Portland, feed me please

Portland Post-trip Celebration

I woke early to head to Astoria’s transit station for an 8:30 AM bus to Portland. I have four days and three nights to explore one of America’s most interesting cities. I sat around the bus station with some nomads heading towards Portland as well. Luckily for me, the bus charges five bucks to stash my rig in the luggage containers, so I was pretty happy about not being on the bike today. The bus itself was pretty luxurious with outlets, wifi, and a bathroom. I immediately fell asleep, as this is very common when I ride in a car. An hour or so later, I wiped away a drool-filled beard, and noticed we were back on 101 heading south. I recognized this area because I just spent the last day biking it!! I immediately freaked out because I thought I got on the wrong bus, but after some extensive research (interrupted the guy across the isle from his music) I discovered the bus heads south before shooting over to Portland. With that being solved, I fell back asleep for about 45 minutes. I accomplished zip while on the bus because I figured I would have a lot of free time when in Portland.

We finally arrived to Union Station in downtown Portland, and I rolled over to a bench to reorganize my belongings. Instead of researching where I was, I decided to just ride around and see what I found. Sure enough, I began to notice large crowds. I quickly realize I’ve stumbled upon one of Portland’s most popular attractions, VooDoo Donuts. Now, I’ve been to VooDoo before, but never to their original location, which had a line wrapped around the barriers. I figured since I was already here, I had to commit. I locked up my bike, not feeling great with how many people were around my stuff as I walked away to get into line. As I’m standing there in excitement, I squint in disbelief towards a person. Am I seeing this right? Biff, the guy from Virginia I rode with for a few days and split from about 2 weeks ago, is in line ahead of me. Seriously, WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?! I wave him down in pure excitement, and lock hands in joy about seeing each other. I grab my donuts and we sit together and reminisce on our last weeks apart from each other. He had me cracking up, like always, about his experiences. As we conversed, I quickly enjoy an oreo covered peanut butter donut and a glazed blueberry cake donut. For comparative purposes, I like to always have a glazed blueberry cake donut to scale how delicious these are around the country. Wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but wasn’t the worst either.

Biff and I then walked around the Saturday market being held, which had more food vendors, music performers, and artists than you’d ever imagine. We eventually split up and I strolled over to a popular coffee shop called Stumptown. Portland’s roads are incredibly biker-friendly. Major roads have bike lanes almost as large as car lanes. After a shitty riding experience on Highway 101, Portland is a breath of fresh air.

I sat in the window of the happenin’ shop and watched all walks of life stroll by me. Portland is full of people who live their true expressions. I love the city for this reason.

Eventually, after contacting a couple people I met back in Astoria who live in Portland, we decided to meet in Washington Park. When there, I sat in a soft patch of grass adjacent to an experimental rose garden where an immense variety of roses bushes stood. ‘Twas a beautiful attraction for sure. I met David and his cousin soon thereafter, and we discussed my trip and Portland’s must-see attractions and cant-miss food places. With all the hype, I said my goodbyes and headed across the river to Kong’s Khao Man Gai. This Thai food joint started as a food cart, gained immense popularity, and eventually opened a brick-and-mortar. I visited the storefront, and was absolutely satisfied with my meal. I went with the pork and rice. The pork is braised in Coca Cola, coco powder, and Thai and Chinese herbs/spices, then neatly placed on top of jasmin rice with pickled mustard greens and a boiled egg with pickle Thai chili sauce. Drooling yet? It was f*cking delicious. Excuse my need to emphasize the meal, but it was that good. I was left CRAVING more. The flavor was out of this world. My favorite part was the rice because of how well it absorbs all the flavors, and the egg because of the bangbang chili sauce. After that meal, I biked six miles to my Warmshowers host’s home. Adam and Tiff welcomed me into their fantastic home, and instantly we hit it off. Seriously felt like I was seeing old friends for the first time. They’re home was something of which I could see myself and Liz having one day. I happily pitched my tent in the backyard, and got to talk about a lot of topics with them. I was invited to a mini pool party at their neighbors, and I sipped on a brewski while soaking my feet. Later, one of their housemates offered me a bowl of her homemade ice cream, which honestly was one of the tastiest strawberry ice creams I’ve ever had. I slipped into my tent, with so much excitement to explore Portland tomorrow, and clocked out the minute my head hit the makeshift pillow.

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