Livin' in a Van...down by the river!: Adventures in Portland, part 1

We were moving about 40 miles west to a Home Depot just outside of Portland so we could do some chores and meet up with my friend Bill from Westminster and my friend Emily who I've known since before we started Kindergarten! We are also planning to take in some of the sights of Portland.

With only having a few miles to drive, I wasn't in a big hurry to get moving. I slept in - till 7, most people wouldn't consider that sleeping in, but it's almost 2 hours later than I usually get up, then had a leisurely breakfast before getting started on my RV chores. I added water, dumped the tanks, and got ready for the next phase of the trip!

It was about 10 when I left Ainsworth headed for Voodoo Doughnuts Too! Voodoo Doughnuts is a Portland institution, and I knew I had to try it! It's quirky Portland at its best, however it's also very popular and the main location is right downtown and I knew parking the RV would be a challenge. Then I discovered they had a location in East Portland that had its own parking lot and appeared to be easier to get to! I had no trouble finding it, however, I couldn't park in their lot because the spots were very small no had no room for the overhang. So I set out to find a parking spot on the street. I was in a manufacturing district and quickly found a spot that was both large enough for Roxy and free! I had to walk about three blocks, but that's ok!

Bill had warned me that the line at Voodoo Doughnuts can get very long - you might have to wait over an hour - so I was thrilled when there were only about 10 people in front of me!

Voodoo Doughnuts doesn't take credit cards:

Took my haul back to the van and dug in! YUM!

After Voodoo Doughnuts I wanted to try and go to Powell's Bookstore, but I knew this was going to be more challenging, not only did I have to navigate through Portland to get there, but I had to park the van somewhere.

I pulled up Powell's on google maps and saw that if I turned onto Couch Streett would take me to Burnside and Powell's was on Burnside. My friend Bill had warned me about Burnside St so I was wary of what I might find, but I went for it.

I found the bookstore easy enough, but I had to drive around to find parking. I found a large stretch of Broadway with no cars and it was a "pay to park" zone! I had to go around the block to get pointed the right way, but I was able to pull right in along the curb and take the first spot. The spots were a bit big which was good because only my bike rack hung over into the spot behind me! I paid my parking fee and learned that the spot is parked in was limited to 90 mins! Oh well! I set the timer on my phone and headed out!

I had to walk several blocks to get back to the store and that gave me a chance to see some other parts of the Pearl District! Powell's Bookstore was amazing! It's a huge independent bookstore that sells both new and used books and they have a huge inventory! Each room was a different color and all the books were grouped by topic. It seemed to go on and on, around every turn was another room, up every staircase was another floor with lots of rooms! I didn't buy any books, but I found several to add to my too read list!

When my hour was close to up I headed back to the RV where I grabbed a snack before I went out to the Home Depot where we are staying (all the area campgrounds are full).

This afternoon Mom and I did laundry before we met up with a friend from Westminster, Bill.

Bill arrived at 5:30 and we picked up like we'd just seen each other yesterday! (In reality it had been close to 20 years, thank you Facebook for keeping us up to date on what's going on in each other's lives!) After tours of the RVs we headed out to a nearby McMenamins for dinner. McMenamins is another Portland instition! The company takes old, historic, buildings and turns them into resteraunts and hotels and such. This one - Cornelius Pass Roadhouse - had once been an old farm. We had a fabulous dinner! I had "The Grateful Veg" sandwich, which was "hemp patties" on a bun with a walnut-pomegranate spread. What are "hemp patties" you ask...well, it's the same hemp that you make bracelets out of, or smoke, apparently you an eat it too. Hemp, it's not just for smokin! And, it was very good!

After dinner we came back to the Home Depot and since the sun had set it was much cooler, we sat outside and chatted about travel and tiny houses and had a great time! Lots of laughs and engaging discussion!

Soon after we'd settled in another RV pulled in, they ended up staying the night with us too... I had to take a picture because it was so fitting with my hemp dinner...