I Couldn't Take a Landscape Photo to Save My Life

Our trip to Portland got off to a confusing start when Brother was nowhere to be found! Our plan was to meet on the platform of the E train at Penn Station. Thankfully we both received a minor cell signal underground and were able to sort-of communicate through static. It didn't help, though, as we merely established that Brother was indeed not where he was supposed to be but couldn't quite figure out where he was. Penn Station is very confusing, so, empathizing with Brother's plight, I decided to go above-ground to call him. He had wisely gone to the Starbucks on 35th Street. Finally connected, we were off to JFK!

JetBlue - a joy! I'd checked us in online, so all that had to happen was Brother checking in his luggage (which you also do online) outside. It was a snap, and within minutes (literally) we were at the terminal. We ate delicious burritos (the JetBlue terminal at JFK is unlike the rest of JFK, in that it is modern, clean, and jammed with awesome airport food, including healthy-snack kiosks!), and then relaxed. And relaxed some more, as our flight was, apparently, delayed. We boarded half an hour later than scheduled, and then waited on the plane for some people who were delayed coming in from Rochester. They finally arrived, but there was congestion in the air so we waited for another hour or so.

Did I care? No! Because 36 channels of Digital TV is bliss for someone without cable. I didn't even notice we were delayed! I was far too busy watching the Top Chef marathon on Bravo.

JetBlue, I love you and your unlimited snacks and your TV and your explainations of delays.

I fell asleep during Todd Oldham's Top Design, and didn't wake up until we were right above Mt. Hood just outside of Portland! I gasped and woke D and Brother up so they could see. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. I don't know if I'd have felt its majesty had I been expecting it, but the excitement of opening the window randomly and being right above something so wonderful made it the best thing ever.

We arrived only 45 minutes later than scheduled. We seamlessly claimed Brother's luggage, rented the car ($13 a day!), and were at the hotel within ten minutes.

We checked in, dropped the car off at the hotel parking lot (if this was a music blog - oh wait, it is! but I am unprepared - there would be sarcastic/cheeky/semi-ominous music playing here), unpacked, and went to sleep.

I had a hard time falling asleep after having napped on the plane. It was also like 23 degrees in the hotel room. Brother said that it wasn't so bad in the "living room," where he was sleeping on a pullout couch.

I have mixed feelings about the hotel. The room itself was good - it hadn't been renovated since, like, the 70s, so the retro chic was charming. It was more of an apartment than a hotel room. In fact, the three of us kept referring to it as The Apartment by accident.

Note the fabulous golden thermostat, complete with swan motif:



The stove was best:



It had buttons!



We received complimentary New York Times every day - awesome!



There was a ton of closet space - this was the closet in, well, the kitchen:



Best of all was this ice bucket - tiny, with tongs that go inside the lid:



Bad things about the hotel: dial-up internet in the lobby. Wtf? Ridiculous. Since the trip was so last-minute, we didn't really have time to figure out what we wanted to do while in Portland. I knew that I wanted to go to vineyards, and figured I'd just look them up when I got there. Nope! And even if I had brought my laptop, they charge $5 per 30 minutes for wireless internet access. And shady dealings, which I will discuss later.

On our first morning there, we ate continental breakfast (awesome) and then decided to drive to Mt. Hood. Since we couldn't look up directions on Google, we had to rely on the crappy map we had from the rental car place. Based on the map, we concluded that it would take only an hour and a half, but apparently the route we were taking was through small towns and was therefore super windy, so it took forever.

We stopped to grab rations and then drove and drove.

Here's a view of our sweet ride and Mt. Hood in the distance:



A shot of Mt. Hood from the car:



We drove through forest, and as we got higher in elevation, really deep snow appeared:



These banks are about 6 feet high:





We eventually realized that we were on Mt. Hood:



We found a lodge at 6000 feet and had lunch there as we were starving and starting to feel jet lagged. Yummy Thai-style wrap, grapes, chips, and carrot sticks for $8.75! Woo!



A view of Mt. Hood on our way back:



Sun shining through the mountains during our search for waterfalls:



We wanted to visit some waterfalls on our way back, as Mother likes waterfalls and requested that I take some photos for her so that she could hang up a large black and white print in her new condo.

We kept looking for the waterfalls, but we didn't see them anywhere even though the map said they should be nearby. We soon realized that we were looking at the waterfalls, and that they were, bizarrely, frozen. There was only one that was still falling:



We rushed back in order to prepare for Brother's Big Show! We stopped by the gallery for a few minutes, and then headed out for Greek food for dinner. We chose the restaurant based on the fact that there was a giant purple octopus balloon advertising happy hour outside. They also had octopus lamps:



We ordered a sampler plate for $27. Yet another meal under $10.

The show was great. I was (am) so proud of Brother. It looked great in the gallery, which was a cool alternative space where the gallerist lives. Apparently this is the thing to do in Portland. Most of the galleries we visited that night (it was First Thursday in Portland) were also live/work spaces.



The gallery experience was nice. It wasn't as snobby/elite as it is in NYC. It seemed like everyone in Portland was out at the galleries that night. It's accessible to everyone. Nobody was having super-snotty conversations about art, and the spaces weren't afraid to show things like comic art.

Additionally, everyone was super nice. Everyone was all "Thank you for coming!" and smiling, and talking, and holding doors open, talking in lines to the restrooms, and just being sweet. Such contrast to the life I live now. D and I had a conversation about how our immediate reaction is to be cynical about strangers talking to us, and how it would be an adjustment (albeit a nice one) to live in a place like Portland where you don't have to resort to suspicion.

D and I left Brother's show to check out the other galleries, but it was cold and we had been on our feet for three hours (two of my toes were numb), and I'd been carrying my photo equipment. The jet lag hit us, and we decided to leave Brother and go back to the hotel room, where we promptly fell asleep.