Train Trip: days 7,8, & 9

Portland has treated us so well and we all fell in love here. as soon as we arrived, Teresa, my friend's sister, scooped us up from the beautiful train station and gave as a grand tour of the city by car. she took us to the Saturday outdoor market which was wonderful, took us to different neighborhoods, and then took us to the Green Dragon for dinner. we got to taste the exclusive VooDoo Donut's maple bacon beer from Rogue at the distribution center and i got to try a lot of different beers at dinner.

Teresa took us out into the Portland nightlife and took us to a place called Ash St. Saloon to see a band she really liked. apparently, it was the band's last show in a while as they are taking a hiatus after 11 years (they are from Portland). the first band was great. they were from Seattle, called, the Lonesome Shack. the second band was not my favorite (their set was so long and it made me want to go home). the last band that Teresa wanted to see was called Hillstomp. they were pretty good and got the crowd going. the drummer was playing the wash board and made some drums from buckets while the guitarist played a couple of numbers on a cigar case banjo.

we left the scene a couple of times to try to get some VooDoo Donuts, but unfortunately, we weren't very lucky and the line was ridiculously long...so we decided to get a Dutch taco instead (filling in a folded waffle) and boy was it the right choice!

we woke up the next day and went to breakfast at Zell's. they served free scones and gave us free pumpkin pancakes and it was all delicious. we hung out and thrifted in the Hawthorne neighborhood for most of the day and then headed to the Vegan block so i could get my tattoo at Scape Goat Tattoo. i met Silje Hagland online via Instagram (like twitter but with photos) and started talking to her about a tattoo and it all just materialize. later that night we went to the Together Gallery in the Alberta Street Arts district for a Cheap art show where you can bid on the pieces and stayed around for a minute to check out the band. it seems like Ashley and i would really like it there. we went to the Bye & Bye down the street and tried some of their house mixed drinks...i had a beet infused drink!

Portland was fun until we had to weave through traffic to get to the train station the next morning. apparently, it was the first rain in a while and people were freaking out. we ran through the station and missed our train by one minute...BY ONE MINUTE!...luckily, we werent the online ones who missed the train, so they were able to put us on a later train. well, that train was delayed by 3 hrs! we sat at the station unmoved for 2 hrs and were at a stop and go for a long while on the tracks. we were restless and not happy campers at all.

when we finally got to Seattle it was well after 7 and we were all exhausted. we went out for a quick bite to eat an Asian Fusion place that offered extremely cheap sushi and bowls of food for half off during their happy hour. we decided to call it an early night and headed back to the Green Tortoise Hostel and went to bed so we could be ready for the next day's adventures.

all in all, we loved Portland. we may even have a place to stay in the come spring time, but who knows. i hope everyone is doing well back home!