Lamb Shawarma and hummus. Then we went back to her house, where I met her roommates, and we all watched some TV, sipped some homemade pear wine, and then I left.

All in all, I got a decent dose of city life, although I wish I had stopped in a couple of art galleries. I always feel guilty for not buying when I go into them though.