Thursday, February 28, 2008

Buddhists, Books, Bikes and Beer


In the 6 short days I've been in Portland, I've really come to like this town and it's people. Last night we went to Bailey's Taproom, which has 20 local beers on tap. And even though I didn't personally taste them all, I hear they were all very excellent.

This morning dawned bright and sunny and during a long walk alongside the Willamette River I got to watch a real live bike commuters. Hundreds of them all riding using their bikes to get to work. How cool is that! I also got to see Mt. Hood for the first time this trip. The picture certainly doesn't do it justice.

The after the conference ended I (and several other library-types) headed up to Powell's Books for some excellent browsing and coffee.

Add all that with last Saturday's amazing Buddhist retreat - and Portland is definitely in the running for my favorite city.

Oh-and the people, they're just great. Friendly and outdoorsie, and just my kind of people.. here's a book recommendation by way of example.

Hiking Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest: Hiking through the woods, stripping down to nothing, getting into hot smelly water, and then reeking of sulfur for the rest of the day is one of my very favorite things to do. Lucky for me, this book exists solely to inform me as to the location of some of the best hot springs in the Pacific Northwest.

Tomorrow I'm heading up the Columbia River Gorge - no stinkie hot springs however, I'm going hunting for waterfalls.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Have fun! It's beautiful up / out there!