Portland, OR

Pramod and I spent a week with Marty in Portland, Or. Similar to our time in Missoula, I didn't blog at all due to the fact that we were really busy relaxing! We had a really great time: saw some great views, met some nice people, and had very nice time with Marty.

Marty had our time already planed for us--which is great because neither Pramod nor I are great planners and we've had to put in extra effort as we travel to make sure that we actually get out to see the places that we're at.

We arrived on Thursday (9/2) afternoon and went to a soccer game that evening with Marty and Kirsten. It was pretty exciting because they were tied 0-0 until our team won in the last few minutes. Pramod and I were both pretty impressed by "the army": a section of seating filled by fans dedicated to supporting the team They had songs/chants, sunflowers, confetti, etc. We'd like to be that into some sports team that we supported them like that. It was pretty fun.

Friday: Pramod and I went on a tape tour of the gorge and all the views and waterfalls along the way. I wish we had allowed more time to do it because it was so beautiful. That evening we met Marty in the gorge for a Misty River concert-blue grass stuff. They were great! It game me some ideas about songs I'd like to do with Ben, Jon & Mom and I now have some ambitions for renting a space to perform after some time rehearsing as a group. Exciting stuff. Something to look forward to!

On Saturday Pramod, Marty, and I went to the Beaverton farmers market which had lots of awesome free samples. Then we went and hiked Mount Hood. We drove to a lodge that was at the top of the Mountain (6000 feet elevation) with a view of the snowy top. There's skiing up there all year round.

We went to see the Pacific with Marty and Kirsten on Sunday. Pretty cold water but some interesting land formations--different than what I'm used to on the East Coast.

For the next three days we had a yoga class led by Pramod, went into the city, watched some movies and cooked. Wednesday was Kirsten's 21st birthday so Pramod made an Indian feast and then we went out to celebrate with her and some of her friends.. It was a great trip to Portland.

...Every entry where we're leaving a place seems to end that way--but we are really having a great time and we've been extremely lucky to have such great hosts along the way!