Good Day to be Outside
That day was definitely today! The sun was out in full for the first time in months and the temperature neared 70 if it didn't go over. So it was only fitting that today we should be in downtown Portland, in all it's glory, walking around.
About two weeks ago I asked Alan if he would loan me his D100 for the upcoming Sakura Convention. He agreed and we made plans so that I could pick it up this weekend. Instead of having me drive all the way into Beaverton he suggested we meet in downtown Portland and make a day of it.
After some back and forth discussion we settled on meeting at the Chinese gardens at 5pm. It is lighter outside later now so that was big plus and the weather cooperated so beautifully it couldn't be resisted.
We headed out of town around 2:30. That was later than I wanted to leave town but the internet wouldn't cooperate with giving me directions in a timely manner. I knew this was still early to meet up at the garden so I asked Bo what we should do first. My suggestions were the Vancouver mall or Bridgeport Village. Bo vetoed both of my suggestions and added none of his own. So I asked if he would like to walk home. -_- He explained that he was being kind of grumpy because he didn't feel well so I let up on him. Ultimately we decided to go to the Vancouver mall first.
Our only real reason for going to the Vancouver mall was to stop at Hot Topic. My daughter wants to re-dye her hair wine red (or in this case rum red) before the convention. I also picked up a neon green and glitter blue nail polish. The cashier asked me if I wanted one of their "green" bags for $1. I was game for that and got the bigger one because it was the same price. ^_^ So now I have a good bag to carry around my Hot Topic stuff in.
After that we stopped in at the food court. We still had an hour and a half before we had to be in downtown Portland so we decided to get a snack. This consisted of some tacos from Taco Time. While we were eating I noticed a young girl walk by with a Sanrio bag. I asked her where she got the bag and she told me about a store down the mall.
We had 20 minutes left before we had to leave and I was going to check it out but it was ALL the way down the mall from where we were and it would have taken all of our time to get there and back with none left to look around. So I made a note of it for next time.
We made our way back to the car and headed on our way into Portland. I am sure there was a quicker way for me to find the Chinese garden going straight into downtown from I-84 but I didn't want to chance getting lost and went the round about way instead. We actually found the place in no time and even found a good parking spot in even less time. I got my first experience with paying for parking using a smart meter and we were set for an hour and a half.
We were parked on the street by the backside of the gardens so we walked around front and waited there for Alan and Pia. They arrived almost right at 5pm and found a spot almost directly on the opposite side of the street from us. I found where they had parked and walked over to greet them.
Alan gave me the camera and helped me set it up for the day. Then he set up the D200 for Pia and the D700 for himself and we were all ready to take pictures. ^_^
We paid for our admission to the gardens ($8.50 each. O_O) and walked on in. The sun was shining just right and I got so many good pictures at the garden alone! I can't even begin to describe them all but that's why I took pictures. ^_^ I will post the link when they are on flickr.
I realize every time I use the D100, just how much I missed it and I got some really amazing photos to prove it. ^_^ There was also a girl at the garden with her family that looks just like Ophelia from Pans Labyrinth. She even spoke Spanish.
After walking through the garden Alan and Pia put their camera's away. I put some stuff in my car but choose to keep the camera out so I could continue to take pictures. We decided to walk down to the waterfront and see what was available for food restaurants.
I have never been to the waterfront in Portland and walked around. It was so much fun and so beautiful! I got some gorgeous pictures with the cherry blossoms in bloom! I also got a good picture of the "Made in Oregon" sign. Hopefully I wont need that to remember what it looked like. -_-
From there we walked all over the place. We walked many blocks and could smell food but never really ran across it (which is weird). We did find the Burger King that used to be downtown but it's all bored up now. That's when Alan got the idea to use his phone to find food.
We discovered some good places in China town and walked down to check them out. The place we originally wanted to eat at looked a little pricey but I noticed that I recognized the place right next door. I had been there with the Multicultural Club in College after we had visited the PAM's Ancient China exhibit years ago. It was interesting to be back at this place.
Everyone agreed to eat there and the food was good and filling. I was thirsty as heck but I don't know exactly why since I wasn't exhausted from walking or anything. I had a fountain soda, water and the tea.
We had a really nice dinner and then decided to head back to the cars since it was now around 8pm. We headed back to the cars and it was such a beautiful night for walking. The sun was just below the horizon and so it wasn't quite dark. I took some more pictures of downtown as we walked back.
The minute I we stepped outside the restaurant it just felt good. It was cool but more like an early summer evening then spring. I just really felt good today being out in the good weather! Pia on the other hand was cold! She couldn't believe I was walking around without a jacket on. ^_^
When we got back to where our cars were parked Pia and Bo sat inside my car while Alan showed me how to assemble the camera and the flash arm. While he was showing me how to attach the lens I noticed a car pull up and wait. I stopped Alan's instruction and walked over to the car to let them know that we were leaving but that it would be a few minutes because Alan was showing me the camera. I told them we would hold the spot for them if they wanted to come back. She was grateful that I had come to talk with her and not just let her wait.
Once we were done with the camera instruction we said our good bye's. It was such a nice night and I had enjoyed the day so much. I am really glad we got together. We all seemed to have a lot of fun today (even Bo who was still a bit grumpy).
I didn't see the lady in the car when we got in my car to leave, but as I was pulling out I noticed that they had returned. As we pulled out of the parking spot they were able to snag it. We had lost the directions I had carefully written out on how to get home so from there we had to wing it.
Thankfully I had memorized the area enough to get us to Glisan and that took us straight to I-405North and subsequently I-5 North. I drove all the way home without incident and we didn't talk much for the trip. I thought I might get tired but that didn't happen.
I am so glad that we got to make this trip today. The weather was so nice! Everything smelled so good from the water falls in the garden, to the trees, to the food to the night air. It was exhilarating! I feel like I got a re-charge that I have been in need of since sometime in September! It was just an all around good day!
About two weeks ago I asked Alan if he would loan me his D100 for the upcoming Sakura Convention. He agreed and we made plans so that I could pick it up this weekend. Instead of having me drive all the way into Beaverton he suggested we meet in downtown Portland and make a day of it.
After some back and forth discussion we settled on meeting at the Chinese gardens at 5pm. It is lighter outside later now so that was big plus and the weather cooperated so beautifully it couldn't be resisted.
We headed out of town around 2:30. That was later than I wanted to leave town but the internet wouldn't cooperate with giving me directions in a timely manner. I knew this was still early to meet up at the garden so I asked Bo what we should do first. My suggestions were the Vancouver mall or Bridgeport Village. Bo vetoed both of my suggestions and added none of his own. So I asked if he would like to walk home. -_- He explained that he was being kind of grumpy because he didn't feel well so I let up on him. Ultimately we decided to go to the Vancouver mall first.
Our only real reason for going to the Vancouver mall was to stop at Hot Topic. My daughter wants to re-dye her hair wine red (or in this case rum red) before the convention. I also picked up a neon green and glitter blue nail polish. The cashier asked me if I wanted one of their "green" bags for $1. I was game for that and got the bigger one because it was the same price. ^_^ So now I have a good bag to carry around my Hot Topic stuff in.
After that we stopped in at the food court. We still had an hour and a half before we had to be in downtown Portland so we decided to get a snack. This consisted of some tacos from Taco Time. While we were eating I noticed a young girl walk by with a Sanrio bag. I asked her where she got the bag and she told me about a store down the mall.
We had 20 minutes left before we had to leave and I was going to check it out but it was ALL the way down the mall from where we were and it would have taken all of our time to get there and back with none left to look around. So I made a note of it for next time.
We made our way back to the car and headed on our way into Portland. I am sure there was a quicker way for me to find the Chinese garden going straight into downtown from I-84 but I didn't want to chance getting lost and went the round about way instead. We actually found the place in no time and even found a good parking spot in even less time. I got my first experience with paying for parking using a smart meter and we were set for an hour and a half.
We were parked on the street by the backside of the gardens so we walked around front and waited there for Alan and Pia. They arrived almost right at 5pm and found a spot almost directly on the opposite side of the street from us. I found where they had parked and walked over to greet them.
Alan gave me the camera and helped me set it up for the day. Then he set up the D200 for Pia and the D700 for himself and we were all ready to take pictures. ^_^
We paid for our admission to the gardens ($8.50 each. O_O) and walked on in. The sun was shining just right and I got so many good pictures at the garden alone! I can't even begin to describe them all but that's why I took pictures. ^_^ I will post the link when they are on flickr.
I realize every time I use the D100, just how much I missed it and I got some really amazing photos to prove it. ^_^ There was also a girl at the garden with her family that looks just like Ophelia from Pans Labyrinth. She even spoke Spanish.
After walking through the garden Alan and Pia put their camera's away. I put some stuff in my car but choose to keep the camera out so I could continue to take pictures. We decided to walk down to the waterfront and see what was available for food restaurants.
I have never been to the waterfront in Portland and walked around. It was so much fun and so beautiful! I got some gorgeous pictures with the cherry blossoms in bloom! I also got a good picture of the "Made in Oregon" sign. Hopefully I wont need that to remember what it looked like. -_-
From there we walked all over the place. We walked many blocks and could smell food but never really ran across it (which is weird). We did find the Burger King that used to be downtown but it's all bored up now. That's when Alan got the idea to use his phone to find food.
We discovered some good places in China town and walked down to check them out. The place we originally wanted to eat at looked a little pricey but I noticed that I recognized the place right next door. I had been there with the Multicultural Club in College after we had visited the PAM's Ancient China exhibit years ago. It was interesting to be back at this place.
Everyone agreed to eat there and the food was good and filling. I was thirsty as heck but I don't know exactly why since I wasn't exhausted from walking or anything. I had a fountain soda, water and the tea.
We had a really nice dinner and then decided to head back to the cars since it was now around 8pm. We headed back to the cars and it was such a beautiful night for walking. The sun was just below the horizon and so it wasn't quite dark. I took some more pictures of downtown as we walked back.
The minute I we stepped outside the restaurant it just felt good. It was cool but more like an early summer evening then spring. I just really felt good today being out in the good weather! Pia on the other hand was cold! She couldn't believe I was walking around without a jacket on. ^_^
When we got back to where our cars were parked Pia and Bo sat inside my car while Alan showed me how to assemble the camera and the flash arm. While he was showing me how to attach the lens I noticed a car pull up and wait. I stopped Alan's instruction and walked over to the car to let them know that we were leaving but that it would be a few minutes because Alan was showing me the camera. I told them we would hold the spot for them if they wanted to come back. She was grateful that I had come to talk with her and not just let her wait.
Once we were done with the camera instruction we said our good bye's. It was such a nice night and I had enjoyed the day so much. I am really glad we got together. We all seemed to have a lot of fun today (even Bo who was still a bit grumpy).
I didn't see the lady in the car when we got in my car to leave, but as I was pulling out I noticed that they had returned. As we pulled out of the parking spot they were able to snag it. We had lost the directions I had carefully written out on how to get home so from there we had to wing it.
Thankfully I had memorized the area enough to get us to Glisan and that took us straight to I-405North and subsequently I-5 North. I drove all the way home without incident and we didn't talk much for the trip. I thought I might get tired but that didn't happen.
I am so glad that we got to make this trip today. The weather was so nice! Everything smelled so good from the water falls in the garden, to the trees, to the food to the night air. It was exhilarating! I feel like I got a re-charge that I have been in need of since sometime in September! It was just an all around good day!