July 25 - Portland, Oregon

Today Ron worked at the Eugene, OR Reserve Center until noon. Then we headed out for Portland. He spent a little time at the Reserve Center there, but didn't have to stay long since he'll be back there at the end of August. After hearing that we'd be in the middle of rush hour traffic if we tried to get to our hotel at that hour, we decided to go to a bookstore we'd heard about. It's hard to tell from the top two pictures, but Powell's Bookstore is better than Disneyworld! It is a massive bookstore that encompasses an entire city block. It is two stories in parts of it and four stories in other parts. There are books of every shape and size, every topic and every genre. We spent about two hours in here and spent a little money. It is the first store we've been in that didn't have gas pumps outside! Our driving hours mean that when we finish for the day, stores aren't open, so this was a real treat! While we were checking out, we asked for a recommendation for a place to eat supper. Jake's it was, and it was fabulous! The sign makes it look like a little corner restaurant. The sign is actually above the bar portion. The dining area is fancy - much too fancy for the way we were dressed! - but we went in anyway. I had coconut prawns with pineapple/papaya salsa and Ron had the stuffed salmon - stuffed with Oregon Dungeness (sp?) crabs. Delicious! Tomorrow we have the day off. We plan to investigate Portland a bit more and possibly drive to the ocean. I'll keep you posted. :)