Part 3 of 6--Really Cool

It was so cool to walk around in downtown Portland in the rain. Even though I felt a little out of place in my Utah Summer Capri's and flip-flops, (I don't own any flannel shirts or ripped jeans). I borrowed a rain jacket and had a blast with Jeff and his brother. The little boys wanted to stay at Grama's and play with their cousins. So Jeff, Scott and I had a grown up day...and it was awesome! Our first stop was this trendy little consignment shop, Buffalo Exchange. They had a lot of really unique and interesting clothes. Jeff and Scott both found pants, and they were pretty excited about them.
Next stop was Powell's Book Store. Oh man, I was in Heaven. The store is 6 Floors of books. Each floor is a section. I could spend at least a week in there. I love to just get lost in the aisles of our own little Barnes and Nobel. But this was amazing.
I ended up spending too much time in the $1 Children's section. Then I just got really overwhelmed just by being there. Scott, Jeff and I all separated, and wandered for a while.
Jeff spent most of his time in the Science Fiction Section, while Scott looked at Architecture books. Then I met up with Scott somehow, and we wandered into the Rare Book Room.
It was almost like a sacred place. Here were these books that were important enough for people to take care of for years and years, and were worth hundreds, and some, thousandsof dollars. Works of Shakespeare, medical books, scriptures, a signed Stephen King book...I know, not everyone has the same love for books that I have. It comes from being the child of parents who loved books. We had stacks of them everywhere in the house growing up. Encyclopedia Sets, Animal Kingdom Collections, paperbacks, magazines, pictures books, there was always something to read. I get so overwhelmed with all of the information that you are surrounded by in a book store. It is almost like there is just something in the air. All of the information stored there is seeping out of the books, and your IQ goes up a couple of points from just walking around. It's like the knowledge is almost contagious. It is in the walls and the air, and I feel this desire to learn and to know...Am I the only one who feels this way?

Anyways, after about 2 hours, and just a handful of $1 books, I heard my name over the intercom...Jeff and Scott were waiting for me. It was time to go. I took one last look around and was grateful to find their website address on my way out.

We wandered around the rest of the city, stopping for lunch and of course I found a cute little cupcake place...they had filled cupcakes...so yummy!
My hair was completely flat and wet by now...but I tried not to think too much about it. We visited a few of the local art galleries. So cultural! This place had a lot of little imported handicrafts from Asia.
We found another gallery that had a lot of abstract paintings, similar to Pollock...I appreciate Pollock for his uniqueness. But I do think that throwing paint around is something any of us can do, and I was not impressed by the paintings I saw. There were also these big pieces of marble with the insides hollowed out...Jeff liked them, but I was not impressed with them either.
What I did like was watching the owners of this paper store make their own paper. And they were also using an old printing press. It was really cool.
Jeff's sister Kimm told us about VooDoo Donuts. A trippy place where some people go to get married. I think the word that would best describe it its Kitch? But I loved it. And the punk rocker girl who waited on us was totally hip.

It definitely captured to essence of downtown Portland.
It's too bad that Jeff and I are already married!
That is Captain Crunch Cereal, Froot Loops, and Cocoa Puffs on those donuts. There is also Tang, and grape kool-aid there on the plate. I got the froot loop one just for Derek. He loved it!
We got back in time to share our donuts, and head over to Jeff's Aunt and Uncle's house...Neldon and Jo Ann. They have the funnest house EVER! Neldon is such a kid at heart!

They have such a cute house. This was Jeff's favorite place to go growing up.
This is the Giant Version of Jenga! Made from wooden blocks.

A Train Whistle outside...
And a Zip Line...
I was a little nervous about letting Derek ride...
But he did just fine!

A tree house made from one of those giant spools that wire comes on,

A caterpillar train made out of barrels and pulled by a tractor...That is Neldon driving.
A little Merry go round type thingy,
Tandem bikes, Clint and his cousin Cole from Boston finally got the hang of it.
And a golden retriever and a basset hound...Cole makes a new friend for life!
We had soooo much fun! I hate living so far away from family.