twosmallcones

PORTLAND!  Holy crap.  The Portland swing of our trip couldn’t have worked out better! Leaving Pendleton by 8:30AM we traveled down the Columbia River Gorge.  Stopping along the way we visited a favorite childhood restaurant of mine the Charburger in Cascade Locks for one of their giant maple bars – YUMmmmmmm… We also stopped in Hood River, a hip outdoor town polka-dotted with windsurfing and snowboard shops, for a quick cup of coffee and a visit to the Full Sail Brewery.  On our walk from our car to Full Sail we happened upon a new (3 years old) brewery named Double Mountain Brewery.  They weren’t open till 11:30AM (neither was Full Sail) but the door was open and they let us come in to taste their IPA’s anyhow and we left with a growler of “Hop Lava”.

We arrived in Milwaukee around 1PM to find my grandma pacing the yard .. waiting.  She was super thrilled to see us but our visit was short lived and we were back on the road out to Sandy toward Mount Hood to go visit my aunt Cyndi at her work.  Cyndi trains guide dogs for the blind, and from what I can tell has a super envious job.  Her cubical has a little fence so her two Rottweilers can come and chill with her at work each day.  Cyndi took us for a tour of the facility, introduced us to a bunch of the pups, and then harnessed up “Princess” to take us for a walk.  A full blindfold on and a hand on the harness and we were off, “Princess forward!” Off she trotted, only to stop at the edge of a curb which I had to search out with my foot.  Stopping at gates, “Princess, inside!” She would lead me through a gate, down stairs and around obstacles; the whole process was exhilarating.  Thanks for the tour Cyndi!

Back in Portland we dropped our things at my Aunti Alison’s house and went to a great dinner at Wong King just off of 205 on Division.  Here we met up with most of my family from my mom’s side who were in the area.  Terry, Todd, Alison, Sara, Bret, Eric, Carole, Perry, Micah, Grandpa Joe, and Linda.  We had a HUGE dinner and some crazy Asian deserts.  It was really great to get to see everyone on short notice – Thanks for coming out!  We love you all!

This night would be no different as we participated in Portland’s World Naked Bike Rally.  I heard people spewing numbers of 13,000 participants (or partici-no-pants.. sorry..) and man do I believe it.  The starting area was swarming with people in various stages of nudity, body paint, and costumes.  After a short ½ mile slow start the streets opened up and we were soaring through the windy 56 degree streets of Portland.  Past crowded bars, over bridges and through downtown, we cruised for more than hour.  The experience was one full of smiles, endorphins and high-fives.  To top off the night, a bouncer at the Doug Fir decided my ID was a fake.  Even though Bryan was good friends with the floor manager, he wouldn’t budge, and was fairly rude in his ill-informed stance.  After negotiations to return my ID failed and he said I wouldn’t be able to get it back, we tried to cuss it out of him.  That didn’t work either (as you might imagine) and I threatened to call the cops.  They told me “Hey buddy, you don’t wanna get the police involved..”  So we went around the corner, and Bryan called the cops to report a stolen ID.  Fifteen minutes later the Police arrived, went in, and took back my ID.  I really wish I could have been in there to see his face.  You lose.  When the cop walked back out to us he said “To be honest, I can’t really verify whether this license is fake or not.  Is it real?”  “Yes.”  “Okay then, cuz if it’s not you can tell me right now and I can just take it and you can be on your way, no penalty.”  “Well I am leaving the country in two days, so I really need it back.”  “Okay then, I will go type your name into the computer so it looks good and then you can be on your way.”With my ID back in hand, we cruised down the street to another bar and finished the night off with a Rainier tall-boy as naked bike ride participants continued to revel in their night of nudity.