i LOVE portland!

The weather this weekend was sweet and almost summer like. And if you are a true Oregonian you take advantage of the sunny days. I am a true Oregonian. Carina and I hopped on the MAX Saturday morning and headed down to the Saturday Market. I didn't really know what to expect but it was a great time. It reminded me of Corvallis' fall festival only bigger, more crowded and with a whole lot more variety. I found this really sweetwrap-around skirt on sale for $5 and couldn't resist. On the way back we realized we missed a whole section. Oh darn! we'll have to go back. :)

From there we walked down to the river front and spent time taking pictures. There is a fountain for people to play in and it was a very popular spot for kids and adults alike. At one point a bride and groom showed up to get pictures with it. Carina and I weren't wearing the proper clothing to join in and really didn't want to spend the rest of the morning trying to get dry, so we just enjoyed watching the little kiddos run through it.

There wasn't really a plan after that except to walk around downtown Portland, do a little window shopping, and eventually catch the MAX again and make it over to Lloyd center. With all the walking around it almost got too hot, but it was nice. At Lloyd center my goal was to find some professional clothes that didn't look too fancy, and not spend a fortune in the process. After going to a couple of stores with not very much luck we were about to leave (even my backup store of Old Navy came up empty - you have to be at least 5'6" to fit in their pants height wise and 5'6" I am not). But we passed by this store that was having a massive sale and their clothes were just what I wanted. Score! :)

The only blip in our day came when it was time to get back on the MAX to head out to IKEA. As we neared the station, the MAX was waiting but there was no driver, no riders and a sign that reported it was out of service. A Trimet guy said that in order to catch the MAX we would need to go down to the 7th Ave. Station and catch a bus to the Gateway TC. It turns out that there was a MAX car that malfunctioned on the banfield, which caused them to have to shut the power down on one section of the tracks. It had only happened a short time before so there was going to be a delay on how fast the buses could be pulled off other routes and directed to where we were. Carina and I had no problem waiting, because there wasn't any place that we really had to be, and it was sunny. Other people were not so patient. It was really hard not to laugh at those who thought this was a conspiracy by Trimet to "ruin their day", and the guy who kept repeating, "if this was an emergency situation we'd all be dead by now!" After about 45 minutes a bus showed up and we were on our way. We decided to postpone the trip to IKEA for another day.

Even with the transportation trouble, weekends like this one having me consider something I never thought I would. I might like to live in Portland after school. During my last semester I will be doing a senior practicum in the area of my interest. It will be like a 7 week internship with a local hospital. There is a relatively high percentage of students who receive a job offer from this site. Right now, I am not planning on applying for a job in the city, but if one is offered to me through my senior practicum I will probably take it. I really like living in the city, and I didn't think I would.

[I mentioned that Carina and I took pictures this weekend, and I have to appologize for the lack of pictures on this post. My camera cord has decided to take a little vaction and I don't know where that is. Sad day!]