|
Portland, Oregon, Summer 2002 |
|
Thursday, July 4 - Sunday, July 7: Hangin' with Doug and Stacey
They'd recently relocated to lovely Portland, OR, and had spent so much time boasting about it to us that we could no longer stay away. A quick flight later, and there we were in the state famous for roses and rain. We spent an extremely enjoyable long weekend with Doug and Stacey, much of which was spent admiring both their house -- which Stacey has decorated with an incredible eye -- and downtown Portland. Despite our best intentions, we never really ventured outside of the city. Turned out there was too much to do there! We spent a couple of days hoofing it around downtown, where I got to spend an extremely enjoyable (and ultimately somewhat expensive) hour at Powell's, the largest independent bookseller in the country. We also spent way too much time (and, again, money!) at the gigantic REI store on the edge of the city. Talk about hitting your target market square in the wallet... Doug and Stacey met up with us one afternoon for beer (for the boys) and boutique shopping (for the girls) and played tour guide in showing us the cute neighborhoods just down the hill from their home. We also journeyed up to the Pittock Mansion, located very close to their house; in fact, when we were done oohing and aahing over the grounds, we hiked home on some gorgeous forest trails. Coincidentally, Dave Kausch was in town and joined us for an evening of drinking and revelry. Other things we loved about Portland: the vibe downtown, the greenbelts and parks, the low-key attitude, the combination of small and funky shops and excellent urban shopping, the coffee, their Whole Foods Market, how easy it was to get around...in many ways, it had all the charm of San Francisco with none of the hipper-than-thou attitude. The trip was short but sweet -- just like this writeup! For photos, click on the link at the top of the page. |
For our July 4th bash this year, we decided to spend some time with the people who send us the funniest Christmas letters, year after year -- David's friend (and his sister Kathy's ex), Doug, and his wife Stacey.