Portland, Oregon

11-13 September 2014

We dropped Tim's bike at the shop and walked to the mall area to waste some time.  We had so much time to waste and didn't know what to do so we actually got haircuts!  We then wasted the rest of the time playing NTN trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings.  When we went to pick up the bikes we were told that we both need new tires for our bikes.  Luckily there was a shop just down the road that was willing to squeeze me in for a rear tire tomorrow, so our plan was to drop the bikes off first thing in the morning then take the train into Portland and pick the bikes up the following day before they close.  Great!  This gives us 2 more days to hang out in Portland.

We went back to Dan's house and of course, went out to a brewery in his neighborhood:

Gigantic Brewery, Portland, Oregon

The next day we woke up, rode our bikes to the shop, and took a train into Portland.  Dan has a softball game that evening, so the plan is that he is going to meet us downtown after the game. So...another day that we can visit as many breweries as we can handle and not have to drive home.  So here we go...but first a stop at some food trucks for lunch:

Food Trucks in Portland, Oregon

Followed by some breweries:

Deschutes Brewery, Portland, Oregon

Pints Brewery, Portland, Oregon

Storm Breaker Brewing, Portland, Oregon

As we were walking to the next brewery I saw a line, so I thought that if there is a line then it must be something good, so we got on the line.  It wound up being a great taqueria called ¿Por Qué No?  We finally got to the front of the line and it was happy hour with discounted tacos and even better, discounted margaritas.  The food was awesome!  Lesson learned...if there is a line, get in it.

Great food at ¿Por Qué No? Taqueria.

Now...back to the breweries:

Ecliptic Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon

Hopworks Urban Brewery, Portland, Oregon

Lompoc Brewing Company, Portland, Oregon

Finally Dan met us downtown and had a suggestion for the next place...Hubers Café, where they serve a drink called Spanish Coffee.  Now, I don't like coffee and I don't like most liquors besides gin and vodka, but, after 6 breweries today, I was all in.  We arrived there after 11PM and ordered their famous Spanish Coffee that was prepared tableside. By the way, the drink consists of Bacardi 151 rum, Bols Triple Sec, Kahlua, coffee, fresh whipped cream and a touch of nutmeg on top. The cool part is they first sugar the rim, pour the 151 in it, then set it on fire.  The fire caramelizes the sugar and sets the 151 on fire.  They then pour the rest of the ingredients in the glass that eventually puts out the fire.  Quite the production, but the drink tasted awful.  Since I spent $10 on the drink I tried to  choke it down, but in the end, Tim had to finish it for me.  It was quite an experience, but never again!

Drink on fire / Final product.

This is where we should have called it a night, but we didn't.  What is a late night in Portland without a stop at Voodoo Doughnuts?  Even though it is almost 1AM there was still a line!

We finally made it to the front of the line and bought our share of donuts that made it to the car, but didn't make it home.

The next day Dan went to the Oregon football game so we joined Sarah and their son Nathan and went downtown to the Saturday Market, a street fair with food, local artists, and a bunch of junk being sold.  We couldn't stay long because the motorcycles had to be picked up, so around 2 we took the train back to the motorcycle shop, picked up our bikes, and rode back to Dan's house to spend our final night in Portland.

Numbers Games
Total States Visited: 16 (New one: NONE)
Total Breweries Visited: 54 (New ones: Gigantic, Deschutes, Pints, Storm Breaker, Ecliptic, Hopworks Urban, Lompoc)
Total Miles Ridden: 6,857