Whoa, The Sun Is Out!

By Simeon | January 15, 2008 12:32 PM | Comments (1)

In Portland this week, the weather has been impeccable. It is no secret the winters are normally dark and somewhat rainy. The cloud cover makes the daylight hours dwindle. I am happy that the temperatures don't drop to drastic lows. I can deal much better with a little cloud cover then freezing wind. Over the last few days, we've had none of this! The sun is shining brightly. The forecast calls for sun through the weekend, but I'll take each day one at time. When it comes to weather around here, it seems the only constant is change.

On the nice days, the population explodes into the outdoors. We are no exception and spent Sunday exploring a new area of Portland -- the South Waterfront. In the spirit of learning the public transportation, we drove into Old Town to catch the Portland Streetcar.   The Streetcar is basically a tram that runs from the Northwest through downtown to the South Waterfront. Along the way, you can catch many of the city's major attractions.

The ride through the Southwest to the river is pleasant enough. You travel through the heart of Portland State University.   The very end of the line is the South Waterfront. It is comprised of brand new condo high-rises. It is sterile and almost vacant.   We walked along the brand new river path but soon became bored with the ghost like towers.   A quick ride north on the Streetcar drops you off at Riverplace. This community is more established. It is nestled between the Riverplace Marina and Gov. Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Riverplace has a few restaurants and a brewery, but we didn't stop this time. We continued on through the park. There were people and dogs everywhere.

After walking almost the complete length of the park, we turned into Old Town to find our car, but we didn't feel like driving home. We drove to the Northwest to find a watering hole for an afternoon snack. We parked between 23rd and 24th on Glisan and decided to walk north on 24th. I wanted to checkout the back roads north of 23rd. There are some really nice streets in that area. Around Savier Street, we walked back east. There is a small cluster of waterholes near NW 23rd and Savier.

I've been to the McMenamins on that corner so, we walked into the New Old Lompoc. We were greeted by a very friendly barkeep. We thought about sitting at the heated outside patio, but we just stayed at our barstools. I had a very tasty guest Orange brew, but I can't remember its name. Teresa enjoyed a few spicy Bloody Maries. I also tried two of Lompocs own brews -- Lompoc Strong Draft and Condor Pale Ale. The Lompoc Strong Draft or LSD is extremely good. It can be poured straight from the keg or with a blast of nitrous oxide. When you are served LSD Nitro, you must let the beer settle before tasting the goodness. Think Guinness but with better flavor. The Condor Pale Ale had a nice bite with good flavor. I enjoyed it, but I liked the LSD better.   We didn't forget the snack. Our order of humus was excellent. The humus was dripping in seasoned olive oil. I really enjoyed the entire Lompoc experience. I would like to go back for at least a second time.

As we traveled home, the sunset on a glorious day. It was only the first glorious day in a series of glorious days. It is a shame we have to work. I'd rather be outside sucking up some sun. You can't have everything, but soon winter will be finished. The sun will stay out until almost 10pm. It will be continually glorious. I don't want to get too ahead of myself. Lets just enjoy these few days of great weather.

Mt. Hood picture courtesy of Brewcaster