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Woke up this morning early and took a nice walk around the area. It was a nice, quiet morning and the people I passed were all very friendly. It was a stark contrast to any city I had been in before. The streets were clean and there were fewer skyscrapers. Got a great breakfast at a coffee shop - they even had good bagels! I think this is a city I could get used to; Kevin seemed to really enjoy it to. Probably his favorite stop yet. (The shower and cell phone service might have been in it's favor.)

The electrical boxes along the streets were all painted by local artists.

The coffee shop where I got breakfast.

Not a bad way to start the day: blueberry french toast bagel and herbal tea.

Next up: Portland. The drive through Oregon wasn't exactly what we were expecting. For most of the state the scenery was very similar to Idaho - flat plains broken up by rolling hills all covered in brown vegetation. It was pretty neat to see the Snake river though. It carved out the whole landscape for miles, creating terraces and valleys. Along this path was the Oregon Trail that we ended up following for most of the state. About an hour outside of Portland the views changed to what you typically think of Oregon; large hills and mountains and enormous evergreen trees. We even saw Mt Hood!

Oregon. Huh.

When we got to the hotel we were impressed to say the least. We got an incredible deal at a Radisson by the airport. When checking in we were asked if we wanted a tempurpedic, sleep number, or firm mattress. Kevin and I just looked at each other and kind of laughed. We had no idea what to answer. Luckily there was only one room left so we really didn't have to make a choice. Sleep number it was. We also got two drinks and a appetizer tonight and a buffet breakfast in the morning included. The room was perfect. Took a little effort to even convince ourselves to leave. But we eventually made it out of the hotel to check out Portland.

Look at that smile. Apparently he can't know you're taking the picture and then he'll look happy.

You could get a bowflex delivered to your room!

We headed to the Pearl District, a recently renovated industrial area that now had food and shopping. My favorite spot - Powell's City of Books - a bookstore that took up an entire city block! And they had a second store across the street! I could have stayed there forever! Kevin, not so much. The best part was the rare books room holding books from the 1600s, first editions, and autographed copies. From there we just kind of wandered and then called it a day. Had a good dinner at the hotel (thanks to the free apps and drinks) and then tried to plan out what to do tomorrow.

There were so many floors and books it actually needed a few of these signs around.