In which Roz and Layla vanish into a downtown rainforest and farmland... And Layla loses at shuffleboard

By Roz

By Roz

Next morning we were very keen to give our legs a rest, given the previous three days had involved cycling. So we decided to go for a hike. Logical. There's a giant forest in the mountains on the edge of a Portland, called Forest Park. Eight times bigger than Central Park or some such, it has 70 miles of hiking trails and is accessible by bus. Did I mention how much I love Portland with its brilliant outdoorsyness accessible by public transport?!  So we hopped on the bus from out area and half an hour later were deposited outside a lovely cafe (where we bought lunch for later and a coffee and a muffin for now) and the set off. And oh it was lovely! Within a few minutes we were deep in the forest and it felt inconceivable that there could be coffee nearby. The path was rolling (alas, flat is always preferable!) and we felt as though we were in the middle of a rainforest. We walked along the Wildwood Trail for five or so miles and then found ourselves in the Audubon Society's conservation area, which we meandered round and then sat to eat half our lunch. Incongruously we decided that this was the moment for a vigorous debate about where we should live on our return to London (the outcome will shock you all!) and we continued the debate for a few more miles till we found ourselves near an historic mansion (it might have even been 50 years old!) where we stopped for the rest of lunch and to refill our water bottles. Continuing on a for a little way, and still marveling at how few people were out (but I guess it was a Thursday) we ended up in the Japanese Garden and International Rose Garden. The former is famous for its peace and serenity, and I am sure it must be lovely sans tourists. Alas we didn't get that experience - it was the first place we have been to in Portland that has felt touristy: we even ended up queuing to see a particularly serene rock. Having attempted to read in various spots in the garden, we retreated and headed without much hope to the International Rose Garden. This proved to be an excellent place: created during the First World War to respond to fears that all European roses might be destroyed (and thus containing one of every variety of European rose) it was everything I had hoped the Japanese Garden would be...and it had ice cream. We settled down with our books on a shady bit of grass and felt very pleased with our day. 

Layla then finished her book (always a difficult moment for the person who is still going strong with their book(!) and doesn't want to stop reading) and caught a bus back to the area where we are staying. We stopped off in a very nice bar with a beer garden and had a local beer and ate chips and salsa and continued to read (Layla found something new, thank goodness!). Then home to watch Orange is the New Black before dinner. After dinner we headed out to the very beautiful Hollywood Cinema, in an area north of our flat which we hadn't been to before.  Built in the 1920s it was recently renovated and now shows a mix of films (some voted on by the local audience). We were there to see Clueless (don't judge us!) and had rather anticipated being the only people there (not least since the film started screening at 9.30). But no, there was a huge number of eager Portlandians, some dressed up specially,   and a surprising sense of anticipation and excitement. I loved it! The film was jolly (and audience comment always makes me chuckle) and all in all we left the cinema loving Portland just that little bit more. 

Next morning, after some prevaricating, we finally settled on a plan of cycling round Sauvie Island. This was a plan that had been recommended by our nice bike guide who had taken us to the Gorge. We therefore went into town, stopping to pick up coffee and lunch, hired bikes and made our way - with some trepidation - to the bus stop. Neither of us has ever put a bike on the front of a bus before and it turns out that this was not a skill that you can pick up on the first attempt. But the bus driver was bizarrely nice, and came off the bus to show us what to do (amusingly reaching through the bus window to put the handbrake on!). 40 minutes and a very nice chat with the bus driver later, we were at the end of the line and in Sauvie island. It turns out to be a rural area with lots and lots of farms and with a few beaches and a very nice road going round it. We hopped on to that road and started cycling. But soon we were tempted by an attractive looking farm and stopped off for honey, cherries and dried apples (there's nothing like remembering when you are in the middle of nowhere that you've run out of honey at home to make a wife cross when she has to carry it for the rest of the day!). Back on the road, we cycled through very attractive (disconcertingly almost English-looking) countryside with farms and so forth. But there was no sign of a beach or anywhere to eat lunch. We consulted our phones.  We asked random people. The end result was more cycling. Eventually, and much to my relief, we came to a very pleasant beach. We deposited our bikes, ate lunch, watched a child playing football with his father (World Cup has turned Americans into football fans!) and read our books. I dozed and it was all very pleasant until we suddenly felt too hot and so set off on our bikes again to finish off the loop. Half way along we were in dire need of water and the numerous farms we had passed on the first half of our cycle had suddenly disappeared (it seemed we were now on the posh side of the island!). Eventually, we saw a sign for blueberries, and followed it and found two chatty old ladies, cherries and water. We bought water, picked some cherries and escaped the old ladies. Back on the road, the bus stop turned out to be closer than we had thought...and just by it a previously unnoticed shop with ice cream. A happy conclusion to a very pleasant cycle. We put our bikes on the bus almost like pros and settled ourselves down for our return journey. 

Having dropped off the bikes we returned home for dinner, and then went straight out again to go to a comedy show. The comedians were very good, though our lack of TV knowledge meant we certainly missed stuff. After all, I am pretty sure that I am the only person in the audience who had to think for a few minutes to work out what SNL stands for... After the comedy we went to the backstage bar at the Baghdad Theatre to play shuffleboard. Layla had deteriorated in shuffleboard skill since last time we played, which was most satisfactory, and made for a good end to the day!