Sadly, our year in Portland has come to a close and we’re now calling San Diego home. We haven’t done a proper update in a long time, so wanted to pop in a quick recap for posterity’s sake.
Summer in the Pacific Northwest was a dream. The season is very fleeting, but we relished it while it stuck around. It seemed like it took forever for warm weather to stick around; we had some high temps in June, but it was solidly July before we could pack away the sweatshirts and jeans. The weather was warm, sunny, and dry and we spent most of our time outdoors. I was still in the thick of ultra training, and was so happy to be able to run some dry trails. We had lots of visitors (my parents, Matt’s parents, Jake and Megan!), got in loads of trail time, and enjoyed plenty of beers along the way.
One of our favorite activities was urban foraging. The berry situation was insane! Everywhere we went there were loads of blackberries. It was perfect for an afternoon snack at the park. Speaking of parks, we spent so many afternoons at Washington Park and Mt. Tabor. Snickers could spend all day just sunning herself in the grass.
We got to a few Timbers matches as well. We watched them play Orlando (tie) and Real Salt Lake (W). We loved being able to walk to and from the stadium from our apartment.
After 2 years, I finally hopped back on my bike! One evening, we hopped on our bikes and rode the Springwater Corridor along the Willamette’s east bank. We ended up at a couple of breweries – Unicorn and Ancestry – and wished we had been doing this for date night all summer long.
Fall came in like a lion right before we left. The trees were awash with spectacular reds and oranges and the nights started getting quite crisp. We started spending a bit more time indoors – with no races to train for, it was a lot harder for me to get out the door when it was raining. We spent the last month soaking in everything about the city that we’re going to miss so much – hiking the lush, mossy trails, eating all of of our favorite foods (Pok Pok, Apizza Scholls, Bamboo, to name a few), and, of course, one last game of Deadpool pinball at Ground Kontrol.
We even started eyeing Zillow for some some houses :). Not quite ready to put down roots yet, but Portland is on the short list for when we are.
mattandbethtravels 