Welcome back!
I went from Portland, ME to Portland, OR over my spring break to visit Nawwal. I left Saturday March 7th with our friends Katelyn and Millie and got back Saturday the 14th. It was easily one of the best trips I have ever taken. We landed at 8 p.m. on the West Coast, so it was 11:00 p.m. here and went back to Nawwal's house to drop off our stuff. When we were all settled in we went out for dinner at a restaurant called Shari's that's famous for their cinnamon french toast (it really was that good). The next day we went to a peeps diorama making party and I've had to explain this to everyone I've told so far, so I'm guessing I should probably explain here too. We used the little easter peep marshmallow things to make dioramas. My and Nawwal's was themed "Ode to the Octamom" and Katelyn and Millie did one themed "The Bachelor". After the peeps party we went downtown to the Saturday Market. On the waterfront there are a bunch of tents set up for little vendors. There are hat, food, art, and jewelry tents to name a few. That night we went to see Nawwal's brother's performance at the hip-hop cabaret. He does a style of dancing called popping and he's great at it. I was so impressed. It was a really interesting night and I had a lot of fun. It's not something that I have the chance to go to often, so I'm glad I got to experience something new.
On Monday, Katelyn got sick with a sore throat, so we took it pretty easy. We watched Madea's Family Reunion (hilarious movie) in the late morning/ early afternoon and then Nawwal drove us around to see a couple of the towns around where she grew up. It was a little rainy but we got to see some really cool places. Tuesday we went to visit Nawwal's high school and her old teachers, and we spent most of the day driving around to see where she grew up. There was a nickel arcade in Beaverton that we went to called Wunderland, so we spent a little while in there. Later that night we drove up to Portland to get donuts at a place called Voodoo Doughnuts. It's a little creepy at night, but the donuts were so good.
On Wednesday, we woke up pretty early and went to Jamba Juice for breakfast. Then we drove down to Nawwal's new school: Western Oregon University. We spent most of the day walking around there and then drove up to the Washington Square Mall to go to a store called Made In Oregon. After we left the mall we stopped by a protest for peace where I tripped and fell in the middle of the street. I am so graceful. We went back to Nawwal's, had dinner, and then went to the movies to see Madea Goes to Jail (another very funny movie).
Thursday, Nawwal's mom took the day off of work to bring us to the coast. Now I can say that I have touched the sand on both the East and West Coasts. On the way up we stopped at a cute little restaurant called Camp 18. It was so good and we took some pictures and then headed back out to drive out to Seaside. It was beautiful out and it wasn't too windy when we got to the beach, so we sat out on the sand for a little while and then went in and out of the little shops down the street. We left the beach after seeing all the shops and went back to play some basketball. Me and Millie vs. Katelyn and Nawwal. First of all, both Katelyn and Nawwal grew up playing basketball and Millie and I didn't PLUS we are shorter than the two of them, so we resorted to cheating. They still beat us. After basketball, we went out for dinner with Nawwal's mom and step dad.
Friday was our last day in Oregon so we spent most of the day in the city. We went to get lunch with Nawwal's mom and spent the rest of the day walking around downtown. We went to the Pioneer Place mall and Pioneer Square. We rode the train back to Beaverton and spent the rest of the night at Nawwal's playing Balderdash with her sister and watching Golden Girls. Our flight left at 7:20 the next morning and we landed back in Boston at 3:30 (12:30 Oregon time). It was a sad goodbye, but I can't wait to go back out and visit again.
Hope you all had as nice a break as I did. Check out the pictures from my trip!
Made In Oregon sign
The four of us at the restaurant we went to "Camp 18"
The beach!
Pioneer Square
Statue in the square
One of the top left "branches" says Portland, ME!
Pioneer Courthouse
Nawwal and me sitting on the fountain in Pioneer Square
