The Great American Stay-cation 2010- Portland

Swirls of coffee seeped into the tunnel of light in Portland airport as I navigated through the multicultural crowds trying to find a way out and into the breezy Oregonian weather.

Lisa and Anika pulled up in a grey sedan and away we went for a slow food Portland lunch. Lisa had tuna melt with bacon. I had a pulled pork sandwich with applewood cheddar and jicama fennel coleslaw... Mmmm-ey.

After lunch, we rocked out to Seattle, which had amazing weather, winds were dancing around us, lifting up our wispy hair and doing dips with it, sun was pouring into give our faces this radiant glow you get after facials or good sex. We sat out on a balcony overlooking the Pacific, a cozier cuter less crowded version of Cape Cod and sat with old friends and new enjoying bloody marys and cold beers.

After a lengthy porch session, we piled back into the sedan and headed for Lisa's sister's house in Tacoma, which overlooks a beautiful inlet where you can often see Orca whales wandering in and out of the bay.

Sat out on the porch, drank some wine and fell asleep to the whispers of pines tickling each other. The next day, hugely involved family, perpetuating the American staycation vibe, we went to a all-state summer track and field meet for family members of all ages followed by an upscale version of Pizza Hut and then, a sleepy eve.

On day 3, we rushed back to Portland for some shopping and bbq comfort. It's always great to meet your friend's good friends. It makes you understand your relationship with that person better and also, makes you see the growth that they've done without even knowing the half of things.

Portland is a beautiful city. however, I feel I might have gotten a somewhat bias opinion being there in the 3rd week of July, probably infamous for being the best week of weather all year long. Nonetheless, I loved the fact that most of the people there were my age and I didn't feel old or like a huge chunk of my generation had moved out of the sticks desperately seeking culture... The food and wine scene is probably what would suck me in. On the contrary, the necessity of a car and mediocre weather, even though the city is stonewashed in greens, would make me doubt putting it in the top 5 places to live if I ever moved back to the good ol US of A...