What I did on Margaret's (Sort of) Spring Break

Last week Margaret attended the CCCC in Portland, Oregon. This is a big convention under the auspices of the National Council of Teachers of English. I took three vacation days to accompany her; while she conferred, I did some sightseeing on my own and visited Gary Rogowski at his Northwest Woodworking Studio. We also visited with my old friends Chris Murray and Shannon Riley.

Here are some pictures.
They distort what we did, because I am hesitant to use my DSLR in the rain, and much of the time it rained. I also don't like to take pictures in restaurants or shops, so Nong's, Mediterranean Exploration Company, Woodcrafters, and Powell's, which were major highlights for us, don't show up here.

For the click-minded who might go to Portland here are my enthusiastic recommendations: shop, drink coffee, and watch people at Powell's; shop at Woodcrafters; eat at Nong's, Mediterranean Exploration Company, and Stepping Stone Cafe (perfect for breakfast); visit the Japanese Garden; hike the 4T trail.




 The neighborhood we stayed in: kind of Nob Hill, kind of near The Pearl. Walking distance to all kinds of fine dining, and, if you have time, the Japanese Garden. Margaret found a small apartment in a big Victorian on NW 24th Avenue on VRBO. It's the house in the middle with the white columns on the porch; you can see we were mixed in with rather modern apartments and condos as well as Victorians like ours.

Interior panorama of living area:

 On Wednesday, while Margaret was at the conference, I visited Gary Rogowski at his Northwest Woodworking Studio. He found time in between helping students to talk to me about teaching and writing about woodworking, and the vagaries of the publishing business.

Quite a setup he has in his industrial space. This is just the hand tool and sharpening room:

We knew that Thursday would be our only rain-free day, so that morning we drove an hour and twenty minutes to Cannon City, for a walk on the beach and then a seafood lunch:

Followed by a short drive to West Oswald State Park and a couple of hours hiking on this trail:

 Friday was rainy again. While Margaret was at her conference, I got us checked out of our rental, scouted the Japanese Garden, and found a liquor store so we could bring a bottle with us for dinner with the MuRileys of Multnomah. I picked up Margaret and we had a fantastic lunch at Nong's Khao Man Gai, which tasted homemade and was served in a friendly yet no-frills manner. Then we toured the Japanese Garden, which was a highlight for both of us:

It rained quite a bit all day Friday, so after the Japanese Garden we went to Powell's to dry off, warm up, and gape at the miles of shelves. Powell's made us feel the way bookstores and libraries made us feel when we were kids who had just learned to read. I have been buying used books from them online for years and recommend them highly.

After that it was off to Multnomah for a wonderful St. Patrick's Day dinner of corned beef & cabbage with Chris and Shannon and their son Keenan. The next day we hiked the 4T trail. Actually "trail" is redundant since the 4 T's are trail, tram, trolley, train: you use all four to make a loop from near the zoo down to the OHSU hospital, through a bit of downtown, then back to the zoo. Stopping for a snack and photo op at Council Crest Park, then lunch near the PSU campus downtown, and a brief detour to chat with a small group of dedicated law enforcement professionals, it took us about 4 hours to do the trail, but the variety of areas we saw made us feel like we had seen and done a lot!