Portland Part Two, Hawaii Part One

This’ll be a quick update; it is getting to be bed time.

Some interesting things happened in Portland. Mags and I were supposed to stay, for nights two and three, with a couchsurfer who had previously stayed with me in San Francisco. We got to the place and it was a complete wreck. Horrible smell from the cat and dog, an old cooked turkey on the kitchen counter, a huge trashcan full of empty beer bottles/cans, a deflated air mattress that meant we got to sleep on the floor. We stuck it out for that one night but then we got the hell out of there as soon as we could. Our first host invited us back for night three. Staying with him was great. Him and his roommates were so awesome. Family-style meals every night there and great conversation.

There were also some highlights, though, from the rest of the Portland trip. The day that I escaped early from the filthy apartment I needed to destress, so I spent most of the day local. Burger/beer and coffee shop until dinner, when we met up with an old friend of Mags’ for sushi and arcade games. On Sunday I mostly made it my mission to make a second trip to Powell’s books. I also got the joy of riding my rental bike in the freezing rain.

We got to Hawaii on Monday morning after an overnight layover in San Francisco. We had lunch in the North Shore area, then came home, napped, and made dinner (mmm, fish with mango salsa). The kids are calling me pop pop because of my beard.

Yesterday we went to the beach and then watched about four episodes of Heroes. Pretty relaxed time here 🙂

We’d also like to go to a luau, go on a hike, and explore Honolulu. Adios!