Portlandia

The drive from Kamloops to Portland in the world of long drives is a short 750Km (approx) but the combination of having driven the Coquihalla about a million times, the I-5 being the least interesting highway in the western world, and half a dozen tequilas the night before made for a long day one on our drive to SF.

This amazing shot is rendered less amazing having seen it thousands of times

It was, however, successful and without incident including at the border.  We left fairly early on Saturday as in my infinite wisdom have planned on moving south on a long weekend. However, the Sumas border crossing at noonish had a mere 20 minute lineup. They always surprise me at Sumas. For all the bad press that the Department of Homeland Security and the CBP get, they have always been really pleasant to us at the Sumas crossing. This was no expection. We were in and out within an hour of arriving in line and had zero hassle getting my TN visa. I would suggest that this is in no small part to having carefully researched what they needed and had everything ready in triplicate. Andrina thinks it's because of her nerdy glasses.

TN'ed

A TN celebration on our lunch break

Nerd Travelling

Arrived in Portland in time to go out for beers and a bite at Deschuttes Brewery where we tasted the most shockingly good gluten free beer. It's not yet listed on the website as we were told it's on iteration number 47 and they are still working towards a final version. The pints we had suggested they are close. No bottles available yet; only in growlers for take home. They also have great gluten free service. They put a blue elastic band around the pints of the gluten free beer which serves to remind the wait staff to offer you gluten free options. It kinda feels like the scarlet letter a bit but the reality is we found an entire gluten free menu as a result. Kudos to Deschuttes for making cheating on our Paleo lifestyle a little less like cheating.

The delicious GF beer with the blue band the sampler that followed

I thought there was lots of girls around

If you're ever staying in Portland and you leave booking a hotel to the last minute and can't get in to the kitchy places downtown that you want then I recommend the Silver Cloud. The rooms are super clean and actually quite well appointed with a nice sittting area, little fridge, microwave, etc. It's reasonably priced and there are bus stops directly outside the hotel with regular service to downtown. For $4 we roundtripped to downtown for dinner. Andrina found the beds a little soft for her liking but I slept like a champ.

Ok, we're off to try Gravy for breakfast which appears to be a Paleo friendly favorite here in Portland. Then six or so hours of driving and we'll be into California and be celebrating Andrina's birthday tonight.

Later!