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(COOLLIST) The Portland, Oregon Travelogue
I left for San Antonio airport Friday around 11:20. It was a pleasant
and easy drive, taking a little over an hour. Parking at SAT was
poor, as all of the cheap long-term lots were full and I had to leave
my car in the more expensive long-term lot ($5/day). I was quickly
able to find my terminal and board the Delta flight to Salt Lake City.
It was a rather unusual flight. I was surrounded by at least thirty
Aggies, most decked out in school colors. I had not realized that
Texas A&M was playing Brigham Young University in Provost, Utah that
weekend. Therefore, the 737 from SAT to SLC was completely full.
This would be a pattern that continues through my journey. The Aggies
weren't so bad, although I did find it amusing that they drank the
plane dry; the flight attendants commented that they had never run out
of alcoholic beverages on that flight before then.
The airport at Salt Lake City was fairly non-descript. There was a
nice view of the mountains out the window, but it mainly served as a
time sink for the Salt Lake to Portland part of my trip. That flight
was full, but it was on a L-1011 and therefore much more enjoyable. I
arrived at Portland at 7:20 Pacific time and was picked up by my
friend Preston Hunt, a former Motorola summer intern who now is in the
engineering rotation program at Intel.
Portland impressed me. The first thing I noticed was the trees. They
very skinny and very tall, and they are everywhere. It really is a
city in the middle of a forest. The Columbia River is impressive with
its shipping channels and bridges. In downtown Portland, there are
two double decker bridges. On one, outbound traffic is on the top
deck, and on the other, it is on the lower deck. This is to allow
traffic in and out of the city when the top decks freeze over with
ice. Portland also has an extensive public transportation program
that includes light rail. It seems to be a good system, and one that
Austin could do well to emulate. Also, to encourage dense city
growth, Portland has a twenty-mile buffer zone setup around the city
where land cannot be subdivided into parcels less than twenty acres.
It seemed to make quite a difference, as I saw lots of vibrant urban
life without the sprawl that infects Austin and Atlanta.
That Friday night I went with Preston and some of his coworkers to a
part of town called Northwest. Its similar to Underground Atlanta or
Congress Street here in Austin with lots of restaurants and shops. We
ate at a place called Santa Fe Cafe which had acceptable burritos and
tacos but a much too crowded and loud dining area. One of the
Intellians I met was a guy that Motorola's Ken Burch had interviewed
in Florida about a week or two before Penny Jamrack interviewed me. I
found that to be an interesting coincidence.
The next day, I went on a road trip to the Columbia River Gorge. This
is an area where the river had worn down the volcanic rock over
several million years. The sides of the gorge had several spectacular
waterfalls formed by tributaries. One waterfall at which we stopped
was the scene of a major splash the previous year when a Greyhound
bus-sized rock had fallen from the rock wall into the pool at the
bottom. I also got to see one of the dams on the river and a salmon
hatchery. The day was rounded out with a visit to the rose garden at
Washington Park and a trip to Powell's, a gigantic book store selling
both new and used books (http://www.powells.portland.or.us).
Saturday also featured a return trip to Northwest where we ate at a
coffeehouse called Renaissance Cafe. Coffee seems to be an obsession
in Oregon; signs advertising espresso were everywhere, even at a bait
shop we passed and at a Chevron station (free espresso with five
fill-ups). I never got any coffee, but I did enjoy a blackberry
smoothie and a great pesto sandwich at the Cafe. Later, we saw a
screening of John Sayle's classic _The Brother From Another Planet_ at
the Mission Theater, a second-run movie house/restaurant.
On Sunday, we went to the Pacific coast where I got to see the Earth's
largest ocean for the first time. It was a foggy and windy day, so I
didn't get to do much there, but we did stop and admire the largest
Sitka Spruce tree in the US, a 700-year-old and 216-feet-tall giant.
The Pacific was quite impressive. At first I thought I saw land, but
I then realized that it was actually just a cresting wave.
My final meal in Portland was at a chain called Macheezmo Mouse. It
serves "healthy Mexican" food rather cheaply. I was able to get a big
plate of black beans, rice, and seasonings plus three black bean tacos
for $5, and it all was very yummy. If this place were to launch a few
stores in Austin, it would give Taco Cabana some good competition.
Their advertising campaign featured a slogan: "Good tacos, no bell."
The plane trip back was a minor disaster. I left Portland at 9:50 on
a full flight to Las Vegas. I get the Vegas and wait about 90 minutes
for my connecting flight to San Antone. I was expecting it to be
about 1/3 full with plenty of room to stretch out and rest. Reality
did not fit expectations this time, as the plane was almost completely
full again. I was NOT a happy camper and got no sleep; at least NPR's
Morning Edition was playing with strong signals from both SA and
Austin for the drive home.
--
Ben Combee, Software Developer (Will write assembly code for food)
Motorola > MIMS > MSPG > CTSD > Advanced ICs > Austin Design Center
E-mail: combee@sso-austin.sps.mot.com Phone: (512) 891-7141
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