Day 2 - Oregon and Yellowstone Trip

2014/09/20 

I plan our day in the morning while watching the sun rise.  I could live here!  The evening weather is marvelously cool and the views are spectacular.

Breakfast includes oatmeal, collected berries, and left over peanut butter, a tortilla with Daiya cheese and tofu.

Our main goal for the day - the Portland Japanese Garden.  With its minimal use of concrete, I rather enjoyed the layout and plant exhibits.  The small number of attendees made for a serenely enjoyable morning.  Beautiful LIVING Japanese Maples were everywhere (I've successfully killed every single Japanese Maple I've purchased ... I had plenty of help in the form of he who turns off the automatic watering for vacation).  This park morning was a lovely start to our day.  Not many pictures, more of an experience to simply live within.

Fencing at the Portland Japanese Garden.

A walkway at the Portland Japanese Garden.

The largest waterfall at Portland's Japanese Garden.



Afterward we drive toward Veggie Grill in downtown, find parking (not the easiest thing to do in the city ... I wonder what tourist season is like?), and bip into the Mountain Hardwear store to peruse their gear (the hubby finds a jacket - does he want it?  Does he need it?  Will he use it?  Will he dispose of some items to make room for this new jacket ... Hmmmmmm).

Off to Veggie Grill for lunch: chili, portobello skewers, and Chickn' Salad.  

Back to Mountain Hardwear to purchase jacket for himself.  Yes, he wants and needs and will wear it.  And yes, he will get rid of his ratty old jacket and even more ratty hat in order to make room for the newest arrival.  I will hold him to it!  (Update - the hat was left behind in Yellowstone, and the new jacket was worn daily at the park.  The ratty old jacket?  I'll have to search for that one ...)

Then to the Oregon Rail Heritage Museum.  It has several large engines, but it's all train to me.  I remember the building was hot!  The days were hitting the 90s (32 C) and that glass exterior was an excellent greenhouse.  Pant, pant.

Retail therapy follows at Icebreaker clothing store.  They have released my Villa skirt in chocolate (oh, my color!), and I snap it off the rack in a moment (I think I strained something).  If anyone had eyed my find, there could have been a fight ... that's mine!  

While checking out, I hear about their outlet in Woodburn, we must visit on our way south.  Ah, more merino clothing in my future ... possibly.

Sizzle Pie bound for dinner to go: Word Salad, mushroom and black olive for himself, broccoli and tomato for me (they have Daiya cheese). Sizzle Pie is in a rougher area of town, but I noticed it is more "wannabe rough" compared to Houston!  

We have seen more tattoos here than any other city we've visited, and certainly more full sleeves than I have ever glimpsed.  We joke that if we were to move to the area, we might have to succumb to an ink gun in order to better fit within the populace (we are currently tattooed by nothing but the natural scars that develop living life).  Alternatively, we could invest in gobs of stick-on tats!  (You think the neighbors would figure us out?)  

According to Charli Shuler's TotalBeauty article "10 U.S. Cities with the most Tattoos" Portland is the 6th most tattooed city in the US, based on tattoo parlors to population.
1) Los Angeles, CA
2) Kansas City, MO
3) Honolulu, HI
4) San Francisco, CA
5) Austin, TX (obviously, I haven't been to Austin in a while)
6) Portland, OR

Rental bound for rest and relaxation.  Yoga in the evening ... I held Pincha Mayurasana against the wall for several seconds!  Wahoo!  Of course the grace which with I throw myself again the wall leaves much to be desired ...

Astavakrasana at the Portland Japanese Garden ... this was not held long enough to get great pics!

And Crow at the garden