Woodbeads I - Part One: Urban Hike in Portland, OR

The trip to Portland, OR for Woodbeads I was the adventure of the summer!  I think I had more fun than my luggage did, which unfortunately got jammed up on a conveyor belt at Logan International Airport, so when I landed and met my Northeast Regional Commissioner, Rick Saunders at the Portland airport, we had a few hours to kill before heading out to Lost Lake, so we did what any good Rovers would do... we went exploring!

The downtown Portland area was just beautiful.  The city is on a human scale.  The city blocks are smaller, and there are transit buses cris-crossing the city on nearly every other street.  We parked our rental car and made our way to the visitor center, which is nestled in amongst some man-made waterfalls in the center of town.  We met with a Vistor Center guide, who helped us lay out a simple route of must-see sights.  All points along our walk are laid out in this handy Google map I made:

Our walking tour - click to enlarge

We had parked at a parking deck, estimated to be at pin 5 (above).  We walked to the visitor center (pin 1), then from there, nearly across the street to the old Pioneer Courthouse (pin 2).   While stopping to take photos, my sunglasses snapped, thus necessitating an unscheduled trip to DD's Discounts (pin 6).  From there we made our way down SW 5th Ave and then left onto SW Oak, to the famous Powell's Bookstore.  We easily spent an hour in the store looking at field guides, history books, you name it, it was there.  I left with a handy laminated, folding star map which is perfect for backpacks.  We left the store and made our way over to Deschutes Brewery; pulled up to the bar in full uniform, had a tasty beverage, and met a young student from the Netherlands.  After what seemed like another hour, we made our way back to the garage, and then on to our final destination: Lost Lake.

Pioneer Courthouse

Powell's Books

I have to admit, it was great fun exploring a new city.  We certainly got stopped a bunch of times, as people could tell we were not your average Scouts.  The best comment, "You look like a cross between a boy scout and the Canadian mounted police".  Rick did an awesome public relations job.

Rick taking photos

Mileage Count:  According to the Google Maps measuring tool, I counted 1.67 miles.  No rounding this time...  Running total: 15.67 miles... 82.33 miles to go!!