I tried...

Well folks, as Portland requested, I tried my best to help Keep Portland Weird…let’s face it, my presence alone helped!

Portland is an interesting area as it has much to offer from city life to mountain life to coast life all within a short distance.  Many of my Venzaliner adventures have been in the country; however, this one was enjoyed in the city where I spent two weeks with my niece (awesome fun Sara!) exploring the city and attempting to

 

We accomplished it; click on the links below to check out the views:

The Portland Jazz Festival complete with jazz tunes on the green, complemented by some tasty food and wine, fireworks over the river with Sara, Ashleigh and Pablo, and just watching Portland weird including the Silverman…oh, he was closing up shop here, but it was a great day!

A visit downtown Portland isn’t complete without a visit to Powell’s Bookstore…WOW, that’s a little weird…over 4 million books for sale…people watching and book reading galore. You name it, they’ve got it!

Ah yes and don’t forget the Portland Saturday Market…on Sunday of course.  Yea, that’s weird but we were busy Saturday so Sunday it was. People watching at its finest…didn’t take any people watching pictures, you’ll have to check that out yourself some day!

Eating gluten and egg free…since Sara was blessed with food allergies, I teamed up with the Internet and Trader Joe’s to cook dinner on the days she worked.  Pizza crust can be made without egg and flour…all you need is Bob's Red Mill gluten free pizza mix and  ground flax seed...made a delicious  Prosciutto pizza with Walla Walla sweet onions, bosc pears and arugula.  Hey, I learned that almond flour is delicious and Sara’s mojito’s and blueberry crisp…YUM!!

Friday evenings we strolled down to Tualatin and enjoyed Concerts on the Commons;  accompanied by our favorite beverage and a blanket, we relaxed under the beautiful blue sky to tunes from the 70s one evening and Beatle tunes the next.  Yes, Disco Fever was a little weird, but Hey Jude…gotta love it!

A trip to the Columbia River Gorge and Multnomah Falls for a little history, hiking, taking in the views and wine tasting made for a great day.

We stopped and smelled the roses at the International Rose Test Garden (the oldest continuously operated public rose test garden in the US)…a little weird to see that many people walking around sniffing flowers! But oh were they beautiful…

 

Needless to say,  I encourage Portland to stay weird…awesome place to visit and Sara, be forewarned…I’ll be back!  Thanks for everything. 

 

It’s time to journey on, Keep Portland Weird and remember...