Portland

There's so much to say about the city. Amazing people, food, music, and a great location in the state. It's only a few hours from hiking, the coast, and Seattle for baseball. The pic to the right is from the top of Multnomah Falls. There are pics of the actual fall on the net so I figured I would post this one. The temperature is great but the lack of sunshine sounds disappointing. Fun to visit but not so much for me to live there. Jobs are hard to find, even though the feeling is though people don't really work - they do it just isn't the normal hustle and bustle city living.

Ok...enough with the technicalities. I had a wonderful time there and met some special people. If you ever have the opportunity, leave downtown and visit the surrounding neighborhoods. There are so many great little shops and restaurants. I think I have gained 10 pounds since first getting there - very different from my usual peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I definitely got spoiled with the local fare. And bonus, there's always a local microbrewery around to have some of Portland's finest beer. The second pic is from this little park overlooking the water. Very beautiful and you wouldn't even know it's there unless you have someone to show you.

I thought driving to the beach and down the coast would be like the East coast. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much better. There are so many overlooks and access points that you can basically pick any spot you want to spend some time. My favorite part was the lack of people. Definitely not as crowded as East coast beaches which allowed me to just hang out and read my book in between walking along. Between the regular sand beaches you get the spectacular views referenced in my pic. So lovely!