Portland::day one

We woke up at 6:30 this morning and pulled out of the rest stop, arriving in Portland about 8:45. Per recommendations from other bloggers (BR) we went to breakfast at a place called Gravy. The fact that there was a wait was a good sign. It was in a charming neighborhood with houses and shops. It was so fun to walk around while we waited. There was a couple that road up on the coolest bicycles I've ever seen, the mom's being the most rad! The baby sat right there in the box in the front. The little boy road on the back of dad's bike.

Very cool.

We enjoyed our food very much. Flower and I shared french toast that was made from braided Chulla bread. KG got an omlet with cream cheese, tomatos, green onions and bacon with a side of the best hash browns I've ever eaten! The portions were HUGE! I especially loved the decore! The art was awesome and the vintage gravy boats?! So sweet. (sorry about the crappy photo of the gravy boats!)

One of the waiters put this sign on the waitress' back. :) Isn't this the cutest little bottle of ketchup you've ever seen?!We then hopped on over to the Saturday Market. I got a beautiful necklace and very cool mushroom wind chime made of silverware.

Flower chose this funny little toy!

We also found mom a birthday gift we hope she loves as much as we did when we saw it! It made us think of her right away.

On our way to our hotel we came upon a draw bridge. Flower wasn't to sure about that. I think it was just a big waste of our time, other then it was cool, because there was no boat in site!
We finally checked into our hotel, bathed Flower and while they took naps, I took a bath and read, ahem, slept in the tub. :) The warm water does it to me every time!

Tonight we left in search of another (BR) pizza place. We were bummed to arrive and find it had just closed for the night. It was 6:10!?? Anyway, just two doors down we found another pizza place and gave it shot. Pizza Schmizza.
Great name and fun, quirky decor that made absolutely no sense!

The tables were just so cool!Weird I'm tellin' ya! So weird!The pizza was so yummy. Let's just pretend it was way better the other loser place! :)

Flower was trying so hard to reach the center of this sculpture across from Powell's Bookstore.

After dinner we went to the much anticipated 'biggest book store in the world', Powell's. It did not dissappoint! First of all, this place is GIGANTIC! It takes up an entire big city block and is four stories. Really, it goes from that corner where the name is, all the way to the other corner, being that entire white building. Then in the next photo, it spans to the next block, taking up the entire brown brick building. Incredible. Since we had Flower with us we headed straight for the children's section. I heard they had a great vintage children's book section. Most probably don't even know this about me, but I LOVE me some vintage children's books and especially Little Golden Books. The older and more worn the better. Yellow pages, scuffed up covers and pages. I love seeing ripped pages that have been fixed with tape. I love it when there is a previous owners name it. It's so fun for me to imagine what kind of child was possibly the first owner of the book and what they might look like and how much fun they had curled up with their book. For example the one that I have next to me right now says, 'This book belongs to Kathleen." I picture her to be a somewhat chubby girl with long brown hair, worn in two braids. Blue eyes. Tiny mouth. I know I'm weird but this is how my imagination works and the things that make me really happy. I was so elated when I saw just how many books there were! KG sat with Flower and read books of her choice in the new section and they left me in silence to partake in the glory of the vintage. As weird as it sounds, the more worn, the higher the dollar. I had the biggest stack of books that I knew I'd need to pare down. I also knew it was going to be so tough! The stack I had was easily more the $150. One book itself was $40. I chizled it down to 9 books that came to $50. Man it was brutal but I'm happy with my choices and feel good that I showed restraint. I will thoroughly enjoy reading these with Flower. I have doubled my collection. Normally I find one or two here and there. I found two at a really cool, old fashioned place in Arizona last October. Two of them were given to me by Grandma Jensen. She gave them to us before Flower came home, apologizing for their insignificance because she can't afford anything else and had them lieing around. She had no idea how much she made my Christmas! I told her but I'm pretty sure she thought I was just tyring to make her feel better. These books stay out of reach of children unless they're in my presence! :0) I'd say the hunt was a success.

After we got back to the hotel we chillaxed for a bit and enjoyed the view. Then Flower and I went for a walk to Red Robin.I was wanting a local shop but the closest one only had vanilla, chocolate and strawberry(not fresh) milkshakes. Not our thing. We got two desserts to share and bought them back to the room. This is the first dessert I've eaten since I started my healthier eating. I'm on a bit of a sugar overload that's for sure!

I'm off to bed now to ice my ankle. I jacked it up even worse at my sister's house last night at the BBQ. It's always the stupidest things too. I was sitting on the sofa, my leg underneath. When I got up I moved too quickly and my shoe/foot got stuck on the sofa and my leg/ankle kept going. If that makes any sense. I immediately sat back down and cried. I felt some things stretch. Now it's all swollen and pretty much hurts with every step. We have a lot of walking to do on this trip and 2 hours of it tomorrow on a tour. This will not hold me back. It's just so weak and I want my brace now!

See you tomorrow.