Our Tour de Portland: Still Keeping Things Weird

To kick off our stay in Portland, my brother picked us up in Longview, WA. He was kind enough to spare us from riding over the Lewis and Clark Bridge, and it was also a double-win because we’d get to spend more time with M and his family. Pretty awesome

Cortney and I have a lot of family in the area. And amazingly, we haven’t been there in ages. This was an excellent opportunity to see the important people in our lives. People we haven’t seen in way too long.

M and his family were amazingly gracious hosts. We got to enjoy V’s football game under the lights, several of M’s blowtorch fire starters, and spend time with a giant malamute who is often mistaken for Falkor from the NeverEnding Story, and enjoy a taco fiesta. It was awesome.

During our visit, M took us on a short but sweet walk at Hyland Forest Park in Beaverton, OR. This loop is super close to their house and is a great resource at all times of year. I loved all the cool tree forts that the local kids have made, and the canopy was so dense, it shielded us nicely from the rain.

After a couple of days, M kindly offered to take us into Portland to visit with Cortney’s sister. (Thank you M!) She helped us quickly get settled and took us down a great place on the corner called Kells. It was a fabulous way to celebrate our birthdays. Thank you, R!!

R lives insanely close to Washington Park and the Rose Garden. So the next morning, we took a walk to check it out. It was beautiful.

After the gardens, we grabbed something to eat and parted ways for the afternoon. Cortney and I were left to our own devices and decided to go on a walkabout. (That’s just what ramblers like us do, I guess.) It was a great opportunity to explore the city on foot and see different areas firsthand.

All cities have their issues and unsavory sides and Portland’s have been widely publicized. On this walkabout, we saw our fair share, and probably wouldn’t take that route again. But we’re glad we did. Portland is such an amazingly beautiful and innovative city. And the bike infrastructure is an inspiration—absolutely first class. We were super impressed.

Our next stop on our “Tour de Portland” was with H & G. They live just a short 4-mile ride across the river over the Broadway Bridge.

Getting there was super easy and the weather was fabulous. We rode by Breadwinner and a few other fabulous bike shops that make this place a bike-nerd nirvana. Cort and I stopped in at Either/OR on Williams for a coffee and the local Migration Brewing to catch up on some correspondence and work. It was a lovely afternoon.

It was fantastic to see G & H. Admittedly, we’re a bit embarrassed to say that’s it’s been 10 years since we’ve last seen each other in person. Far too long. But we easily picked right up from the last time we saw them and enjoyed a great evening catching up over beers at Great Notion and a fun dinner at Bollywood Theater. Their hospitality and generosity does not go unnoticed, and we hope to return the favor someday soon. (Side note: Thank you to our niece E for letting us stay in your room—very, very kind of you.)

Cortney and I absolutely loved the quote in E’s room and had to share. We especially found it relevant considering this special time in our lives, and having the ability to connect and reconnect with loved ones in a city we haven’t been to in a while.

Ride on.

-Erik