Back!

Yee Pee! I am back. I have to say Portland was FABULOUS! OMG the people there are amazingly nice! I know I know you think ah yeah sure people are nice. Ok big city girl here you see the hustle and motions and people rarely look at each other in the face let alone just hello to a passing stranger. But Portland Oregon you did! I saw many random acts of kindness. In particular I saw something that well just made me smile and go AHHH. Picture this it is the early morning hours and I am outside the hotel and I see this guy riding on a bike with a yellow cape and a pig nose. Yes I am serious yellow cape, pig nose and riding a bike. Totally funny. The guy stops by me and asks if I wanted some Bacon. Ah Bacon? No thank you but I love the outfit guy! He smiles, saids thank you and rides off. Well on the same sidewalk there is a homeless man walking with his cart and this same biker stops at the homeless man and asks him if he wanted bacon. The guy looks at him and goes "Excuse me?" The guy goes I have some free cooked bacon would you like some and the guy goes "YES!" The guy gives him the bacon and off he rode. Ok hello how awesome was that and how awesome was it that I got to see it.

National Road Rage Survey Ranks Portland Most Courteous Courteous City in U.S. I totally believe it I saw it and experienced it. Very well deserverd and earned.

Ok so now some summary highlights. We ate our way through Portland. Yes we did but of all the places we went to eat (to be listed later) to me one of the coolest places was http://www.sportslook.com/ which is home to the Panookie! Oh HELLO What a sinful and fabulous dessert! From the menu the description started as

Panookie $6.95 Freshly baked 10 oz. cookie served warm and topped with three scoops of ice cream. Chocolate chip with vanilla bean or peanut butter with chocolate. Enough for 2, Please give us 15 minutes to prepare.

Ok so let me back the bus up a little how did we find this place. Ok I finished up meetings a bit earlier then I thought and I hooked up with my husband Paul. (Who was lucky enough not to have to go to all day meetings.) So we decided we would purchase a Max Rail all day ticket (a whooping $4.50) and just ride somewhere to have lunch. We were a little hungry but we thought lets just see where we end up. So we get on the train and we ride and ride and are seeing the sights and the hunger is increasing. We start to notice lots of fields and not a whole lot of places with restaurants. But this is ok we know how to get back and are into exploring. So just as we pull into this station in Hillsboro I look across and I see that restaurant pictured and under that it reads "Home of the Panookie." More importantly it read chicken ribs, wings, etc...ok hey food and by the station. Works for me! So we said yeah this is the place lets give it a shot and go there. Well I read that menu description and how can you not get hungry reading it. So I made sure to leave room for dessert we give the waitress the order for lunch and add the Panookie (allowing 15 minutes to cook). Well lunch was good, then came the panookie. Ok we have pictures of almost everything we ate on this trip we never took a picture of the panookie! I know I Know silly child. We cleaned that pan up! It was so good. Honestly can I make that at home? Yeah I could and I may one day but how awesome was the experience? Totally awesome.

Some of the other places we went to eat in the Portland area were:

Ringside Steakhouse, The Nines Urban Farmer, Rock Bottom, Buffalo Wild Wings, Southpark Seafood Grill, Karam Restaurant.

Yeah we ate our way through Portland and loved it all. Thank you Portland!