Portlandia

I'm from a pretty eclectic hippie town   aka Asheville, NC so I'm use to its level of weirdness but I think Portland has it beat. It definitely has a free spirit, anything goes kind of feel about it. You can be and express whatever you like there and it is welcomed, which is kind of cool. Very nonjudgmental vibe and people are really quite cheerful here despite the cloud cover that rarely dissipates. It is definitely laid back feeling here but maybe that's just the weed effect. Portland is an absolute  foodies dream though. They have so many clever start up restaurants, food carts, food trucks, and lots of authentic ethnic food! Our first night we ate at a food truck called the Angry Unicorn and it had juicy delicious burgers! We had a full day exploring Portland. Our first stop was the international test rose garden. I loved it and took lots of pictures. Matt had a different view point he was more interested in. 

Matt's favorite part of the Rose Garden, he's not much for flowers I guess

This one smelled amazing but it didn't have a name by it!

Just love this name for a rose.

We then went to the Pittock Mansion just to check out the view we didn't go in to the house because my friend Melanie said it wasn't worth the $10. The view is definitely priceless though!

 We then went to the Saturday market, which is basically a farmers market with great people watching andbooths with lots of funky things for sale. 

We walked up to the famous voodoo donut shop to check it out. Pretty sure the line was an hour long so we decided to ship it, we are not dedicated donut fans. We heard that blue star is really the place to get donuts and minimal line. 

I don't think they will have to try too hard :)

The Line for Voodoo Donuts

We decided to check out the OMSI: Oregon museum of science and industry. It was pretty fun, but I love science so it was right up my alley and we are kind of kids at heart anyways. 

Safety first

Heat cam, red means cool actually, yes I am rudolph all the time

We went down to China town which maybe we just weren't in the best part of town because it was pretty sketch. There are lots of homeless people in Portland. 

We made our way out of that part of town and headed to one of the famous Powell's bookstore. Oh my goodness this place is heaven! It had newly released books, old, used ones and just floors and rooms full of books! There were lots of places to sit down and read and they didn't care if you did. People were just camped out with their dogs enjoying a good book. Portland is a good place for this kind of bookstore, the weather just makes you want to curl up with a good book. 

How Matt sees the Food Pyramid

Salt & Straw ice cream is amazing and so creamy! Lots of unique flavors and the people want you to be happy with your choice so they are more than eager to have you taste any flavor you want! The line is long here as they have a devote following for their delicious ice cream. Luckily we had great company with my friend Melanie from BYU and her husband Lucas. They are a top notch couple and we wish we could hang out with them all the time!