Last Thursday, Portland, Oregon

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Last Thursday is a community grown event, free to all artists and art vendors, musicians, performers & visitors.

Some very amazing art by some very talented people; as well as the exact opposite.

Later I met Patrick, Kelly, and Meagan (If I recall correctly, which I’m pretty sure I’m not). Patrick was from Brazil but traveling around the states, and Kelly was traveling as well (though originally from Bend, Oregon). Patrick said he’d gone to Palermo, Argentina recently which is exactly where I was looking to go. Very reassuring.

Portland, Oregon – Day 8

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I’ve found each place I’ve been I usually have one night that I can really say stands out from the rest. The one that reminds me that the 10 hour airport days are worth it. Last night was definitely it.

“Roots on the Rails” featuring Butch Hancock, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, and Fred Eaglesmith

They told a much more “grown up” version of this joke as well as many others:

Three race horses were bragging about their race averages.

“I won 5 out of 20 races,” said the first horse.

“Oh yea! I won 15 out of my 30,” said the second.

“Hah! I won 50 out of 60,” said the third.

Hiding behind a hay bail, a greyhound was listening in on the conversation. He steps into view and says. “Well I won 99 out of 100 of my races.”

The third horse looks at the second horse and says

“WOW!!…. A talking dog!”

Portland, Oregon – Day 7

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I went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and checked out a few exhibits and saw a 3D IMAX movie. Always love going to 3D movies when there are a bunch of little kids watching as well and watching them as they try to grab the screen.

Pine State Biscuts — enough said.

Then spent the next 5 hours making jam! Quite an intensive process but very cool. Picking, juicing, jellying, and jarring.

Portland, Oregon – Day 3

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Went to the Portland Art Museum, had lunch, and walked around the “Cultural District” downtown. Definitely a great area outside of the Pearl District that has a more “Portland” vibe than the Pearl District.

Later I had an amazing evening/night with everyone at the house, and met other AirBnB hosts and guests. There was tons of great food; most of which came right from the gardens outside.

Portland, Oregon – Day 1

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My first day in Portland went as well as I could have wished! The room I’m staying in is great, Faith (my host) is great, and Portland is amazing! The room is like college campus housing, except way better. If I wasn’t sharing a bathroom I could easily feel like I was the only one living here (when there are really 5 adults in total; and a two year old!) — but I’m also looking forward to getting to know everyone more.

I spent a bit of time today (really yesterday) exploring downtown, and I can say that while it was great, I’ll probably limit my time there. After spending a month in such a huge city as Melbourne it’s nice to be in a quiet neighborhood. The walk to Alberta street is super easy and I have access to tons of shops, restaurants, and cafes. There’s no huge reason to go downtown. However, the bus system is very nice for when I need to.

I went to the Portland WordPress User meetup. It’s very interesting to see how “the other side” interacts with WordPress.

WordCamp Grand Rapids, Grand Rapids, Michigan

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Another great WordCamp. Arrived late on Friday night so I was only able to attend Saturday but I still had a great time as usual. Only the second time I’ve been to Grand Rapids but it remains as one of my favorite places to go.

On Sunday before my flight out I managed to go to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and the Grand Rapids Art Museum which were both very cool.