Portland Oregon

So this train run was one of the shortest we have done but it certainly managed to impress in the short time we were on the rails. Luckily for us we left Everett mid-day so we didn't miss the amazing views from the vestibule. As we left we went through quite a few industrial places that kicked out various odd smells.
For hours we ran right along side the waters edge, that seemed framed with mountains of bleached white uprooted trees and passing small communities that you could only visit by boat.



We slowly rolled into Portland and as we stopped heard those words “all coaches spotted”. Nothing unusual in that, except we just stopped and that was that. No shunting back and forward. I'm sure this must be a first. The train yard is huge and very industrial. It takes as long to walk from our train car (yes we are on the wrong end again) to the train yard entrance as it does to walk from the train yard to the building. But we are only a mile away so it is easy to walk. Willows school teacher skateboarded everyday.



With free rail transport downtown though we didn't really walk all that much and having a couple of stations so close to the building was very handy. Also beside the building was a water feature that you could play in which was lots of fun. Especially watching a small child refusing to come out and just knowing the father was going to have to go in a dodge the water himself to get her out. He didn't dodge it!



A short walk from the building, or a couple of stops on the train was The Lloyd mall, which wasn't to bad. It even had an ice rink in it but we didn't get round to going, I wish we had. We did a little bit of shopping here, well you kind of felt you ought to as there is no tax in Oregon and you have to make the most of that.

Just over the river was downtown Portland which was really nice. A mixture of malls and shops on the street just like a real town, and it was pedestrian friendly. There were pieces of art on street corners and water fountains that had no on or off button, they just spurted water the whole time, which seems a bit wastefully, especially when you can't run through it.



My favourite shop in Portland without a doubt was Powells book store which is open 365 days of the year and is the worlds largest independent book store. Now I have heard claims like this before about other stores (the toy store in New York is not bigger or better than Hamleys) and been disappointed but not this time. When you need a map and a big map at that to find your way about then you know you are in a big shop. A great mixture of old and new books, some only stocked there and great prices too and helped by the no tax. We only went to the main store a couple of times but they have 6 shops in Portland, the others specialising in various things. And as you would expect it is pin pointed on the Portland map.

One shop on the map you wouldn't expect to see there but has every right to be is Voodoo doughnuts. We had heard so much about this shop before we got here, we were expecting more, actually more is the wrong word as we were not disappointed just I was expecting a more commercial shop. It was great that it wasn't. Just a little back street shop selling the oddest selection of doughnuts. I'm not a big doughnut fan but I have to say these were pretty good. Definitely worth a visit. We didn't try any of the odd flavours like chocolate and bacon which we were told actually tasted quite good but opted for a cute little voodoo doll.




I liked Portland, it had a good feel to it. Free transport, no tax, a great book store and doughnut shop, what more do you need.