Siteseeing in Portland

I felt the urge to title this "Beards and Beers" but that wouldn't have been very nice. Or original. But really, Portland is quite beardy.

It's also a great city. I was super excited to visit, and can't wait to go back. We found downtown very walkable,and there was a lot to see. It was ugly and rainy, but that's nothing new for us. 

Our daytrip started with the craziest parking lot structure we've ever seen. It was five stories high, and built when they first invented cars, as far as I can tell. It was certainly not made for pickup trucks. Very tight corners, tiny parking spots. We parked on the roof, and the view was great!

We had a great breakfast in a yuppie hipster diner, and then hit up the waiter for some tips on what to see. He mentioned Voodoo Donuts and Powells, the worlds largest bookstore. That was all I needed to hear! 

At Voodoo we were lucky to only have a small line up. We picked a Maple Bar and a Portland Cream. Other options included a huge vegan selection. A Maple Bacon bar of course. And several with dirty names. I offered Dean five bucks to order one of those, but he wouldn't do it. 

Taking a ladylike bite

Dean is also a fan

Our next stop was Powell's, a new and used bookstore. It is huge, and to me at least, heaven. I didn't get past the children's section, and I didn't even get a change to look at everything there. I looked at board books for Reece, and tried to keep him from eating them, or crawling off, and climbing up the shelves. 

Reece's arm is blurry as he reaches out to turn the page. 

He loves those Sandra Boyton books!

They also had a toy section, and an amazing puppet selection. Puppets are one of Reese's favorite things lately, and they make him laugh hysterically. 

I'm not sure who is enjoying the dino puppet more

We spent a lot of time walking around downtown. And because we didn't have a clue where we were going, we ended up crisscrossing it half a dozen times.  I was very excited to find Knit Purl, a great yarn store. I resisted the temptation to buy the very pricey yarn I coveted, but couldn't resist a great sweater pattern. Since I've never knitted a sweater before it will probably take me 20 years before I'm done, and end up looking like crap, but a girl can dream. 

Reece really enjoyed the playground we found. It was filled with kids from a nearby daycare and he was fascinated by them. He also enjoyed checking out some of the art around town.

Travel Lessons from Portland

• It isn't enough to bring your camera, it should also be charged
• When using your iPhone as a back up camera, it's also helpful if that is charged
• 2 donuts is never enough.