Due to technically difficulties, we had lost the ability to access the internet half way through the trip. So now I’m recapping on the road trip to Oregon with Nelson and the twins.
We headed for Portland on Monday after spending a day and a half in Seattle. We found parking in the downtown area and went to grab some maps and booklets from the Visitor Information Center. From my research, I know that there’s a free ride zone where you can hop on any public transit and ride for free in that area. Armed with the map that the friendly info center staff had given us, we hopped on our first train ride to the Pearl District. The trains are very narrow but is pretty spacious inside. We walked around Pearl District, then to Chinatown, then back to the edge of the downtown area because we were…slightly (just slightly) lost. It was around 1-2pm and the sun was baking us alive while the four of us were starving. We spotted a Greek place where we grabbed a quick bite and much needed rest from the heat before heading back out to take the train to Lloyd Center for a some shopping and most importantly, air condition…ahhhhhh.
This is us walking aimlessly (well not quite…but it did felt like that when you’re hungry!) around Portland.
Yes we were really hungry. You can probably tell from how intense this bite was.
Our second day in Portland consisted almost entirely of shopping. Who could resist tax free shopping?! First stop was Fry’s to check out cameras and various electronic goodies. It’s my first time there and Nelson was right when he described it as the “Costco for geeks”. The place is a huge warehouse. I got a chance to look at several cameras but didn’t pick one up yet because our next stop is the Woodburn Company Store - an outlet south of Portland. Originally we had wanted to go to the Columbia George outlet but upon checking the directory list, we decided that Woodburn is better (plus it got a Puma store which is a must). We got there and had a quick lunch before splitting up to do some shopping. The lunch almost cost the same as my Puma t-shirts which I got for about $11 each! I also scored a pair of flip flops from Converse ($12), and the best deal was my Gap capri. It was on sale for $16.99 but when I went to pay, the cashier said it’s only $10.xx because all sales items get 40% off that day for clearance! Nelson and I each got a pair of Gap jeans also. Mine was like $39.99 with 20% off which is much cheaper than here (approx. $69.99 for the Long and Lean line). The twins were more crazy then us. Al went on a t-shirt shopping frenzy. I think he bought a total of 5-6 t-shirts, two pairs of those sport type slippers from Adidas (one for each twin!) and a cap from Converse which only cost like $8.00. Compared to the ones I got for him from Lids, that cap is a steal. Oh, aside from clothes, Nelson got some baking tray and a cooling rack for cheap. If I didn’t already have one, I would’ve picked one up also. We checked out Shutterbug, the camera place at Woodburn. I got my dad’s camera there the next day after we look up the specs back at the hotel.
We left Woodburn around 4:30pm and headed back to Portland. We had wanted to do a picnic at the Rose Garden but ended up eating at a restaurant instead. After dinner, we spent about an hour or so at the Rose Garden taking various pictures. Nelson was playing photographer with Al and I being the props, lol. We didn’t get a chance to see all of the Rose Garden since it was getting dark and we wanted to head back to book the hotel along the coast for the following night. I wouldn’t mind going back there another time to visit the Japanese Garden too.
Here’s me posing! I have no idea what I was thinking when Nelson took this photo.
Here’s one where Nelson and I switch roles: he sniffs (er, pose) and I’ll shoot.
I’ve uploaded most of the photos from the trip on my Picasa Albums: Jan’s Pictures and Nelson’s Pictures. I didn’t have time to put a caption on them yet. Sorry~!
Next up: Oregon Coast!
