Portland!

We finally got away for a weekend to visit our neighboring city of Portland, OR. Our cousins Naomi and Tom live there, and we hadn't yet visited them since moving to the NW two years ago!

So many bridges in this city! Nathan and I took our bikes, which is the perfect way to get around Portland. There is lots of infrastructure for bikes, and it's much flatter than Seattle. We basically just biked around and ate a bunch--but the weather was perfect every day!

I didn't take photos everywhere we ate, but this breakfast spot was super charming and the food was incredible. It was scandinavian food--and this popular brunch place had us sign up on the waitlist at the bar open next door, which was open just to accomodate the waiting hords. 

A smorgasbord, lefse special, and swedish hash.

Top five most "Portland" things we saw on this trip:

1. a man riding a modified toddler's bicycle with a really tall seat post and a home-made side car welded to it in which he was carrying is belongings. I think the bike even had handle-bar streamers. I wish we had gotten a picture. It was hilariously undignified.

2. a man zooming down the street on a skate board, walking (or running rather) two dogs. He had a leash stretched out in front and behind him.

3. A fifteen (or more) piece band of vagabonds singing and playing together--instruments included spoons, the saw, and a man playing a single string on a broom handle.

4. Portland's famous food carts, of course. Too bad we were too full from breakfast still!

5. and there was this guy and his didgeridoo we kept seeing everywhere we went.

There was also a man across this street playing guitar and had a base petal thumping the suitcase he was sitting on, while the other foot played the tambourine and a hotel bell alternatingly. I neglected to get a picture, but he actually sounded really good!

And OF COURSE we went and got lost in Powell's, which I think is the world's largest bookstore. 

In the left corner you can barely see the dog who's panhandling owner taught him to play dead. It was pretty funny to see the dog lying on his back like that.

Nathan checks out some D.F.W. Should have known I would find him here!

Then we booked it (or biked it rather...and it's pretty uphill!) to the international rose test garden in forest park. Please excuse the enormous amount of flower pictures I am about to post.

The path through forest park on the way to the roses.

more roses!

If you look closely, there is a bee in this one!

Some other random things:

in front of whole foods.

six people wearing variations of pink in front of a pink wall. weird.

the courtyard that was some kind of old factory where we enjoyed happy hour.

This store was calle "cargo" and was all kind of random imports and recycled/antique things. It was AWESOME.

Hopefully we'll get back to Portland soon since there is so much that we didn't see.