My trip to Portland.
I figured I needed more adventure in my life, so I decided to take a little adventure. My plan was to buy a one-way ticket with Amtrak to Portland, spend some time in Portland and see where things go from there. I really had no plan beyond that which was fun!
Amtrak has a thing called the “Coast Starlight” which runs from LA to Seattle. The weird thing is that when going North the train boards in San Jose at 8:30PM. This was somewhat weird, but I figured that was why it was called “Starlight.”
I booked a ticket for Tuesday evening, I figured I would be in Portland by Wednesday afternoon so I made sure to get an airbnb for Wednesday to Friday. My first attempt was a cool little place in the heart of the Northern section of downtown known as the Pearl District. They declined because someone else was leaving the same day I wanted to check in. So, I went with a different AirBnB that was cheaper with a lower rating. AirBnB can be hit or miss, we’ll get back to that later.
I boarded the train on Tuesday evening with a palpable excitement. The train was not what I expected, but I didn’t go in with many expectations to begin with. There was a ton of leg room, which was great for a guy my size.
The train ride up North was fairly boring and uneventful. However, I was actually pretty miserable. I had no idea how to gear for this kind of trip, so I had no pillow, no blanket, not even a heavy shirt or jacket on me. Most of my gear was in my checked bag, which, obviously I didn’t have access to while on the train.
I couldn’t sleep, and I ended up getting some wicked good heartburn in the morning. I ran out of water and food, so I had to improvise by buying stuff from the wildly overpriced cafe shop on the train. To make matters worse, there are absolutely no healthy options, just candy and garbage.
The train rolled on through the early morning through the mountains. I felt tired and out of place, but the views were breathtaking. At one point the train passed a clearing overlooking a valley covered in trees. My jaw hit the floor and I was washed over with a feeling of humility and gratitude for being on this crazy adventure.
There were several moments like this throughout the trip. The lakes and valleys that adorned the countryside were awe inspiring. I was tired, hungry and out of sorts, which was probably the best thing for me. I find that some of my best spiritual growth happens when I’m off my guard and “wobbly.” There was a similar kind of effect while at Burning Man. Sometimes a little discomfort can help me focus on what’s really important in life.
In this case I found myself reflecting on gratitude ( a popular topic in our family ) and humility. I’ve been dealing with some rather uncomfortable things at my new job, mainly thoughts and feelings about what I don’t want to do. Part of the thinking behind this adventure was that I get to do something that I want to do because I’m working a job I don’t want to work. Right now I really hate my job and feel terrible for making such a colossal mistake. But, like they say, making mistakes is how we grow.
The trip up North was a wonderful opportunity to remind myself that mistakes are not the end of the world. It’s not the mistake that trips us up, it’s the reaction to the mistake that’s important. I relate this to my current job situation in that I truly, unconditionally hate my job and what I’m doing. The thing I’m learning is how to move through those feelings while maintaining a professional posture, and keeping my eye open for a healthy way to a better situation where I’m happier doing things I want to do. Doing things that I like doing that I’m passionate about is the easiest and most effective way of getting the best quality and value out of my work.
I arrived in Portland Wednesday afternoon around 4PM and checked into the AirBnB that I had arranged the day before. As I alluded to before, this one did not go as well as my other bnb experience. The place was tiny and the homeowner hadn’t replaced the sheets with fresh sheets. The only windows in the room was on the door into the room, so of course the room was very hot, way too hot for me. However, there was a dog there named Fern. Fern was a very good girl, although a little skittish.
I was a little frustrated and a little put on edge by this. I was running on a couple of hours of interrupted sleep and pretty hungry at this point so I decided to solve at least one of those problems first. I grabbed my camera and ruck and set out about the town looking for things to photograph and food. I ended up traveling around downtown until I stumbled on a Chipotle. It was good enough for what I needed, and I could camp out at a table and get some work done.
Eventually I meandered back to the bnb for some much needed rest. I didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the bed because I had a suspicion that I was sleeping in the same sheets as the homeowner, which was just creepy. I decided to keep my clothes on and just sleep on the top sheet, which worked well enough. I managed to sleep about 12 hours, but it wasn’t the quality type of sleep that really resets things. I ended up waking up groggy, almost hungover. I could tell I was dehydrated and undernourished.
Thursday morning I decided that I had made a mistake with this bnb and I didn’t want to stay there any more. I needed to take care of myself by getting a good meal and a nice, safe place to stay. I ended up packing up my gear and heading down the street to the Marriott. I was very glad that I was able to do this. The room was perfect, nice and big, safe, secure with a giant, kick ass shower.
Eventually I stumbled onto a little hole in the wall breakfast/lunch place. It was a neat little place with little trinkets scattered everywhere as decorations. I ordered a hamburger and fries, both tasted like they were homemade by mom. I left a big fat tip and took a picture of some of the interesting things in the place, then went back out to continue my picture taking and portal hacking adventure.
I eventually ended up meandering my way down to the Target downtown. This Target was trippy as fuck, it had three floors with elevators and escalators and a Starbucks at the ground floor. I climbed my way up to the 3rd floor and bought a bunch of stuff that I thought would help correct the mistakes I made coming up. A sleeping bag, a neck pillow, some fruit and some water mix. I then camped out at the Starbucks for a few hours doing some work and watching the people walk by.
Eventually I decided that it was getting close to dinner time, so I grabbed an Uber back up to the hotel, dropped off my gear, took another quick shower and headed back down South. This time I was wearing my PDU’s and my thick tactical shirt. I suppose I looked nice enough, but I figured the button up shirt would give me a reason to hit up a fancy pants place.
As I meandered downtown I passed the arcade/bar. I forget the name of the place, but I have pictures of it. I’m pretty sure this is where the awards ceremony took place for the Ingress event that we went to many years ago. I was going to grab a bite there, but the place was gross and just wasn’t what I was looking for. Lots of cool games though.
A few blocks away from the arcade was Mama Mia’s, a place that I had been before. I went and got a table right away. The place was mostly pretty quiet. This time I noticed lots of little details about the place. Little things like the balcony on the wall, or how the flowers were arraigned. It was neat being in that place in a different frame of mind.
I ordered the lobster Mac & Cheese, which was out of this world delicious. I followed that up with the amaretto cheesecake, again, so good, best cheesecake EVAH!! But the best part of the evening was my conversation with Barry, the owner. Barry comes over to me while I’m reading my kindle waiting for my main course:
Barry: “Excuse me, do you need Internet?”
Me: “Ohh, no, I’m fine. Say, are you the owner?”
Barry: “Yes, I own this place.”
Me: “Ohh neat, I’m Bryan, my wife and I were in here many years ago, we sat next to a group of people I think you were hosting. I think you ended up comping us a free dessert because of the interruption to our meal.”
Barry: “Yeah, that sounds about right, if I don’t think it’s perfect, I make sure to make it right.”
Me: “That’s really neat! I wanted to tell you that your act of kindness really helped us out, we were both in a rough spot moving to a new place and that really meant a lot to us, thank you.”
Barry blushed a little and thanked me for the story. We had a great interaction. After that I ate my food and left a $20 tip on a $38 bill. I really enjoyed the emotional connection to that place, the food was amazing. I appreciated this experience.
Fat and happy and ready for a food coma I meandered back up North to the hotel hacking portals on the way. I got back to the hotel and decided to see if there was a movie worth buying on google play. As much luck would have it there was, Deadpool. I didn’t even hesitate, I bought the movie right away and watched it right then and there on the hotel wifi.
All in all, it was a very very good day. I slept like a giant, cold baby.
Morning came with the sounds of hotel guests shuffling about in the courtyard. The hotel offered an amazing continental breakfast for guests. Eggs, French toast, and a muffin were my fuel of choice.
I packed up early and parked myself in the courtyard for a few hours of work and picture taking. A soft Portland rain provided a wonderful backdrop while I whittled away on my work.
Eventually I packed up and headed to a local dive in an old building a few blocks away from the train station. More work and eventually a pizza lunch. I said my goodbyes to the Pearl district and humped my gear over to the train station.
A young lady by Nicole managed to work $20 of pity money out of me with a fairly convincing sob story. I said a little prayer for her and wished her the best.
The train boarded at 2:30 on Friday afternoon. The final leg of my adventure was about to begin. Everything was humming along as expected. I was well rested with a full tummy of pizza and flavored water. I ordered the pick up dinner which was chicken with veggies and a cookie. Perfect for where I was.
As the evening passed away the sun began to cast the most perfect light upon the valleys and trees. The green of the Pacific Northwest in the late evening has an indescribable beauty. At one point around 7:30PM I stretched out across both seats while sitting on my sleeping bag and hit my perfect state of relaxation. I had my kindle in my lap with trees floating by me on the both sides of the train car.
I remember having a profound moment of clarity. I was asking myself, what should I be doing right now? Should I be working? Should I be watching TV? I answered the question by saying to myself: No, I’m exactly where I should be doing exactly what I should be doing. I’m participating in my country by observing it. Witnessing something is a powerful way of acknowledging and participating in a thing. I felt like I was participating in what it means to be an American.
“This, this is the way to travel.” I was in a near trance swallowed up in the majesty of the green forest and the misty mountains.
Around 10:00 PM we pulled into Klamath Falls. At which point things started to get less enjoyable. The sun had fallen leaving the sleepy little town in a chilly embrace. The wind howled and blew a chilly blast forcing the train’s heaters to work overtime.
Around 10:30 we learned that there had been a train derailment South between where we were in Klamath Falls and Redding. Between 6 and 8 cars had been rolled, so there was no way this train was going any further South. Amtrak came up with a plan to shuttle the people in the train South to Redding. Once in Redding we would board a new train and continue our journey South.
It ended up taking about 2 hours to get everyone off the train, with the luggage onto the busses and hit the road. It took about another 2 hours to get down to Redding. The idea was sound, however the execution sucked. Everyone was off loaded from the busses and waiting at the station around 3:30, but the train didn’t arrive at the station until about 6:00 AM.
Everyone was waiting in the cold for 2.5 hours, luckily it wasn’t nearly as cold in Redding as it was in Klamath Falls. This was not an enjoyable experience, but we made the best of it. Having a sleeping bag to use as a meditation pad was helpful. At one point I started doing basic exercise stuff to keep myself moving.
Eventually we were reboarded on the new train and continued our journey South. Everything took longer because this train wasn’t supposed to be where it was going the direction it was, so there were plenty of “stop and wait” moments.
If everything had gone according to plan, I probably would have drifted off to sleep and watched the sun come up over the valley. I absolutely want to do the train again. All things being equal it was a fun journey.
