Just as I Suspected...

Portland is great! I don't even know where to begin. It's a big city, but it has such a small town feel. There's green space everywhere, they have over 200 parks. They have Forest Park, the largest urban park in the country. You can take a bicycle anywhere in this city. Many of the streets have separate bicycle lanes, and if they don't, they can ride on the road. It's a very ecofriendly town. Recycling is huge and so is organic foods. Public transportation is free within the city center area. They have buses, trolley cars, and light rail systems. They even have a sky tram that takes you directly from town to the hospital that sits upon the side of this mountain. I can't say enough about this place...so far.

Peter and I pulled into town on Tuesday about 12:30. We went to the hostel and I checked in and then found out they didn't have a bed for Peter that night, only that night though. So, he checked into a cheap motel in the neighborhood. That afternoon we made our way to Portland's Chinatown. Not quite the same as San Francisco, but the food was better. We then walked along the riverfront and towards one of the many many fountains around town. In Portland, they encourage people to get in the fountains...seriously. It was really hot Tuesday, 102 degrees, that was a record. Every fountain you seen had people wading in them or sticking their head underneath a stream. We then made our way to the sky tram, we had to ride it once. It was pretty cool, you got some great views of Mt. Hood. That night, we just hung out on the back deck. While I was on the phone, Peter met this French girl Stephanie. She's travelling for 6 months and working on organic farms now and then to help finance the trip. I learned a lot that evening about France and Belgium. Did you know, the french fry was originally from Belgium.

Wednesday, we got up and decided to go to the Japanese garden. It said it was about a 25 minute walk. After about 50 minutes, I finally saw a guy getting out of his car so I could ask directions. Sure enough, we walked about 25 minutes past where we were supposed to turn off. It was HOT too. Luckily, there's a fountain in the park to cool off in. The garden was pretty neat, we were just in time to get a guided tour. It was pretty interesting learning all the design elements that go into a Japanese garden. On the way back, we were both a little hungry, so I introduced Peter to something really American...Taco Bell. That evening on the back deck, I met two guys from Boston doing a two month road trip. They are doing a very low budget, camping most nights, trip. They budgeted $50 a day and have been sticking to it. I was pretty impressed.

Today, Peter, Stephanie and I went to Mount St. Helens. I think it's the first time I've played in snow in July, there was actually quite a bit. We went on a hike up the mountain until we reached a point where you had to have a permit to hike any further. They only give out 100 permits a day to hike up, and they're sold out until the middle of August. Of course, we took our chances and hiked up over two more ridges. It's very rough terrain, it's basically just a bunch of rocks and boulders. It's amazing thinking those things went flying through the air when it erupted. After hiking back down, we stopped at Ape Cave. It's a cave that used to be a lava tube. It was pretty neat, once you got about 10 foot down, you could really feel the temperature drop. They say it stays at 43 degrees year round. It's a cave, so naturally it's pitch black. I had a flashlight, but it's not the best. We went in pretty far and the whole time I'm hoping the batteries don't go dead in the light. We made it out ok and headed back. Tonight we grilled up a pork loin, it was delicious. I was exhausted from the day, but after I ate, i got a second wind. I really don't know why I'm still up. We met another nice woman tonight, Isabella. She lives in Olympia, WA, but she is originally from Costa Rica. She has family here and her husband and daughter come in tomorrow from their vacation in San Francisco. We talked a long time and learned a lot about Costa Rica. It sounds like a great place. Peter is actually going there in September. Now here I am up way too late listening to the freight trains in my room. I've never had roommates that snore this bad. I guess I'll try to fall asleep, might be an Ipod night.

Adios,

Dough