It was bittersweet when I was told a close friend of ours - Hamza - gained admission for August 2016 to Lewis & Clark Law School in beautiful Portland, Oregon. As Hamza took a step closer towards his goals, all I could think was 'dang.. there goes another one.' His path in life was taking him somewhere distant, and all I could selfishly think about was me losing a friend and us becoming strangers. He reasured all of us that it would be a quick 3 years and he'd be back.. (although most law school graduates tend to secure jobs near their alma mater due to school connections).
THe mood quickly lightened when Hamza said, "I'll need some help moving, and I'll need to take my car as I'll need it there." Well, sounds like a road-trip is in order. First things were putting together a list of items he needed for his new home-away-from-home. It included everything from the basics such as clothing and dishes, to the not-so-basic shower curtain rings and paper-towel holder stand for the kitchen. As he and his mom worked at gathering/purchasing his belongings, we worked in parallel with coming up with an itinerary. It was on everyone's list to traverse the Pacific Coast via PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), but we didn't want to have to take 2 full days of non-stop driving to get to Portland either. Since most of us had already driven the Central Coast of California, it was decided that we'd take the Interstate 5 North to San Francisco, stop there for the evening, then cross over to the coast and voyage our way up from there. It was a warm summer morning when the 4 of us squeezed into a Honda Accord Coupe - which was already packed to the brim with a mans entire belongings - and set out for the Pacific Northwest.
First Stop: San Francisco
Aside from Hamza's paranoia about his car overheating, there was nothing special with the drive up to SF via the 5. We'd all done the drive a million times before. By the time we arrived the sun had begun to set. I pleaded we all go to see the Golden Gate Bridge first since I was in dire need of a shot.
The wind starting picking up so we abruptly left and head to Tony's for dinner. 2 boxes later and stomachs bulging, we were on the hunt of a place to stay. We booked a room at a Best Western further north in Sonoma Valley after some quick research. Check out the YouTube video below made by my buddy - Armughan - for a cameo of the hotel!
The hotel was suprisingly ritzy. You enter into a grand living room with a full and single seater couch next to a desk and flat-screen TV with a coffee table in the middle. Directly infront of the entrance was an oddly placed bath tub equipped with jets and all. Two seperate private balconies could be accessed via the living room and seperate bedroom. We passed leisure time idly conversing & sipping mint tea, then one-by-one we trickled to sleep.
We woke early the next morning and immediately head for breakfast at Cape Fear Cafe. Our 3rd traveling companion, Usama, had highly recommended we go there, as he had been here a few times before. Sure enough, the food was phenomenal. Aside from the pancakes and omlettes ordered, the most memorable item was the butter. It wasn't any normal butter; but a molasses-based caramelized butter with a hint of honey. Just wow.
The day had already started behind schedule, and with the breakfast taking longer than expected, we were beyond late. Eventually we hit the road again and made progress en route. PCH was amazing. I would, however, recommend to take PCH going North to South (rather than South to North like us). There is a slight incline when coming from the South, and so the awe of the coastline can't truly be admired without pulling off at one of the view points and taking it all in. Interestingly enough, that is exactly what we had done, per Hamza's recommendation. We pulled off and ran down a massive hill along the coast as far as we could. Although it was fun in the moment and the views were spectacular, the hike back up was serious cardio.
Eventually we made it to the car and followed the winding roads up to Glass Beach. I was expecting to see a beach completely littered with glass-like rocks. It was a major disappointment when I saw a small patch on the beach surrounded by swarms of like-minded tourists. It took a surprisingly lengthy amount of time to collect and snap the below picture. We left feeling deceived and disheartened. I would not recommend anyone to swing by here if it's out of their way!
3 hours away was our next stop: Eureka, California. Gas, food and a place to stretch out legs. It was dinner time when we arrived, so we used Yelp to find a place to eat. 6th and E Neighborhood Eatery had a large internet following, so we sheepishly made our way in. Yelp came through with the recommendation - a must go to spot if in Eureka! Afterwards we walked around in downtown on 5th Street, and stumbled upon an eery, haunted-looking house. A quick Google search revealed it to be the Carson Mansion. After a few snaps, we departed for our final destination.
Portland, Oregon
We arrived at about 4:00 AM and had made arrangements to stay at a friends apartment until later in the day when Hamza planned to meet his to-be landlord. Either because of the late arrival or phones being on silent, our arrangements fell through. Tired and homeless, we gave up on the repeated calls and drove aimlessly through the city. We were able to catch Portlandians rise and shine to start their day. Eventually we got a call from our friend profusely apologizing, and after a quick stop at his place, we went for breakfast. As we arrived to the breakfast spot, Hamza abruptly had a change of heart and decided to go early to his meeting.
After having our chicken and waffles we decided to follow up with Hamza on his whereabouts. A frantic Hamza picks up, goes on a long winded story of how he may need to find another place to stay due to the overall lack of professionalism displayed by his landlord. Apparently his landlord had simply dropped off the keys to his studio and drove off in a fury without talking to him for more than 5 minutes. When he tried the key to the door it didn't work. He called his landlord again, and tempers flared. Now both parties were annoyed with each other. We arrived and eventually everything was smoothed over. Hamza got the door open and was able to amiably work out all his concerns of the place with the property owner. We came to realize his proprietor was off to vacation the next day and needed to get the other homes they were selling ready before they leave. The amount of stress came undone after we all cracked a few jokes and shared some stories of our trip up.
Everything was finally moved in, and after a few trips to the local Walmart, it was time to relax. We rented bikes and road around the city, checked out Lewis & Clarks' campus (beautiful!), checked out the city lights, and had VooDoo Donuts.. which was.. umm.. interesting. Just as interesting as Portlandians. Portlandians definitely live up to their slogan: "keep Portland weird". It seemed as if nearly every other individual we encountered had something weird about them. It was either their hipster style with those painfully tight pants & boots, eccentric hair do's, or overly optomistic attitude that all sort of came off as bizarre.
All in all, Portland is great. If you like the pro-Earth sort of ambience, are outdoorsy, and can tolerate funkyness, then Portland is for you.
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