The City of Roses

After a restful night of camping, I woke early, took a run around the Olympic National Forest, packed up camp, and set out down Highway 101 towards Portland. The drive down the coast was absolutely spectacular with the road winding serpentine through iconic little cottages and towns along the way. Although it wasn't the quickest route between two points, it certainly was the most beautiful.

I arrived in Portland at about 1:30, and set about getting my hands on some food, ASAP. I had heard of a little hole in the wall Thai restaurant called Pok Pok. This place has won numerous awards, is Zagat rated, and is widely known as one of the best Thai restaurants in the country. It certainly did not disappoint. I ordered one of their most famous dishes, a Thai chicken wing dish, that was recognized as dish of the the year by Food and Wine magazine in 2007. To say it was delicious would be an understatement. This dish was purely a mouthgasm. Sweet, Savory, Spicy, Unami -- It hit on all sectors of the palate, and easily was in the top 5 dishes I had ever eaten. If you're ever in Portland, you HAVE to go here.

After having one of the best meals of my life, I headed to Washington Park, home of some of the most beautiful and ornate gardens in the states. My first stop was the iconic Rose Garden, known worldwide for its immense collection of roses (who woulda thought?!?). There are literally thousands of different varieties of roses, and although I'm no expert on flora, I was still very impressed by the collection. I was awestruck by the simplicity, yet the immense beauty of the area, and its really hard not to be. There are award winning, classic, ornate, hybrid, and just about every type of rose one could ever dream up. Truly amazing.

After touring the rose garden, I headed up the hill to the serene Japanese gardens. Although my trip has been a bit hectic at times, these gardens truly provided a moment of serenity. The term 'garden' should be used somewhat loosely, as it was more of an oasis of Japanese culture that happens to have many different types of plants and animals. The rock gardens were especially fantastic, and brought a calming aura to everyone that entered the area. All in all, very interesting, and beautiful.

After another long day of travel and sightseeing, I settled down in my motel room to watch the celtics v. lakers game which turned out to be an epic battle. Ate some leftovers from lunch, drank a tasty local beer, (Full Sail Pale Ale made in Mt. Hood, OR) and now its time for bed. Goodnight blogosphere, we'll talk again soon.

A.S. Bloom

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