portland explorin'

after i'd charged up my phone, gotten changed into comfy clothes, and repacked all the crap into my suitcase, i was ready to go out and play tourist.  i dropped my bag off with the bell desk, fired up the uber app, and a few minutes later:

i was amused to find that even in oregon, the disney magic was ever-present.

my driver wasn't necessarily as friendly as my first one, but he was willing to chat a little about the city.  apparently there are a lot of bridges here.

i had him drop me off here:

because i really wanted to come here.

inside, i was overwhelmed at the sheer size of the place and the vast shelves of books that i wished i had more time to explore.  and more room in my suitcase.

i'm pretty easily amused.

i picked up a couple of souvenirs - alas, no books, which was rather depressing.  i had to keep it light, because whatever i got i had to be able to carry in my shoulder tote, and it was already fairly weighty.  boo.  oh, well.  gives me a reason to return to portland some day.

based off of my friend nanette's suggestion, i headed off to find the food carts to quiet my growling tummy.  she'd lived in portland for a year or so, and i'd hit her up for ideas as to how to wisely spend my limited sightseeing time.  these food carts - man.  i've done my share of food truck chasing, but these carts were fantastic.  an entire block (and more!) was taken up by these little shacks that served up food from pretty much every place you can think of.

here, too, i found myself totally overwhelmed.  i finally stopped at this one and grabbed a "petit pork hero" - tasty marinated pork topped with a japanese mayo and nori flakes.  yum.

as i stood on the sidewalk and munched on my sandwich, i found waldo.

i made one more stop at "the dump truck" for a dumplings sampler.

after a quick stop at starbucks (where they also served wine, beer and small plates!), i made my way to a cute little cupcake shop just around the corner.  i picked up a few minis to take home to the girls and the hub and carefully placed the box into my tote.

from there, i hit up the first of two donut shops that i'd had in mind since i found out i was coming to portland.  this one was more highly recommended by my friends, and although an outlet of it is coming to l.a., i decided that i'd be better off giving it a try here in its natural habitat.  plus, i figure that when it does open at home, there'll be a whole lotta hype with lines and a long wait to go with it.

with my precious pastries safely tucked away in my bag, i started off on my approximately 10-block trek out to find the other donut shop.  it was a warm, almost record-breaking day, and i was totally sweaty as i made my way through the city.

if you know portland at all, i'm sure you can guess where i was headed:

there were so many different kinds of donuts here, but i had some time to figure it all out as i joined the long line outside.  i pulled up the menu on my phone and picked out a flavor for everyone at home - "grape ape" for me, "arnold palmer" for the hub, "old dirty bastard" (chocolate frosting topped with oreos and a peanut butter drizzle) for the old lady, and "double bubble" for the bean.  plus, i threw in a fruit-loop covered "the loop" for good measure.

über was totally my best friend on this trip.  i used it to take me back to the hotel to grab my bag, and then again to head to the airport for my trip home.  because of an accident on the freeway, it took a little longer to get there, but i'd given myself plenty of time and found myself sitting on a bench with an outlet for charging my phone in front of this cuckoo clock.

kind of dumb, but my itinerary had me flying up to seattle before heading back down to ontario airport.  i don't get it, but whatever.  the first flight was short and sweet, and we landed in seattle in about half an hour.

the flight had been delayed a little, though, so i had just enough time to grab something to eat for the 2.5-hour ride down.  i stopped here and grabbed a dungeness crab grilled cheese sandwich, plus a tub of fresh cheese curds because they sounded really good.

that flight seemed to last forever, and i was so happy when we finally landed.  i'd been gone for just over 24 hours, but i missed my family.  i'm such a sap, i know it.