A Gorge, a Mountain, and Some Roses
So at night, all of the shuttered storefronts transform into bars with live music and booming nightclubs. Portland’s social youth get dressed up and pour onto the streets. And the ruckus doesn’t scare away the homeless people. They hang out and watch or go to sleep right there on the sidewalk in front of the club.
At 1am, I visited Voodoo Doughnut and found the line around the block. Are the doughnuts really that good?
Today was a day trip out of town for a tour of Columbia Gorge and Mt. Hood, the nearby volcanic mountain known for its treacherous hiking. Over the course of the day, I learned a lot about flood geology and waterfalls and salmon. Treated myself to salmon jerky, which tastes about how you’d expect. Sean, our guide, was a former professional skier who crashed and broke both of his arms, prompting a career change. So now he gives tours, and he’s also a professional photographer of extreme winter sports. He gave me one of his DVDs to watch.
Back into Portland, I headed to the International Rose Test Garden, a plot of land with rows and rows of roses, over 550 varieties of them. Kind of a nice place, and it smells pretty, but if you’re not REALLY into roses, it’s a bit boring. One guy was wandering around the garden with his phone trying to catch Pokemon. What is it with that stupid game?
Going make it an early night and catch up on some badly needed sleep.
My name is Jeff. I'm a