PORTLAND OR. (and surrounds)

(5/11 – 7/22/10. Portland, OR., USA)
As many States as I’ve been in USA (almost every one) and as many places in the World I’ve visited, never before had I been to the Northwest’s Oregon or Washington. After spending 2 ½ mos. staying in Portland, I cannot believe it took me so long to see what may be the most beautiful part of the entire country. Granted we arrived just as summer was beginning and the supposed long dreary drizzly overcast fall/spring and winter months were coming to an end. But one has to wonder, if the ‘ole wisetale is true that Northwesterners merely made up that story to discourage the vast multitudes that would surely descend upon them if the real truth were known? Although we did see an unusual number of such drizzly days for the first 2 weeks after we arrived (they say it doesn’t usually rain too hard or too steady, just light rain and drizzle), once that cleared out it was clear skies and unending sunshine at a perfect temperature of mid-70’s to low 80’s during the day.

Initially after we arrived from more than 2years of living abroad, we were a little ‘giddy’ just to go shopping just for some of the simple American staples and favorite brands we could not find (or were far too expensive) outside the USA – e.g. strawberry licorice (believe it or not), underwear, hairspray, Aloe, vitamins, a backpack and carryon suitcase needed replacing, and even a good/cheap waterproof digital watch (sure we could find them abroad, but at a cost of $75-100 for the same watch that I bought in a Portland Walmart for only $14). Best of all the State of Oregon has no sales tax.

As always, for the first few weeks, besides shopping, we just wandered the city of Portland exploring every nook and cranny. Our immediate impression was how amazingly clean the city is (not just compared to some of the third-world places we’d been staying, but also to our old hometown of Chicago and elsewhere in USA we’ve been). The streets are kept immaculate, the air quality is awesome, and of course, even the water tastes so fresh. No wonder it is known as the most environmentally friendly ‘Green’ city in the USA. The second thing that strikes you is the liberal populace (at least in the central city), with an overabundance of young backpack adorned adventurers, not-too aggressive street people, a large vocal gay community, just generally ‘funky’ folks. The restaurants, brewpubs, bars and entertainment venues reflect this eclectic diversity. Commendably, the city is also very handicap-accessible, and this is reflected by the ever present number of disabled persons and elderly gliding around quite self-sufficiently on their motorized wheelchairs and special scooters. The fantastic public transportation system including electric trams criss-crossing the downtown and light-rail street cars stretching in all directions of the metropolitan area, make getting around a breeze for everyone, and of course have special motorized ramps and lifts for the disabled to easily get aboard. The City even offers free transportation on all of its street cars and trams throughout the downtown center. Finally, unlike Chicago, New York and other big city public transport drivers we are familiar with, here in Portland the drivers are friendly, patiently wait for people across the street or down the block to catch a ride, and offer directions and information with a smile. The City also extends a warm hand to all the bicycle enthusiasts with bike lanes trams that not only permit bikes aboard but have special ceiling hooks to stow them and all buses equipped with front-end bicycle holders.

The third striking feature of Portland is awesome natural visual aesthetics. To begin with there is the wide gently moving Willamette River that runs right through the center of the city, its 4 or 5 bridges crossing over at various points, and narrow green spaces and parks with nice asphalt trails for biking and strolling along its beautiful banks. Then there are the rolling hills just beyond the downtown center lined with many pretty Victorian style homes with fantastic views from their neighborhood heights. Lastly, you have Washington Park within the city borders itself, that holds within its confines the Portland Zoo, the world-renowned International Rose Test Garden, the similarly acclaimed Japanese Gardens, the Oregon Vietnam Memorial Monument, an Arboretum, and adjacent Forest Park with nearly 5000 acres and 75 miles of hiking trails through all different labeled sections of differing trees, including Sequoias and giant douglas-firs some as old as 750 years.

Finally, Portland’s attractiveness is also its close proximity to other areas of the State that permit some incredible day-tripping. First, there is the Pacific Coast and its coastal roads with views from above high cliffs looking down over pretty beaches, albeit mostly too cold for swimming but great for tanning and picnics. Then there is Mount Hood with its all-year snow-capped peak permitting the die-hard young snow-boarders to enjoy even during the summer months, complete with cute little bordering ski towns and chalets (see our photos in the summer snow). Last but most certainly not least (and understatement of epic proportions), is the absolutely jaw-dropping Columbia Gorge tour that begins with a ride down a country road that winds along the cliffs of the Columbia River obviously with amazing views down into the river gorge lined with endless forests and mid-river islands. Traveling further inland in a circular tour, you wind through a National Forest that passes one spectacular Waterfall after another, most even within view from the car and road itself, though all with hiking trails permitting 1-2hr easy-to-moderate difficulty hiking if one chooses (as we did a couple of times) for better views and pine-scented forest scenery. We’ve seen some really great Waterfalls around the World during our adventure, but really nothing like this with so many in one small easily accessible area. Best of all, each of these tours can be readily completed in a long full day. Talk about ‘weekend escapes’ for city dwellers. Wow!

Besides all of our wandering, hiking, touring, during our stay in Portland we were able to join an inexpensive but nicely equipped YWCA gym to workout every other day and get back in shape after a lapse in Mendoza. And I played several times at one of the legal Poker Clubs, allowing me to engage in some sociable live Texas Hold ‘Em play, after a long stint of internet ‘on-line’ play only. Downtown Portland also has a really nice large well-stocked Library which permits anyone (even temporary visitors) to join and get a Library Card to borrow books. So Nancy and I were able to obtain some novels from our favorite authors and catch up on some good reading. Lastly, now able to watch CNBC business news and shows including an old favorite, Jim Cramer’s Mad Money, I was inspired to renew some active investing and explore some new ideas, leading to what I believe may be a profitable technique I’ve just developed. So far, so good, but only been a couple of months … time will tell. Just might provide much needed ‘fuel’ to keep our adventure on track.

In sum, Portland has been a real eye-opener. After venturing round the World, I/we could definitely consider calling this our home --- or at the least, our summer home. Likely, we will return again next year, and maybe make year-after-year (or who knows, stay longer in the future, and see if it can serve as our new year-round home). Though we still do think highly of Chiang Mai Thailand where we are planning to return again for their dry season from Nov.-Feb. or Mar. And, then there is Buenos Aires our other favorite – although our current arrival in Barcelona might possibly eclipse now that we have surprisingly discovered it may not be as cost-prohibitive as we have always feared due to the poor $/Euro exchg. in recent years. That story is still unfolding.

NEXT UP: In the meantime, after our Portland apartment lease expired, we first spent 7 days in Seattle with the intention of staying the remainder of the summer. Never happened. Stay tuned for that episode coming up shortly.