Portland

tldr; food, Mo, and his Mini-Me.

After our visit to Austin, we met back up in Portland. One of Choi’s best friends from high school, Mo, lives in a suburb just 20 minutes from downtown with his sweet one-year-old baby. We spent about a week with them, working from Mo’s place, playing games, hanging out with the baby, and exploring the Portland area.

One of the things I love most about Portland is how green it is. Several amazing parks and trails are in walking distance to Mo’s place, and his balcony where I spent most of my work days overlooks a forest. We had lots of fun running and walking on the trails and going to the park with Mo and the baby.

As we walked along the trails, we picked and snacked on wild marionberries, a delicious PNW variation of a blackberry that’s made into pies, jams, ice cream, and anything else you could think of.

On one of our walks, I spotted something swimming through the creek next to us and we ran to try to get a better look. Another couple was doing the same and we overheard them say that it was a beaver! It disappeared under a bridge so we couldn’t get another look, but I was elated at the idea that we spotted a beaver in the wild! After this sighting, we were much more attentive to the creek and spotted tons of dams that the resident beavers had built.

Another thing we love about Portland is the food. Mo is a baker at an amazing restaurant in downtown Portland and spoiled us by bringing us treats when he came home from work: biscuits, pies, bacon, beignets, and tons and tons of cookies. We also went to farmer’s market over the weekend and picked up more treats like cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, and lots of delicious fruits and veggies.

Mo’s baby was especially excited about our fruit finds and did that cute bouncing baby dance when we gave him bites of raspberries, marionberries, and peaches. His favorite was the raspberries and he kept running back for more, saying “up” and waving his arms around, begging for another bite. I feel the same way, bud!

Portland, we love your many green spaces, your amazing food, and most of all, our friends who call you home. Along We Go!