Polite Portland

and, as you probably figured – the train stopped in Sandpoint last evening. It was not just the two of us – it was more like a dozen getting on including a couple of others who also had to buy tickets.

Amtrak was fine. The conductor helped us stow luggage, gave us seats and sold me a ticket. Apparently e-ticketing is coming 1 July – at least to those with smart phones! Since Amtrak relates to government (as Carmen reminded me) it is not surprising that it is more difficult for them to procure QR readers than a normal corporation.

an experienced traveler

The route took us along the Columbia River from western Washington State, past Pasco and all the way through Vancouver Washington before crossing into Oregon.

miles of western Oregon and Washington

I watched the colors change on the bluffs as the sun came up reflecting off the trains on the other side of the river,

100+ car

saw the vineyards and orchards.

apples, nuts and grapes

I ignored the McMansions along the river – why would you spend that much money on a house with such a view when your neighbor’s house is less than 10 meters on the other side of the fence.

We arrived in Portland early.

power coming from hydroelectric

I walked into downtown and investigated various outdoor clothing stores before heading back to the young man patiently waiting with the luggage. We went out to the motel, dropped off luggage and I took MAX (public transportation) back into the city.

next to one of the bridges

The Saturday market is fabulous. Food (everything from Elephant Ears through Falafel and curry to tortillas and teriyaki), junk sales and a section that is true artisans selling their wares. Musicians take turn on a couple of stages as well as attempt mobile busking. Since this week is part of the Rose Festival (Portland is also the City of Roses) a number of the high school marching bands were taking turns entertaining the crowds.

so many choices

with some items being a throw back to the 60's

Musicians take turn on a couple of stages as well as attempt mobile busking. Since this week is part of the Rose Festival (Portland is also the City of Roses) a number of the high school marching bands were taking turns entertaining the crowds.

If that seems like a non sequitur just hold on for a second. Given the Festival you should not be surprised to here that a parade was planned. Called the Starlight Parade, it was scheduled to begin at 2030 this evening. Even at 1100 in the morning people were already staking out their viewing positions along the route. Other than one group, I think most were going to have an extremely long day. The one group that I mentioned was organized by a young woman with a group of friends and a clipboard. She was busy assigning everyone to guarding the space time slots of 30 minutes each. That way, she informed them, no one was going to get stuck sitting on the sidewalk all day but they would have a great location.

Smart cookie – she will go far.

What I otherwise found amazing was the generally nice and friendly air. The clerks in two stores sent me to other stores to see if items would suit me better. The rare beggar on the street was polite, not in your face like Berkeley or San Francisco. Young people out raising money for various causes were respectful. Not being a small town in Idaho (where everyone was also extremely helpful and friendly), Portland is multi-cultural. MAX announcements are English and Spanish. Noodle shops are as common as burgers.

About 1800 I hopped back on MAX and rode to the airport where the motel shuttle picked me up having decided that waiting around with the 250k predicted for the parade was not in the cards. Something about needing a bit of sleep.

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3 Responses to Polite Portland

  1. Steven says:

    I did my first two years of law school in the evening division at Lewis and Clark – Northwestern School of Law so know Portland well, and still have many good friends there. Jacqui and I overlapped residence there but did not yet know one another – but we had some musician friends in common. Warn the young man that Rose Festival week is the best week of weather in Portland all year — otherwise it’s mostly rain or drizzle. I love Portland and Jacqui does, too.

    One correction of your Blog narrative – it was Eastern Washington to Western that you traversed along the Columbia by train.

  2. AlisonH says:

    Sounds like a fabulous way to go.

  3. Holly says:

    Oh, it was. $5 for the whole day, bouncing off and on as often as I wanted. Of course, the center of the city turns out to be a free fare zone. Since the motels and airport are out at the end of Zone three – it turned out to be a great deal

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