Ashland and Portland

travelled to Ashland on Monday (seeing many of our lumberjack friends along the way).



in Ashland we stayed at this pretty cool old hotel (Ashland Springs Hotel) which was built in like 1910. Ashland was a pleasant town, if a little bit sleepy.




when we got to Portland we found out that every hotel in the city was sold out except a luxury suite at this one hotel by the river. we weren't exactly planning to spend that much money, but we did want to see Portland and had been driving all day, so we took it. we're definitely headed to the poor house on this trip. but, at least we're enjoying our trip (to the poorhouse)..

our room was pretty insane. definitely one of the best rooms i've ever stayed in. it was like the size of a small apartment with a living room, dining room, huge deck, fireplace.. blah blah.. anyway.. we liked it.





the one unfortunate thing was that our hotel was a "hotel spa", which i believe has something to do with healthy living, or something (?).. so there was no hotel bar, or mini-bar.

luckily, we did come prepared on this trip..




had dinner at this pretty nice place called Bluehour (the food was excellent) and then check out one of Portland's oldest bars, Jake's. apparently women weren't allowed into the bar in the early 1900's. not only that, but underneath the bar there's still this long trough (no longer in use) that you could use to piss in so you didn't have to leave the bar while drinking. is that a great idea or is that a great idea? why would they discontinue something like that? i thought the idea was for society to advance.. not take steps backwards.

Jake's


here's the trough. if you concentrate enough you can still smell urine from the early 1900's.


did some significant drinking at Jake's



Day 2 of Portland - I'll Never Drink Again


woke up to pouring rain and a pretty severe hangover. we decided it might not be the best time to embark on camping (or do anything) so we extended our stay another day..

managed to get out of bed and have breakfast



actually my breakfast was pretty awesome.



kiki got something called "Oyster Hash". i tried some and literally almost threw up. i'm pretty open when it comes to food, but that's just wrong in too many ways (being hung over doesn't help either). sea food for breakfast just seems wrong. especially oysters though. oysters? who thought "oyster hash" sounded like a good idea?

after breakfast it started pouring again . luckily i purchased an awesome raincoat at the army surplus store before we left, for $4.95 plus tax (which i like to point out to kiki with her $200 Northface jacket)



ain't nothin but a pimp thang



escaped the rain to try this famous place called Voodoo Donuts, where we had donuts with chocolate, peanut butter and oreo cookies on top. that's good eatin'



took this sky tram thing near our hotel, up to the University hospital area, which was a good place to be in case i went into cardiac arrest after those donuts and coffee. got some great views of Portland from up there. and the whole facility (the hospital) was amazing.. like, the nicest hospital in the world.






after all that unhealthy living i decided to get some exercise. took this awesome run on a trail that ran along the river (willamette river) next to our hotel. the trail along the river is post-card beautiful. it was amazing.

me being healthy






had a nice dinner at this place near the hotel which, despite being kind of stuffy, had a dj playing Tom Waits and Portishead. that was a new one. i would post the pictures but they're too romantic for this blog to handle...


today we're headed to the Timberline Lodge in Mt. Hood, which is apparently where they shot (exteriors) for the hotel in THE SHINING. looking forward to checking that out.

hoping we can find a laundrymat along the way, or somewhere where i can buy some boxers at least. running a little low in the boxer short department and i'd prefer not to have to free-ball it while camping in the wilderness where there are bears and stuff.

i'll definitely update you on the status of that soon. stay tuned...