First Weekend in Portland

Since I declared Saturday "Fun Day in Portland," we both were determined to not think about apartments or jobs or anything remotely stressful. And boy, did we have fun - so much fun that I had to take a nap:

9:30am -11:45am: The Oregon Zoo
We arrived not long after the gates opened and initially had much of the habitats to ourselves. Most of the animals, though, were still lazy and sleeping - unlike the National Zoo where the animals are awake and throwing poo by 8am. We saw a sleeping otter, a sleeping sun bear, a couple sleeping black bears, and a sleeping beaver. The bald eagles, however, were wide awake and keeping watch over the "The Great Northwest." To my surprise, they are giant. I'm not sure I've ever seen one up close. It was pretty cool.

The sleeping cougars were also very large. I'm not terribly excited by the fact that sightings are pretty common in Oregon. Apparently, unlike bears, they actually stalk their prey and attack at opportune times. If you see a cougar you are supposed to make yourself look big by spreading out your arms and make loud, but calm noises. Next hike I'm flapping my arms like a bird and making moose mating calls. That'll scare them (and Jesse)away for sure.

11:45am-3:00pm: Lunch, Powell's, Multnomah County Public Library, Nap
By 11:45 (even after a snack) we were both starving. Even though we are both starting to get used to the 3-hour time difference, our stomachs still manage to convince our brains that it's hungry at both west coast and east coast mealtimes. So, we hopped on the Max to downtown and had lunch. Then we headed to Powell's (for the third time this week) to check out the audio book selection. After Powell's we walked over to the public library and registered for reader cards. The downtown library is really nice and actually has books...and doesn't smell like pee...and has lights in the stairwell...and air conditioning. That alone is enough reason to move to Portland from D.C.

7:00-9:15pm: Portland Timbers vs. Charleston Battery

From the library we walked back to the hotel, where I collapsed and took a nap for about an hour. Jesse made us dinner of delicious broccoli burritos and we walked down the street to PGE Park to see the Portland Timbers (minor league soccer) play against the Charleston Battery. At first, I was a bit skeptical about minor league soccer, but it was a lot of fun. The avid fans kept the game going with songs and chants and dancing.

Oh, and then there was the Timber's mascot - a big burly dude who dressed as a lumberjack and would go around exciting the already enthusiastic crowd. He first brought out a giant log for the fans to touch (or kiss). Then, he brought out a drum and was beating it around the stadium. And finally, he brought out an enormous chainsaw and would rev it whenever things got quiet.

Today (Sunday) we decided to take it easy. Jesse did laundry in preparation for our big train ride to California and I started repacking our stuff into two (instead of four) suitcases. Tomorrow night we're staying at the Kennedy School for a night and plan to fully take advantage of the food, beer, and soaking pool before heading out for California on Tuesday.