Day 06: OFF @ Portland
Monday, September 12, 2005

stats:
Day OFF in Portland, 3 mile ride back from the bike shop

weather:
cool morning but the warmest day yet

eats:
french toast, eggs, sausage, roast beef sandwich, chips, ribs, mashed potatoes, Raineer beer

sleep:
Ian and Kate's house (again)

thoughts:
How nice. Wake up with hardly any plans. And the slow day quickly passed. You think you have ALL day and then next thing you know it's noon. We had breakfast a local joint, and after walking there, looking around for a bike shop, and walking back, most of the morning was history. But there was no rush.

We motivated to get the bikes to a bike shop that could take a look and do some general tune ups and then I headed to the airport to pick up Bill - my dad - which was coming in to be the dedicated driver from here to San Fran. As Tim said, "When Bill gets here the party is really gonna start." It was evident from the moment I picked him up.

We headed back to the group and then went downtown to check out the scene. Well, you can imagine that in the middle of the day on a weekday its pretty chill. We roamed the streets in our mini van- looking around for something to strike us. And we continued to do that for a while - going up into the hills of that overlooked the city and back down into town for lunch. The hills proved to be the one item of concern for the day. Not for today but for the day we ride out of town. Would we be facing these monsters then? Ah, who cares right? That's for tomorrow.

So back to the house and then the bike shop one more time. All that before going out to dinner. Seems like all we did today was eat. But that's all we really had to do.

For dinner we went to this warehouse district - some really unique restaurant that I can't remember the name of. But it had all the character and interest you would think of when you go to a place like Portland. We were all laughs and super relaxed as if the next day was miles away.

Poor Ian and Kate probably never knew their place could be so junked up. Water bottles, helmets, duffel bags, 7 electronics plugged into one outlet, sleeping bags, towels- everything was everywhere. But we got the invite to come back. It was a blessing to be able to stay with them- it let us feel like we were at home and also see the city from the inside. It's like you can really tell what living there would be like-- not like when you stay at a hotel and have no idea what happens in the neighborhoods.

For instance one of their neighbors was gracious enough to give us a book on biking the west coast- inside tips and local places to stop. Some nice people in Portland.

It was a restful day. We got our bikes in tip top shape and our bodies slightly recouped for the next phase.

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