The town was blanketed in thick fog this morning. Our first mission of the day was to do some desperately needed washing. We found there were 2 laundromats pretty close to the hotel. At one point we had to cross a bridge & visibility was so low we had no idea what was coming over the rise. It didn't snow overnight but there was still plenty of snow & ice lying. Thank goodness for all wheel drive! We passed a cemetery on the way back from doing the washin...

We left about 7am this morning & got the train to the airport. Luckily it wasn't very crowded & somehow we managed with all our additional bags & massive chicken box ( a much cooler chicken that the one you ditched, Jen!). When we arrived at Alamo, the lady recommended we upgrade our car. We had a small 4WD booked & she said that considering the weather we have had & the area we are covering, she thought a larger car would be better. She also ...

The restaurant in the hotel looks out onto the Willamette River & a couple of the bridges are visible. This morning during breakfast, the bridge closest to us opened. The traffic was stopped for 10mins but nothing passed through the bridge. How annoying if you were in a stopped car. We headed uptown this morning to check out a funky shop we had seen. It didn't open until 11am so we went into the Target opposite & wasted time in there. This Target also so...

Today we decided to explore the neighbourhoods our waitress from the other night told us about. We started by catching the tram uptown to Powell's Books. This is a massive bookstore selling new & used books. It is 4 levels & takes up an entire city block. They appeared to sell every book you could possibly want including foreign language & audio books. We particularly liked the children's section. There were so many Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys books! ...

This morning for breakfast I ordered a fruit cup & the house oatmeal, exactly as they were listed on the menu. What I got was house oatmeal with a side of sausages. No matter how you say it, fruit cup does not sound like side of sausages. Very strange. Today we explored the Sellwood/Westmoreland area which is a little bit out of downtown Portland. It is an area full of antiques & collectibles and quirky little shops. We caught the bus out there which was...