The Pacific North West PT. 3: Portland
6/19-6/21
The drive to Portland was quick, but it was plenty of time for me to start questioning my choices to live in Cities my whole life. Seeing how peaceful and comfortable Ryan and Keri were in a small time really showed me first hand that this kind of living had some definite advantages.
For my stay in Portland I chose to book a room. It’s amazing how expensive lodgings have become. While Hotels appear to have stayed somewhat normal in price, Airbnb has added a lot of fees that have ballooned the seemingly normal pricing. The last time I used the service I could get a full studio with private entrance (all I really need for myself) for around $80 a night total. Similar pricing to a cheap hotel. However, now with the fee’s you’ll find a “$80” a night room that also has a $40+ cleaning fee, A “destination” fee and sales tax. Turning that $80 room into on average $120 a night. It really makes you question how useful Airbnb is these days. There are certainly pluses when you compare them to how cruddy motels and hotels can be. I personally think that they are best if you are planning a long term stay and want additional amenities, but for a night a motel may be all you need. That being said for Portland I chose wrong.
I booked a room at the Shilo in near the convention center. This lovely little motel came with an awful smell in the hallway, a none functioning tv and clear crackhead activity throughout. It was a real charmer. The best part of the place was the 7 eleven behind the building which played Opera music outside 24 hours a day. This is something that I personally don’t mind, but when I realized the purpose was to deter homeless from camping out there it was less comforting.
Anyway, I checked into my “hotel” and headed out for the day. I drove into downtown Portland and wandered around a bit aimlessly until I found a parking spot. It was a 2 hour parking spot and reasonably priced compared to my stops in California. PARKING SHOULD BE $1 AN HOUR AT THE MOST! I grabbed my guitar and headed out to find a place to play some music. I turned the corner and was walking along North Park park when I heard a voice call out to me. “Hey, Hey” I turned to see an Asian man leaning out of the front door of what looked to be a bar. “ Are you Local?” he asked. “No” I replied, worried I had broken some random law I knew nothing of. “We have people play music here. Homeless people. You want to play”. I was taken aback and a little freaked. I told him I was just visiting and heading out to find a place to play for a bit. He told me that there was a market in some direction, I wasn’t totally keeping up with what he was saying, and that his name was Ming. I thanked him for his advice and told him that I needed to be back in a couple hours due to the parking meter and would stop in. After brief farewells. I headed off passing the homeless encampments throughout the park. I don’t really want to belabor the issue of our homeless problem in the USA, but even in a place like Portland, which has had a generally large contingent of street kids and addicts, it was looking pretty crazy out. The craziest was a topless toothless woman sitting on a street corner yelling as a police car drove by completely ignoring the situation. Anyway, I walked for a few blocks and caught sight of the Market that Ming had recommended, but I didn’t feel like try to deal with all that. So I found a building that looked closed with another building across the way in a similar state. Typically a great place to stand and play without bothering anyone. I played for a bout an hour as people strolled by. A woman sat down for a while and gave me praise, leaving me an empty big gulp cup. I’m assuming for me to collect tips with. I don’t always play to collect when I am in a place I don’t know, but I appreciated the contribution. Out of the corner of my eye I notice some activity a couple doors down. There was yelling and a man was chasing another man out into the street suddenly. At the end of the interaction I saw the man doing the chasing flash a white power sign and like magic my parking meter alarm went off. I took the sign packed up and headed back to the car.
On the way I decided to pop in and see my new pal Ming. As I was walking up to Butterfly Belly I noticed there was electric guitar gear now setup right outside the entrance. I walked in was flabbergasted by the setup. There was an electric drum kit and a grand piano to my left and it appeared to be a ramen bar. Ming saw me and said “Your back!” very welcoming. I told him that I was hoping to grab a drink and he ushered me to the bar. I ordered a Rogue Dead Guy Ale, one of my long time favorites, and he quickly poured me one in a very large glass coffee cup. He the rushed off to talk to other tables of customers and then disappeared. Next thing I heard was Ming, Singing and playing electric guitar essentially in the door way of the restaurant. It was a blessing to have this crazy interaction at the start of my trip. As they say “Keep Portland Weird” and Ming I doing that in spades.
My meter up I rushed to my car and drove to the Portland art museum. I was lucky to find that the 4 hour meter I was now parking at mentioned there was no charge due to city holiday. I have no Idea what holiday it was, but I was bummed it didn’t seem to exist 10 blocks away where I was before. Otherwise I would probably have been hours deep into a jam with Ming. Anyway I entered the museum. I got to say I wasn’t particularly impressed. It had some interesting Asian sculpture pieces. My favorite being a piece by Fujikasa Satoko called Flow #1 . That was made of stone, but looked like flowing paper. They did have a Ansel Adams Exhibit going on. I’m not the biggest fan of photography exhibits, but It was cool to see the familiar sites of Half dome and El Capitan taken by one of the masters of the craft a century ago.
After the museum I didn’t really know what to do so I grabbed a bird. I know people hate the scooters, but I love them. They are so convenient and useful for cheap exploration of a city. I found a random park I hadn’t gone to before I headed out in that direction. Eventually I learned that Google maps didn’t work very well in the city while on a scooter and had no idea where I was. Then the scooters battery died. So I pulled it over and started walking in what I hoped was the right direction. I had chosen correctly as I quickly found my self in Lower Macleay park. I then realized that it was a small park on the edge of forest park. Forrest park is one of my favorite attributes of Portland. A nearly 5,100 acre forest sitting just northwest on the edge of the city. I was already walking so I looked up all trails and found a trail and headed off. It was a gorgeous walk, up along a stream and leading to a landmark called the “witches castle” essentially a small stone shack. I continued on trying my best to head back in the direction to find a new scooter and return to my car. I was in luck and popped out on the hilly Kings Heights neighborhood. Cul-de-sacs lined with gorgeous houses loomed around me and I couldn’t help but think what this life might be like. I found a scooter, got lost several times and eventually found my car.
I headed back to the Shilo, for a quick shower and change. This was the point I realized that my Tubs faucet dripped. Great work Shilo. I headed out to a restaurant recommended to me by a women from Portland I had met in San Diego and my last music gig before I left. It was called the Radio Room. It was a cool spot with interesting atmosphere and some great food. Be sure to grab their Deviled eggs. Magnificent.
The next day, Jason was arriving to the rip-city (still annoyed by this nickname) so I met up with him at the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). Another recommendation of Alan’s. This was a really cool spot. Like every museum I’ve visited on this trip so far it was not fully open, but it had a cool dino exhibit with life sized animatronic beasts. The best part were the feathered dinosaurs which Jason was not a fan of, and there is nothing I enjoy more then his discomfort. We then headed for lunch at a pizza spot called Mt. Hood Brewing It took a while for service as the place was a one man operation, but it had delicious food and great local brews. Totally with the wait. Next we needed to find a dive bar and I think we found the perfect one. A “private themed” bar called the Jolly Roger, provided a great place to escape the heat with cheap beer and locals yelling at the tv showing the PGA Tournament at Torrey Pines. It felt like home.
I finally checked out of the ever classy Shilo Inn and headed out toward a camp ground on the Columbia river. I found a great spot in quite campground on the Washington side called beacon Rock campground, set up camp and headed out for a hike. If you haven’t been to Portland or vancoover before. About 20 minutes east of the cities is a nature wonderland full of state parks and waterfalls. I headed towards multnomah falls, a large and beautiful waterfall that most won’t recommend, because it is also very busy with tourists who can’t really do the hike. The lots were full so I took a slightly different journey passing by Vista House overlook which was amazing and ending up at the Angel’s rest trail. This 3 mile hike was gorgeous and a definite work out. The view from the top was awe inspiring and I new I had made the right decision in coming out here. I continued on east on the 84 to a little town called hood river and grabbed a quick coffee enjoying it’s overall mountain town vibe.
The best part of this wonderful outdoor time was that I was only about 40 miles away from Portland, so I headed back to the city to have a final dinner with Jason. We ate at a place called Ancestry Brewing which was yet another phenomenal meal followed by drinks and a cool little watering hole called Paydirt. We said our goodbyes as he was staying and I was off to camp for a while.
