Kyle comes to town

Kyle arrived in Portland right on time Sunday evening. We took him out for dinner at one of Porland's many brew pubs. This one was McTarnahan's, part of the Pyramid brewery family. After that we headed home taking the scenic route over the hills of west Portland. Mookie barked at him a bit, and then remembered that he rather liked Kyle the last time he saw him and decided that he could sit on his lap!

On Monday, Kyle went for his first run in a while and was able to make it back to the house without calling for help!! So I let him take a shower and then he and I headed downtown on the TriMet Max train. Stopped in Pioneer Square, otherwise known as Portland's Livingroom, and started a little walking tour from there. Headed off to the Niketown for a little comparison shopping. Kevin met us there and we went down the river where Kevin took our picture with a view of the Hawthorne bridge behind us. Then we headed off to Voodoo Doughnuts!!! They are a quirky little Portland landmark that we have been to just a couple of times now. I am really wanting to try their maple bar with bacon, but they haven't had it when I went in. I guess you need to get there early for that!! But Kyle decided to try the biggest doughnut they had, appropriately called the "Tex-Ass". Little did we know he would soon be the center of attention. They have a little contest when they sell that big ol' doughnut. If you can finish it in a minute and 20 seconds, it is free plus you get a pin that says you won the "Tex-Ass" challenge. Well, who could resist that!!! Kyle did his best, but left a bite on the plate before time was up. Better luck next time......

We went to lunch at another Portland hot spot, Kell's Irish pub. Had a good lunch, but not beer. Came home and took Mookie for a walk, then to the vet. On the way back, I drove Kyle around the Nike campus and then went in search of the Nike Employee store. Once we figured out where it was, we went back home and exchanged Mookie for Kevin and went back out! We made quite the killing there!!! Thanks Kyle!!! We had just gotten our IRS Stimulus check so we did our bit to stimulate the economy. At least Nike's part of it anyway!!

So after all that shopping we worked up an appetite and went to another area brew pub (seeing a pattern here yet?), McMenamins. They have brew pubs & wineries all over Oregon and parts of Washington, some with hotels, movie theaters, concert halls and other such fun stuff. Plus they make a pretty good selection of beers!! We go there pretty frequently for dinner, not having beer every time though. Last night I had a Ruby Red ale, which has a slight hint of raspberry to it. More like soda then a beer!!

Today we headed out to the Woodburn factory outlets. Why? Why not?!?! Had to do some more comparison shopping. Kyle wasn't that impressed. But I managed to find another shirt at Nike and then a shirt and pants at the Columbia outlet. So I had fun anyway.

Currently Kyle is schmoozing at Nike. He got invited to a softball game after they show him around, so I'm not sure when he'll be back. Hopefully he will make some good contacts here at Nike corporate. It would be cool if he ended up moving here!! But he, like the rest of you is ALWAYS welcome to come visit!!!