The Grand Portland Seattle Adventure Part two

We rolled into Seattle and made our way downtown to the Moore hotel. If you don't mind leopard print carpet, having a bathroom thats down the hall, or waiting in line bit for some of the best customer service you will ever experienced, then the Moore hotel is for you.

The manager at the Moore knows the area extremely well and really enjoys helping people find what they are looking for, even if it is a different place to stay. He was really invested in the three of us loving our time in Seattle.

On one side of the Moore there was a jewelry shop called Fancy. On the other side there was a plushy toy shop called shmancy. According to one of the gentlemen who worked at the hotel there also used to be a Nancy, but she went out of business.

Finding ourselves hungry after our journey we walked around downtown Seattle, watched a drug deal take place, got whistled at a bit and went by recomendation to Mama's Mexican kitchen for some guacamole!

It was around this point that Shane got tired of me taking his picture, and chose to make my choice of documentation a bit more difficult by not posing.

The next morning Abbey got up and ventured on public transportation to find a church that she wanted to check out while in Seattle. I slept in a bit. This is the view from our window.

Shane and I journeyed to top pot doughnuts and enjoy their delicious apple fritters and excellent people watching.

The best of the people watching was this little boy who was eating a doughnut with pink frosting and sprinkles. The doughnut was huge compared to him which made watching him carefully pick up his doughnut trying not get frosting on his fingers, and take as big of a bite as he could absolutely adorable. I couldn't get a picture so just use your imagination.

After doughnuts the three of us met back at the hotel and walked down to the Pike Place Market which was only a few blocks away from the Moore.

We saw a lot of the iconic Pike Place Market stuff, like the throwing fish, and the pig statue, and the original Starbucks.

After the market we rented bicycles at the recyclery, which I would recomend, and took a bike path from the university district to, well I'm not really sure where. It was a beautiful ride though. Here are some of the things that we saw.

A food truck that looks like a pig.

The troll under the bridge.

A picture frame sculpture by the adobe headquarters.

HOUSE BOATS! I want one so badly. They are so splendid.

That evening Abbey and I went to the dock, got ice creme and watched the sun go down. It was lovely.

In the morning after another trip to top pot doughnuts, we checked out of the Moore hotel and drove back to Ashland to watch the fireworks.

Things that I would recommend:
-Rent bicycles especially in Portland ($25)
-The museum of contemporary craft ($6)
-Voodoo Doughnut ($2)
-The Moore Hotel ($89 a night for three people)

The end.

The Grand Portland Seattle Adventure part 1

For the 4th of July weekend I took a trip to Portland and Seattle with my two fellow summer interns, Abbey and Shane. We planned to spend two days in each city, and compiled lists of things to see and do.

Friday morning Abbey and I rented bicycles at Portland bicycle tours and The guy who worked at the shop was really friendly, the shop was right down town, and it was only $20 to rent a cruzier bicycle from 10am - 6pm. Shane had brought his bicycle with him, so we all pedaled off to start a grand day in Portland.

We rode our bicycles over to Voodoo Doughnuts and stood in line for awhile with other tourists waiting to see what all the hype was about.

I had the bacon maple bar which was delicious. We spent the morning/early afternoon riding all over downtown Portland and up and down the water front.

One of the stops we made was at the 24 hour church of Elvis, a coin operated art instillation piece.

After our scenic ride we went to Powell's bookstore and browsed the bookshelves.

At Powell's I found a copy of the Boxcar children book that instilled my love of house boats.

We had a glorious lunch at Kenny and Zuke's. It was a bit pricy but the pastrami sandwich was worth it.

Shane then tried to get his hair cut at a man cave of a barbershop. Abbey and I did our best to embarrass him and then rode off to find roses.

Which were beautiful.

After discovering that there was a sign up sheet at the barber shop that he didn't know about, Shane gave up and we all took off to search for a bicycle shop. That's when Shane got a flat tire. Over all that hour or so wasn't the most enjoyable for him, but I got a nice picture out of it and some time in the shade.

The next morning we drove into downtown Portland, had some tasty bagels, and found a place for Shane to finally get his hair cut.

We did some walking and shopping, stopped in a library which had glorious carved steps, and took in an exhibition at the museum of modern craft.

When we left town we stopped and ate dinner at the overlook restaurant. It was dark, had round stained glass windows, red lighting, and slot machines in one corner. As sketchy as it was we decided to try it.

They had waffles with bacon in the batter, something that my friend Jac discovered was delicious awhile back. I didn't get one so I can't report on whether it is or not.

Feeling pleasant after having breakfast for dinner we took off towards Seattle.

To be continued in part two

So Oregon,

The trip to Oregon was quite uneventful until my flight to Medford which was on a pretty tiny plane.

Since my arrival in Ashland Oregon I have found myself pleasantly at home. I keep saying that Ashland is like a Lawrence that was picked up, dusted off a bit, dissected from KU, tucked into the mountains. Just take away the KU apparel stores and replace them with "ladies who lunch" kindof tourist shops and there you go!

There are deer that roam around down town snacking on the landscaping of the numerous bed and breakfasts.

I have gone to two farmers markets since being here. There is a "small" one on Saturday and a much larger one on tuesdays. So far my purchases have included loganberry jam, roasted almond organic pesto, some spinach, and a cheese spinach and tomato crepe.

In the evenings there are free Green shows before the Shakespeare Festival performances. My summer Co's and I went and took one in.

So this is the beginning of my Oregon adventure. Pretty tame, but there are already summer shenanigans in the works.

Its time to go, leave, plunge, set sail, go forth, head out, or in other words, embark.

Tomorrow I embark on my journey to Oregon! And yes, I am to excited to sleep which is why I am up putting this together.

In preparation for my journey I purchased some things,

1. A Red Hawaiian Air carry-on bag

2. A Kansas pride t-shirt

3. Sunglasses. Ok they weren't really a necessary purchase, but I've been driving my brother's gold 1978 Thunderbird around this week, and I needed some new shades to fit the T-bird persona that I take on when I drive it.

4. Bangles. Mostly an impulse purchase, but again to go with the T-bird persona.

I purchased the carry-on bag and bangles at the Antique store on Massachusetts St. For a grand total of $15.00. Not to shabby.

The Kansas pride t-shirt was $20.00 at ACME, also on Mass. They had quite a few other shirts to choose from, so if you are looking to express your love for kansas by wearing a t-shirt, do check it out.

The past few weeks have been glorious. I've slept more that I should have, enjoyed long afternoons drinking coffee or iced tea while reading for fun not just because I had to, and spent my evenings enjoying the company of good friends.

Thanks friends for a lovely start of the summer.

Kansas, I know I'll miss you dearly, but not the sticky hot part of summer. You know I've always hated that.

Oh, and Oregon, I'll see you tomorrow.

Breaking the Silence

First for your ears,

During my long silence I am proud to say that I completed my first year of graduate school. I have learned enough that I can hardly help spouting information about student affairs, and enjoyed numerous adventures with friends close enough they might as well be family.

I am also proud to say that for the next week or so I will have all the free time in the world to craft, drink coffee, and generally get into mischief. After that I will be venturing to Oregon to start an internship at Souther Oregon University in Ashland. This will be my first adventure to the north west and I couldn't be more excited!

Before I start documenting my Oregon adventures, I wanted to finally share some photos that I took over a year ago. Enjoy!