Merry Christmas from Portland!

Merry Christmas everybody! As you can see we decided to finally make some use of all the snow we have received here in Oregon. So meet our very cool (get it? cool, because it's snow..haha) snowman. He doesn't have a name yet but we are open to suggestions. Hope everybody has a great Christmas!!!

Happy Caturday!

We bring winter to the Northwest

Our first snow of the 2008-2009 winter season! Yea! The lower elevations of the Portland area typically receive 6.6 inches of snow a year. Well, so far today we have gotten 2 inches (and counting). Enjoy some pictures:































UPDATE 12/20/08: We had an additional 2 inches of snow from Tuesday to Wednesday. Now on Sat. (12/20) additional snow has fallen on the Portland metro area. This week's total is now 6 inches (2+2+2) and counting. Some of the forecasters are saying we will receive an additional 4 inches of snow then change to freezing rain (bummer). In a week we've met our annual quota for snow. Fortunately for the snow-lovers of this blog, we are excited!

We were going to add pictures of that events, but the pictures of snow look pretty much the same from day to day. Plus, Portlanders much like Okies (minus the panhandle) can't drive in the snow. So, we did not take "out and about" photos. We did successfully make a beer, fruit, and hummus run to a local store, though.

Final Update (12/21/2008): The final snow totals for Saturday were 8 to 10 inches in valley areas. We're pretty much socked in with snow at our place (good thing we have rations). One last winter picture:

Obama Wins! Obama Wins!

OKC2PDX celebrates the announcement of President-elect Barack Obama...music to our ears. YES WE CAN and WE DID!!!

Happy Halloween!!

Whose Market? Farmers' Market!

We were first introduced to the joys of the local Farmers Market while we were on vacation in Madison, Wisconsin. The market wrapped around the capital building and we spent a couple hours walking around gathering items for a delicious lunch. We went the Moore, Oklahoma Farmers Market a couple times but unfortunately it was very, very small and lacked a great variety. However, it was a good place to pick up some locally grown tomatoes.

A couple weeks ago on a cool, rainy Sunday morning we ventured to the Hillsboro Farmers Market. It was held in a parking lot in the Orenco Station area of Hillsboro. At first we were a little disappointed by the size, but has we walked past the various booths we found lots of produce we wanted to buy. We ended up leaving with a bag full of potatoes, tomatoes, onions, apples, apple cider, flowers, and a mini cheesecake. All the produce was fantastic and we ate great for the week that followed. Unfortunately the weekend we went was the last weekend for the Hillsboro Farmers Market, but the Portland Farmers Market continues into to November so we have added that to our list of things to do. Needless to say we will make visiting the Farmers Market a regular weekly activity next spring and summer.

Bad news for the sinus impaired

We admit, we have some sinus issues. The whole crackdown on meth-heads has impacted us, not because we like to make our house into a bomb, but because we have occasional nasal congestion issues. Sudafed has been our go-to to relief the nasal congestion. Unfortunately, states and federal bans (batteries are used in this horrific concoction, but you don't need a permit to buy those) have made buying Sudafed (containing pseudoephedrine) difficult. We know, we could get the Sudafed PE, but it just doesn't work the same.

So what the heck does all this have to do with okc2pdx? Well, this issue gives us a chance to compare Oklahoma and Oregon once again! In OK, you have to go to the pharmacy counter and ask for the 'real' Sudafed. Then they scan your drivers license (supposedly to go into some database), have you sign a book, and you have to pay at the pharmacy counter. You are limited to a certain amount of Sudafed (9 grams or 12 30-count boxes) per month.

Oregon takes the restriction one step further! In Oregon, you have to have a prescription from a doctor in order to get the formerly over-the-counter Sudafed. This makes Sudafed more expensive, since you at least have a copay at the doctor, then the cost of the product. This is not limited to Sudafed, any medicine with pseudoephedrine requires a prescription in Oregon. We found that out the other day when our sinuses were acting up. We were forced to buy the "fake" Sudafed.

Well, there you have it, our first gripe about Portland.

Post about the coast

A benefit of living in Portland is that you can go to the coast for a day (or even a part of a day). In a little over an hours time, you can drive out to the Pacific Ocean. But first, you must drive through the mountains of the Oregon Coast Range.

The Oregon Coast Range is a majestic stretch of mountains running parallel to the Pacific Ocean. The range spans from about 20 miles west of Portland out to the Ocean. Formed millions of years ago by volcanic activity caused by the subduction of the Pacific plate ... well let's just get to the scenery. Other than a few small towns and the two-lane highway, there was nothing but mountains and trees. The trees came right up to the road in many places and were some of the tallest fur trees we've ever seen! The roads wound around the mountains. But fortunately, no steep drop-offs.

We decided to head to Cannon Beach, about the closest coastal town to Portland. If you have seen any of those movies about coastal towns in the Pacific Northwest, then you probably have an idea of the feel of the town (see The Goonies). We found some public parking and walked out to the beach. Now remember, this is not your "fun-in-the-sun" kind of beach (except for a month or two in the summer). But, it is an awesome beach for taking a walk, enjoying the cool air of the Pacific Ocean, and seeing this:


Haystack Rock! This is a monster outcropping from just off of the beach. Very photogenic and impressive. If you watch the afore mentioned movie, "The Goonies", then you have probably seen this formation. You can't miss it once you get to the beach.

While in town we stopped at a great seafood restaurant, Mo's. We had some clam chowder, clam strips, pop-corn scallops, and bread. A very delicious lunch. If you are ever along the Pacific Coast of Oregon, we would recommend finding one and eating a meal or two there.

Our trip to the coast was only a half-day trip. But we got to see plenty of fur-tree covered mountains, beaches, and the ocean.

Happy Caturday!

Crazy Soy Sauce Commercial

I literally just saw this commercial while watching the noon news. I couldn't believe my eyes...dancing soy sauce?! It doesn't get any better than that.

Recap

We at okc2pdx have been trying to do regular updates. Unfortunately, the craziness of the move put us a bit behind. Then we got more and more behind. And the few people that may still be reading this are wondering if we will ever update again. Let us try to do a quick updated of the past month, then we can get on to new topics.

• We got our keys to the condo at the end of August. Not much story there, except our place is AWESOME! Two stories, garage, brand new, and just a few blocks from the MAX line.
• Max and Erma's reunion was rough at first, but each week it got better and better. Lots of hissing, growling, and swatting (and that was just Max). Erma did growl her way into getting Max to retreat up the stairs once. Now they are best buddies again.
• After Labor Day our 6,500 pounds of stuff arrived. It was quite nice to see our stuff marched off the truck and into our home. We are mostly unpacked now, just don't look in the garage.
• Our car took a while to get up here, but it made it all right. Now our Prius feels right at home with all the other Prii around.
  

We thought the stress of relocating wasn't enough, so we took a trip to Austin at the end of September. Actually, we had planned to go to ACL for months. Now we are back, no more travel on the schedule, and are getting ready for fall.

Phew, now we are caught up!

Happy Caturday!

Happy Caturday!

Erma Earns Her Wings

So by Monday (August 24th) evening most of our worldly possessions were Portland bound and all that was left was to get ourselves out there. Tuesday (August 25th) we packed up our year old kitty Erma, grabbed our bags, and headed to Will Rogers World Airport. Our other cat Max made the road trip by car with us back in May so luckily we only had to handle one cat during our day flying.

That said, Erma's past history of traveling has not been a good one. Every time we put her in the car to take her to the vet she gets car sick, so needless to say we were nervous about how she would handle flying. Erma handled the flying beautifully. She was so calm that we let her out of her carrier (she was wearing a harness and leash) during our long lay over in Salt Lake City, and she sat on my lap and we did some people watching.

It turns out the most nerve-racking part of traveling with an animal is the whole security checkpoint thing. Luckily we had the foresight to call the airport and talk to a TSA representative about what we could expect. The individual we talked to was surprisingly helpful, and filled us in on how to take a pet through security. Just in case you are wondering, we had to take Erma out of her carrier and walk through the metal detector while holding her. Peter volunteered to handle this task and it went very easily. The carrier was x-rayed like any other piece of luggage. The TSA agents were very helpful and didn't create too much of fuss so we were all worried for nothing. The part of the whole traveling that Erma hated the most was the shuttle bus from the terminal (PDX) to the parking lot to pick up our car. She meowed and protested the entire time, luckily the people sharing the shuttle with us were pretty tolerant and it was a short trip.

By Tuesday (August 25th) night our whole family was in Portland, Oregon. Max and I had a warm reunion, but Max and Erma's reunion would have to wait a few days...more on that later.

The Move Part 1

Note: The last few weeks have been pretty crazy for us, what with the move and everything. We apologize for not posting in a while, but we weren't prepared for how chaotic it is moving half-way across the country.

We at P.S. are no strangers to moving. Packing up a fraction of our belongings to go to college, only to move back home nine months later for the summer. Repeat three more times. Our first BIG move was from Ohio to Oklahoma, six years ago. That time we moved the vast majority of our stuff, and had the help/moral support of our parents.

This move is different because we had professionals packing and moving our stuff! All we had to do is sit around and sign papers. It's kind of weird to have all your belongings reduced to boxes. It is also weird to try and live in a home for two more days with this house of boxes (impossible to find anything).

Friday (8/22) six packers came to our house to box up our belongings. On Monday (8/25), the semi tractor trailer arrived and was loaded (led by "cheetah" 'cause he used to be fast). Our only casualty was one of our dressers. The loaders broke a leg off, but it will be repaired/replaced. By noon we watched our truck drive off with our stuff.

Goodbye stuff! We will meet again!

Trendy-Third

Please note, I took this trip last weekend when it wasn't 100 degrees.

Decided to take a walk up NW 23rd today, since I've talked about it a bit recently. There is about a mile of storied "trendy" shops, restaurants, and a few mainstream establishments (talking about you Gap). The stretch of road is a nice walk - there is tree coverage for almost the entire mile. Many of the stores are in old Victorian houses. NW 23rd is only one lane each way, so the amount of possible traffic is reduced. However, there are still quite a few vehicles that use the road. One negative about the area is that the sidewalks are narrow, so you have to dart around people. When you get to sidewalk sales and a cafe, the sidewalk space narrows even more.

Some other thoughts about the Trendy-Third:

Only two Starbucks

If you want to know the future, there are palm reading and other spiritual services

The Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Medical Center is located along the way (it's always nice to have a hospital close by).

Finally, is $50 dollars for a Brazilian wax a deal? 'Cause one sign I saw said it was.

More on where I live

So, my apartment is in the Historic Alphabet District (see my last post about that). I'm not going to bad-mouth my apartment, because it is a roof over my head and a place to sleep, eat, and shower. I will say this though, the windows are about as sound resistant as a sieve is resistant to water. With it being hotter now, I have my windows open continuously. Since my apartment is on Burnside (one of the busiest surface streets in Portland) I often have my music and TV on the "loud" setting. Somehow I am able to sleep through it most nights (but traffic is also lighter). On Monday mornings, at way-too-early-o'clock, the trash truck comes to get the garbage. Lucky me, while I am not on the Burnside of the building, I am right above the dumpster.

The streets in this area are what you would expect in an older area of a city, barely wide enough for parked cars and 2 lanes of traffic. The super narrow street have been made one-way. Because many of the buildings have been made into apartments, and everyone has to have a car (but not really), the streets are almost completely parked up (disclaimer: I do have a car that barely gets used now; fortunately my apartment complex has a small parking lot, so I keep my car off the streets). It is kind of funny (not while I'm sleeping) to hear the people below spend 5 minutes trying to parallel park, only to give up and drive somewhere else. Despite the parked cars, the area is nice to walk around in, with plenty of shade trees and relatively low traffic off of the main roads.

Now, let me tell you about some of the places I see when I walk around. I am amazed at how early some of the restaurants and bars open each day. It is almost an "all night" district of Portland (I have not found the official "all night district" of Portland nor would Sara want me too). Subway (right next door!) opens at 7:30 am, the Taco Bell and McD's are open 24 hrs, there is even a bar (Tony's Tavern) that is only CLOSED from 2:30 to 7:30 am - you'll usually see a few 3rd shifters having a brew in the morning (assuming that's who they are). The banks around me still have normal hours. Let's see what else, there is a Volvo dealership across the street, and a Fred Meyer's supermarket (surprisingly owned by Kroger).

The big attraction just a few blocks away is the PGE Ballpark, home of the Portland Beavers. The mighty Beavers are the AAA affiliate for the San Diego Padres. I haven't gone to a game, yet. But in 2009 the PGE Ballpark will host the AAA All-Star Game.

So, pretty much everything I need (sans Target) is within walking distance and open for a while. A few blocks away is NW 23th St. - supposedly called the "Trendy-third" by locals. There are blocks and blocks of small stores that are not (mostly) part of national chains. I'll probably write more about this area in future posts, as we will be visiting there from time to time.

Well, someone is yelling outside trying to get their bud's attention (hello cell phones!), so that is my cue to go to bed (they don't seem to yell during the day). In summary, this has turned out to be a good place to make a temporary residence (considering I didn't actually visit this area of Portland nor looked at this apartment before moving in). And there is never a dull moment. But, I can't wait to move into a home in the 'burbs'!

Temporary Living

It's hard to believe, but I have been out in Portland for three months. Three months and I haven't really blogged about the neighborhood in which I live! Now, I'm not going to give you the exact location because I don't want the crazy fan (yes this was supposed to be singular) to start stalking me.

Portland as a city is divided into five sections and a downtown area. The mighty Willamette River divides the city into west and east sides. Meanwhile, Burnside St. divides the city into north and south sections. So, you have a northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast, and to be difficult a north Portland area. The downtown area is part of the northwest and southwest sections and bordered by I-5 and I-405.

My apartment is in Northwest Portland, just outside of the downtown area - the Alphabet Historic District to be exact. Now before you get all, "Wow! He's a high roller in Portland!" I have a studio apartment in a 100 year old (fairly boring) building. No AC and oil lamps (okay kidding about the lamps). And I am right on Burnside, so I live in a noisy border territory. The sun reflects off of the building across the street...

WAIT! You haven't told us about the Alphabet Historic District! Well okay! Here goes: starting from burnside going to the north each street is in alphabetical order named after the original founders of Portland ... most of the north half of Portland is in alphabetical order for street names, just this area has been marked for preservation ... it makes it easy to know if you are heading in the correct direction because if you know you just passed Couch (pronounced cooooch) and Davis you know you are heading the right direction for Johnson ... however, you don't know if that is 4 blocks or 8 blocks away (actually 6) ... there are a lot of neat turn of the 20th century (or older) houses and buildings in this area ... unfortunately, many of them have been turned into apartment for punks like me (my building looks like an old business building turned into an apartment - remodeled in 1984) ... other than some of the main roads it is a fairly quiet section of Portland - a great place to walk around.

So that is at least the area in which I live. I'll let this information sink in and talk a bit more about the ... um ... uniqueness, tomorrow.

At last!

Venues to rock in: Crystal Ballroom

This weekend I had the pleasure of experiencing one of the music venues in Portland - the Crystal Ballroom. Going to see The Hold Steady gave me a great reason to go to a "landmark" of Portland (okay, okay you got me, I'd see The Hold Steady in a McD's parking lot if I had to). If you took the Bricktown Ballroom in OKC, raised the ceiling 20 feet, doubled the floors space, added an extra flight of stairs, added peculiar wall paintings, and add 90 years of musical and performance history, you would get the Crystal Ballroom. So the only thing the two really have in common is performances and the word "Ballroom" (both capitalized).

The main area was just like the name says, a ballroom. The stage was stuck in a far corner of the ballroom to maximize the viewing angles (just go with it, 'cause I don't know for sure). There were gigantic floor-to-ceiling windows on one wall, which were covered for the concert. At the far end of the ballroom there is a balcony where people can actually sit and watch the show (from 40 yards away!). The only 'crystal' that I saw in the ballroom was on a chandelier. But there were some neat wall paintings with a not quite mardi gras, not quite moulin rouge feel. Oh, and there was a little bit of air conditioning, a definite plus in my book!

For this concert there was a waist high wall running diagonally down through the center of the venue. On one side was the "drinking age side", complete with bar. However, the "sober" side actually had access to the front of the stage (where I ended up for the concert). The only disconcerting thing with the Crystal Ballroom was its floor. There was a lot of give in the floor when people started dancing around. I don't know if this is by design or a sign of the building's age. Whatever the case, I didn't fall through (bonus!).

Because of it's location in downtown Portland, there are few parking places. It is good because you can see the band's tour bus parked in front. However, you will have to walk a few blocks if you drive (I live 10 blocks away, so it was easy for me to get to). Then again, you can take mass transit.

If you are in Portland, and they have a band playing that doesn't offend you, I would recommend going to the Crystal Ballroom. It was a nice venue, with plenty of character.

For a review of The Hold Steady's concert, please click here.

Another weekend, another beer fest!

If I haven't mentioned it before, summertime is definitely the time to come to Portland - sunny skies, not too hot or humid, outdoor activities galore, and indie rock scenes. And if you like beer, plenty of festivals dedicated to the beverage. The festival for this week was the 21st annual Oregon Brewers Festival. How do I describe the Brewers Festival? Well, take the PIB from last week, remove everything except the beer and tokens, and you have the OBF. I was never stressed out at PIB, but the Brewers Festival had its moments.

To start, the venue was much bigger - four blocks of festival in Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park instead of one block. While there were only 72 beers to choose from, each beer was from a different micro-brewery, and they were ALL on tap. Oh, and a sample (4 oz) was only one token ($1), no matter what you picked. There were many more food stands, beer related "outreach" tents, and even a stage for musical acts. There were two massive tents for people to sit under and wait in line for your pour. There was even a misting "drive through" to cool you down! On the downside, there were A LOT of people. It usually took me five minutes to get a sample, but another five to get in/out of the tent to sample my brew. I got there by 1pm and there were already lines. By the time I left at 4pm, people were packed under the tents. So go early!


On a personal note, it was great to be able to sample many beers, however I really didn't find any I would absolutely go back to have again. A lot of the beers seemed to be over-carbonated (possibly not the case if you visited the breweries directly). But, I wasn't compelled to poor any samples out, so I got my money's worth. I am still looking for the "shangri la" of beers (for me).

Oh I forgot about this! There was a kids tent (no kidding) that had no-beer related activities. I ended up in this tent, not because I like kids or I wanted to color, but because of the free samples of Crater Lake Root beer. That was the best "beer" I had this past weekend.

Portland International Beerfest

This weekend Portland was host to the PIB (Portland International Beerfest). This three day event featured 130 different international* beers to sample.

*There were a few beers from Oregon and California, but maybe they were using foreign brewing techniques.



This year's tag-line was, "There will be beer." I couldn't think of a better reason to go, than knowing the beerfest would have beer. Well, other than the fact that it was only a few blocks away from my apartment, in downtown Portland. I went early to take advantage of the "early bird special." But I'm getting ahead of myself. For $20 you gain entry to the PIB, receive a 4 oz glass for sampling the beer, and 10 tickets to "pay" for the beer. Additional tickets were $1 a piece. The early special granted you 5 additional tickets, so you can see why I went early (noon-thirty).


The entire PIB was on one of the smaller city blocks, that's it! A metro area of over a million people and the festival occurred on a postage stamp! I expected huge lines and wall-to-wall people, but it wasn't too bad. There was hardly any wait for the samples, but most of the tables were taken early, so I had to stand and drink most of the time. I don't know what it would be like later in the day, they may hold people at the gates until others leave. Inside there was a row of tents for bottled beer samples and a row of tents for draft beers. There was also a food tent for typical German food (the American carnival style of German food). Let's see, there was also a tent for cigars, one selling bikes, and one to raise money for animals.


Unfortunately, it is not all 'one ticket one beer'. Some of the "better" beers cost 2 or 3 (some even 6) tickets, in other words $2 or $3. There was an Italian beer that had cocoa in it, but I didn't have enough tickets (sad face). In all I sampled 8 beers for the money. I learned that I am not much of a German beer fan, and my favorite beer from the International Beerfest was based in Oregon. Go figure. Still a good experience for the money, and it was a great afternoon to spend 2 hours outside! Plus I was able to get a hot soft pretzel. Score!

Going to the mattresses in Portland

Breaking update to the recent bike post: cars (and their drivers) strike back!

There has been some escalation in the bicycle vs. automobile conflict in Portland. It seems the car mob got mad about one of their own being bike bludgeoned by a member of the cyclist clan. The retaliation came swiftly and ... well ... the motorist picked up a hood ornament in return.

Now for the real story. Apparently when the heat is up and the windows are down, some fair citizens of Portland like to remind their fellow citizens how they should act. And as was the case last week, this instance ended up with the police being called.

The event began with a driver going too fast (at least for one person's liking) in a residential zone. A cyclist, miffed at the driver's speed, decided to yell at the motorist for speeding. So the (ir)rational driver decided his retort would be in the form of DRIVING OVER the biker. This action caused the biker to jump onto the hood of the car, and hold on for at least 5 blocks! When the car finally stopped, the biker rolled off of the car. Needless to say, the driver is now sitting in jail and the biker is ok. You want to know the best part? It was caught on video! It is not the best quality video, but what do you expect from a cell phone? Enjoy the music, too!

Moral of this and the last post: do your criticizing of others from an armored truck if you are yelling at drunk drivers/bikers!

(gashole is an awesome word!)

In Portland, bikes rule...

It is fair to say that Portland is a bike friendly (some may say obsessed) city. There are numerous bike lanes all around the city and surrounding towns. Now, these bike lanes aren't just a sign saying "Bike Route" with barely enough space for a car and a cycle to share the road. No, at times these bike lanes are almost as wide as a lane for cars (and out-of-towners may mistake these as lanes, so watch out!). To prove my point about the bike coverage, please see this link. This shows you one of the bike path maps for just the north downtown area. There are bike lanes, off-street paths, and lower traffic streets. To help bikers at traffic lights, they have added green areas where only bikes can stop. There are even some intersections with a special bike signal. They have event shut down some streets to cars - a bikers only zone. Portland goes all out for bicycles.

The way Portland has gone all out for bicycles has caused some tension between cyclists and their automobile counterparts. I have noticed that most people on bike obey the rules of the road. However, there are a hand full of bikers that feel that all traffic, even pedestrians, must yield to them. A few of the spandex wearing, people powered riders feel they own the road and forget this arithmetic as they blow through intersections: car + bike = car wins.

Just this past week a biker used HIS OWN BIKE as a weapon against a guy driving a car. You can read more about the altercation here. The short of it was the person driving the car was a long time biker and riding advocate. He did not appreciate they way the biker was conducting himself on the road, so the car driver followed him for a few blocks and tried to correct the cyclist. The cyclist, who was allegedly drunk, gave his response in the form of using his bike as a wheeled sledge hammer - he started bashing the bike against the driver's car. At some point the driver got out of the car (you never get out of the car!) and the cyclist started hitting the driver with the bike. When the cops got to the scene, most people were saying the guy in the car was at fault (how could a biker be at fault in Portland)! But the police worked it out.

Please check out this article from The Oregonian about sharing the road in Portland. And if you're in Portland, please watch out for bikes!

Cost of Living - Food

Go to any one of the numerous "cost of living" web sites and you will see that, for the most part, Portland is a more expensive place to live. The biggest factor to the higher cost of living is housing - around 150% more expensive for a house in Portland! However, utilities in Portland are quite a bit lower than in OKC. I think Oklahoma summers blow away the electricity bills for the year. Transportation is a little more expensive in Portland, probably due to cheaper gas in OKC. As I mentioned in this blog, if you're lucky gas use can be greatly reduced. A monthly pass on the Tri Met will run you about $76, which is probably a lot less than you are paying in gas per month in OKC. So, I don't really believe the transportation stat, unless they include oil changes and maintenance.

Food is supposedly more expensive in Portland (but not by much), according to the web. But I don't know if the cost of living sites include sales tax in their comparisons. Recall that OR does not charge sales tax. OK has a sales tax rate of 4.5% with each city taking their cut, to make usual sales tax around 8%. So, I had a thought: how does OK having sales tax affect the price difference for food and supplies?

Fortunately, this blog has a correspondent in each city, making this study a breeze. For our comparison stores, Sara used a Super Target, while I used a Target and Fred Meyers (like Albertson's). Ideally we would have compared two of the same store, but the Portland area is not blessed with Super Targets. Anyone who is familiar with Albertson's will know it is always a bit more expensive than other stores in the area, so keep that in mind when I reference Fred Meyers. Also, these totals would constitute those times when EVERYTHING runs out in your house. You know the annoying run to the store where you need two shopping carts and people look at you like you are one of those crazy survivalists...

For ordinary, no-food items, like tooth paste, laundry soap, and paper towels:
Portland $175.88
OKC $180.38

BUT WAIT, don't forget the sales tax!
OKC $194.81

Advantage Portland. Interestingly, most of the Target brands were the EXACT SAME PRICE. But adding sales tax you pay 8% more in OKC.

Now for food items, like bananas, frozen foods, etc. This is a mix of Target and Fred Meyers for the Portland totals.
Portland $85.82
OKC $75.85
OKC w/ tax $81.92

Advantage OKC. Bananas were cheaper in Portland, but many other items were slightly cheaper in OKC. Produce and meat are items that vary week to week, so most of the food stuff compared probably came from a box/jar. Coffee was a dollar cheaper in Portland (have to compete with all different kinds), while a 12 pack of Coke was a dollar cheaper in OKC.

So based on this comparison, with sales tax it is slightly more expensive to buy food and supplies in OKC. But since you don't have to buy tooth paste every week, you may save a little bit from week to week in OKC.

Side note: It is hard to compare restaurant prices, since the cost of a meal varies from establishment to establishment in a city, let alone comparing two cities. Going out to eat may have been included in the overall cost of living calculations from "official" sites. I am probably paying a bit more just eating near the downtown area. Let's just say my average "sit down" restaurant bill for a hamburger, fries, and a coke (or was it a beer?) is around $12 plus tip. Some other day I can go to the chain fast food places and see how those compare between cities, but not today.

People on the Street

I have to say that a good majority of people in Portland are nice. Not the fake, "society says I should be nice, so I'll play along," but genuine nice. If you are in a store and mention that you are relocating to Portland, they'll go out of their way to tell you places to go and things to do around town. Even the lady who cut my hair last week went on and on about the different things I should do out here: the zoo, some aquarium on the coast with a completely glass tunnel underground, recreational adventures, etc. It is really helpful for a newbie to have this outpouring of kindness and help.

Today I was walking to work and received the most interesting of salutations. As I was walking past a bus stop, a guy waiting there said, "What's happening cool daddy-o". I was taken off guard, not because he spoke to me, but just that wasn't something I would expect to hear in real life. The funny thing is, this guy could totally pull off saying things like that. We looked like a 5o year old cool cat himself (I can't pull that off, sorry). This gentleman looked as if he would have been one of those late 70s detectives from the cop shows - the stylish african-american partner. The clothing he was wearing was definitely vintage, from his own collection no less.

I replied to his greeting with a simple, "Hey". If I see him again, and he extends a similar greeting, I will try a more eloquent reply. The funny thing about this encounter is that the rest of the day I was in a good mood. I couldn't help but smile the rest of the way into work as I replayed his greeting. It makes me appreciate even a friendly (and genuine) greeting, it might just affect someones day (and the might even blog about it!).

Nerd Post with GAS!

One of the virtues of Portland, and a major reason for our move to PDX, is a mature mass transit system. This system incorporates buses, light rail, street cars, and commuter trains. Anywhere that is worth getting to in the metropolitan area is accessible via TriMet. In contrast, OKC has a bus system, trolleys in downtown, and a water taxi in Bricktown.

I found an interesting story a few days ago, about "Oklahoma's Painful Car Culture". It basically discusses how spread-out thing are in Oklahoma, and how far a commute it is for many citizens in the Sooner state. The story also listed the top and bottom 10 cities to weather an oil crisis. Portland came in at #6, or the sixth best city to hold up during an oil crisis. Meanwhile, Oklahoma City came in at #50 on the list (worst to weather an oil crisis). Now I know, OKC is closer to oil and refineries, so they should get the gas first. But since Oklahoma is a smaller population state, could they be bypassed for areas willing to pay more for gas? I think the main weighing factors for the list were public transit network, transit use, and other bike and human trails.

Back in Oklahoma, I used to drive 20 miles a day for work. Now that I live in Portland, the drive is 0 miles. In fact, most of the miles I've put on my car have been due to house hunting. For the 35 days prior to our trip to Oregon, I drove 723 miles, using 26 gallons of gas, for a cost of $87. During the 35 days I've lived in Portland I drove 458 miles using 19 gallons of gas, for a cost of $81. So, I have not been in traffic as much and not polluted the air as much. However, due to increases in gas from March to June, the savings has only been $6.00. I have a feeling that the next 35 days will be a one tank range. Worst-comes-to-worst, if gas gets too expensive, I can hop on TriMet.

So one of my goals, drive less, has been accomplished. Way to go!

Bonus Bridges!

And you thought I might leave out bridges over the mighty Columbia in our survey of bridges, HA! There are two Portland bridges connecting Oregon to Washington, over the Columbia River. Your standard massive highway bridges. The heaviest traveled bridge is the Glenn Jackson Bridge, which carries I-205 traffic from Vancouver, WA to Portland (because let's face it, no one would want to go the other way). I often hear of traffic tie-ups on or near this bridge during rush hour.

The other bridge in the area is the Interstate Bridge. This is an interesting bridge because it carries I-5 traffic, and lifts to let boats go under. Not sure how that works with traffic... I will have to investigate! This is also two, two, two bridges in one!

Oh! To be totally accurate about yesterday's post, there is also a railroad bridge that serves Portland, on the Willamette. It is the BNSF Railroad Bridge. Just wanted to be thorough. So do you see why it's called Bridgetown?

***UPDATE***
(6/14) I had the pleasure of diving over both the Glen Jackson and Interstate Bridges tonight! It was my first time to cross the Columbia River (unless you count the times playing Oregon Trail!). The Columbia is even more mighty near Portland than where we first encountered it. The Interstate Bridge gives you a great view of the Columbia River, and is a pretty neat bridge, if your into that sort of thing. If you ever head north on I-5 over the Columbia, stay in the right lane. Look to your right and you will see an amazing site: the Columbia River Valley with Mount Hood in the background! Awesome!

Old Mr. Jackson bridge, on the other hand, was not really that exciting, no trusses, arches, or trains (although there is a bike lane in the median). In my little car you couldn't really see over the side, and only once did I get a good glimpse of the Columbia (but it was also getting dark). The bridge is about 2 miles long, so it is kind of like driving on the Crosstown Expressway in OKC ... only I didn't have to avoid holes in the bridge deck while driving the Glen Jackson.

Bridges of Multnomah Co.

The Willamette (Will-LAMB-et) is a river that cuts through Portland. The downtown area of Portland is situated on the banks of the Willamette. So, it goes without saying that there needs to be bridges to connect east and west Portland (a fleet of 10,000 ferry boats just isn't cost effective). The neat thing about the bridges over the Willamette is that many of them are draw/lift bridges.

Going from upstream (south end of Portland) to the Columbia River (north Portland).

Sellwood Bridge - A really old bridge that will probably be closed to all but pedestrian traffic someday. This is a fixed bridge with about 75 feet of clearance.

Ross Island Bridge - The only cantilever truss bridge in Oregon. Whatever that means. This bridge is also fixed (boring!) and doesn't actually touch Ross Island (what a jip!).

Marquam Bridge - Possibly the least exciting bridge in Portland. Nothing too descript, but it does have two decks, one for each direction of flow.

Hawthorne Bridge - My favorite bridge of the collection. It actually has a section that lifts! And is the oldest type of lift bridge in operation for the US. The Hawthorne Bridge also served as a neat backdrop for the Obama rally.

Morrison Bridge - One of three actual "bascule bridges in Portland (and I thought they were draw bridges). I usually end up crossing this one when coming back from the airport, in case you care.

Burnside Bridge - A second bascule bridge in Portland. I think it is an architecturally neat bridge. And it has earthquake protection! I was almost stopped by this bridge once, but it was nice and let me cross.


Steel Bridge - A real original name I know. It has just about all kinds of traffic: cars, trains, and people. Honestly, it kind of creeps me out.

Broadway Bridge - The third bascule bridge.

Fremont Bridge - Another fixed bridge carrying interstate traffic. Like the Marquam bridge, there are two decks. Allegedly, it is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world. I can see this bridge from my office, and it almost always looks busy during the day. Fortunately, when I've driven on it, the traffic was light.


St. Johns Bridge - I didn't know this bridge existed...need to get out more.

(special thanks to Portland Logue and Wikipedia for the bridge information)

Walk a mile in those shoes?!

One of the allures of Portland is the ability to detach yourself from your car. This is accomplished by having a more compact metropolitan area (see the first nerd post) and a mature mass transit system. Getting around town seems fairly easy, although I haven't hopped on a bus or a train yet. No, I've spent most of my time walking around.

I was fortunate enough to find an apartment that is only 0.6 miles away from work. Thus, I can walk to work and let my car not burn gas. Another positive side effect of walking is ... you guessed it... exercise! A walking site I found suggests that you should get 10,000 steps a day; 1,000 to 3,000 steps makes you sedentary :(. I wanted to find out if I was getting my recommended daily allowance of walking in Portland, but I also wanted to see how much more walking I was doing in Portland compared to OKC.

So, a week prior to leaving Oklahoma I wore a pedometer to count the number of steps I took each day. I rounded to the nearest 100 steps and took an average for 7 days. In OKC, taking into account walking around the house, to my car, and walking around at work, I averaged 5800 steps per day (hoary! not sedentary). On the other hand, in Portland I averaged 7100 steps per day.

I was kind of surprised that I only walked an additional 1/2 mile (approx.). I was walking to and from work, walking around town at lunch time, walking to stores, etc., but I still couldn't get my 10k steps (the closest I came was 9000 steps walking to and from the river). The other surprise was just how much I walked around at my old job, even though I drove to work. Working in a big building that required interaction with people in other parts of the building kept me out of the sedentary range.

I must say it is nice being able to walk around!

Stay tuned! In 3 weeks I will give an update on the other side of the equation - how much gas have I used since coming to Portland.

Oregon Votes!

Oregon is one of the later states to have a presidential primary. Oregonians also have primaries for other offices, referendums, etc. You see, they like to get things over with, and not have elections for one or two measures every few months. Thus, Tuesday May 20th is voting day. What is interesting about Oregon's election process is that you can mail in your ballot. So, from the comfort of your own home you can take the time to research issues and candidates, make an informed decision, and not have to wait in line to vote. One catch would be that you had to mail in your ballot by last weekend, or turn in your ballot in person. Since 1998, all Oregon elections have been Vote by Mail. In 2004, Oregon had the 3rd highest voter turnout and often has well over 50% turnout.

In case you didn't know, the Democratic Primary race is still plugging along. So, Sen. Barack Obama came to the Rose City on Sunday to drum up support from Oregon. Being that I am in Portland, I figured why not go. I am glad I did! Based on estimates from the Portland Fire Marshall, and the Obama campaign staff, there were around 75,000 people who, like me, thought it would be interesting to see what Sen. Obama had to say.


The "gates" were supposed to open at 12:30pm. I decided to leave my apartment at 10am to get there and not wait long. Well, it didn't matter much, because people had started to line up well before I even woke up on Sunday. The back of the line for me was 8 blocks from the entry! And I think I may have been in the first quarter of attendees.

The walk to the gate was much like a political gauntlet. Operatives from many different local campaigns were trying to hand out pamphlets about why you should vote for their candidate. Other groups representing certain viewpoints were also present. As I got closer to the gates the obstacle course quickly turned into a vender mine-field. People selling all kinds of Barack Obama inspired hats, shirts, buttons, and stickers. There was a strong sporting event/rock concert feeling for this rally, and the venders added to that effect. I didn't see anyone selling hot dogs, unfortunately.

I did get through the airport security style gates by 12:45pm, but Obama was not to speak until at least 2:30pm. Two thoughts came to mind: 1) I should have brought a snack 2) I should not have had so much water. Fortunately, the excitement of the event diverted my attention. There was even an opening act, The Decemberists, who noted that this was the biggest person/group they've ever opened for (for those of you that don't know, The Decemberists are an indie rock band from Portland). They played for 30-45 minutes and helped get people excited, and made fun of the press corps ("and the anchorperson on TV goes Laaa dee daa de da de da dedadeda").

An annoying lady and a congressman (not annoying) spoke before Sen. Obama gave his talk. I think it was a little before 3pm when Sen. Obama took the stage and the crowed when crazy! He was as charismatic in person as he is on TV. It was a very exciting time. All in all, walking the distance to the event, standing in line for about 2 hours, and standing in the sun for more hours was worth it for his 30 minute speech.


Based on reports, this was the biggest political rally in the history of Oregon, and the biggest rally for Sen. Obama to date. And I was a part of it!

Hot!

So, one of the reasons we decided to move to Portland was to avoid the Oklahoma heat. If you recall from the first nerd post, the average high in July is almost 80 deg F. Well, much to my dismay, the past few days in Portland have had RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES for May. Friday we set a record of 92 deg F. On Saturday, the high was 95 deg F (which destroyed the previous record of 89 deg F). This wouldn't be that big of a concern, except that my apartment DOES NOT HAVE AC!!! My four-legged friend and I were pretty miserable. To add insult to injury, the state I left because of the heat was unseasonably cool. The highs were in the 70s and 80s in OKC. Fortunately, the middle to end of this week will be seasonable (meaning rain and 60s) for Portland and OKC will be hot.

An interesting side effect occurs in OR with these higher temperatures (which a flat lander like myself wouldn't have realized until now). The remaining snowpack around Portland melts faster, causing the potential for flooding AND and increase in stream and river speeds. There were numerous cautionary stories from the TV saying be careful in the water, etc. Also, despite the 90 deg temperatures, the water is still VERY cold. So, you have to watch out for hypothermia. Pretty interesting, huh?

One more random thing, I am closer to the north pole than the equator.

Oregon Trail

After 1976 miles, logging 30.5 hours on the road, we have made it to Portland! And guess what ... it was raining again!

After waking up in Boise, ID, we continued heading NW. An interesting side note for those who played Oregon Trail in grade school, a good part of the I-84 corridor follows the historic Oregon Trail. Fortunately, Max did not have to go hunting for food, Sara didn't get cholera, and we didn't have to ford the Snake River. But I digress. It took an hour to get to Oregon from Boise. Nothing different from yesterday's trek through ID, more Snake River valley with irrigated crops and occasional rolling terrain.

An official state map of Oregon says, "things look different here." I must say I agree. We saw a wide variety of landscape throughout the 6 hour drive. Rolling terrain, arid areas, beautiful pine forests... and the Columbia River! (which is cooler than the Cimarron; although the Columbia might not reach the "raging" level as often as the Cimarron)





Prior to getting to Portland, we had our first view of Mt. Hood (more pictures to come once we get a clear day in Portland). If you need to see Mt. Hood, go here. We then had to go through the Columbia River Gorge. "Had" is not a good word here... I-84 parallels the Columbia River for a good 120 miles, half of which is through "The Gorge". It is a breathtaking area, and even if I-84 hadn't gone through this region, it would have been worth while for the detour. Needless to say, we had plenty to look at as we neared Portland. It was a shock to see people, cars, houses, and civilization once we got to the outskirts of Portland. We had been in isolation for over 2 days... then... metropolitan area. I almost forgot what traffic lights were.

Now that we have opened the official Portland branch of okctopdx. Let see, other random thoughts to close out the trip. We used 62.5 gallons of gas, averaging 31.6 mph. Our best performance in gas mileage was from Home, ID to The Dalles, OR - 34 mph mainly because the speed limit was only 65 in OR and not 75 like CO through ID. Finally, we would like your opinion. Which word makes an area sound cooler - gorge or canyon? For example, does the "gorge" modifier in rattlesnake gorge make it sound cooler than rattlesnake canyon. Let us know.

Day Two - More Rain

Location: 43.5787 N, 116.2144 W

We started day two with a great view of the Rocky Mountains. It is quite a different feeling to look at the horizon see terrain. We headed north from Ft. Collins, CO to Cheyenne, WY, and saw the U.S. Cycling Championship (or people in funny helmets championship) along the way. We ended up driving past Cheyenne without really noticing it. We thought that the I-25/I-80 interchange may have been far away from the city, and that we were more focused on heading the right way instead of site seeing. However, later we found out that Cheyenne is a small city, and we were only 2 miles from the city center.

We encountered rain in the central 1/3 of WY. With the rain we had in OK early this week, and the rain we've had on the trip, we are ready to live in the rainy Pacific Northwest. It took us about 6 hours to cross WY, seeing some interesting terrain, not many people/vehicles, and some grazing area for cattle.




Utah was beautiful. We followed the floor of some valleys until we got north of Salt Lake City. After that, we entered some more semi-arid basin stuff (wish I would have paid more attention in geology class) until we got to the Snake River valley in Idaho. The Snake River (not quite as cool as the Cimarron River) is a 1,000 mile river that carved out a distinct valley and provides irrigation for farms in the valley. On a topographic map it makes a smiley face in ID! We got up to Boise in under four hours from the ID/UT border and 12.5 hours since leaving CO.

So far we have traveled 1400 miles through 6 states. To drive home the fact that we were truly away from civilization, if you added the population of all 6 states (OK, KS, CO, WY, UT, and ID) we have traveled through, thus far, you would have about the same amount of people as the population of Ohio. In other words, there is a lot of space and you feel very isolated. Tomorrow, we ride the Oregon Trail. (note this is not realtime, due to internet issues)

Current Elevation 4,984 Feet

Today was day one of our road trip to Portland. So, this is part one of our three part series detailing our trip.

We started out early this morning packing what we could into our little Hyundai, which required Peter to stuff whatever he could into every nook and cranny in the trunk. So that along with taking care of last minute details set us back about an hour and a half. But we would not be discouraged. The lack of traffic made it easy to get out of Oklahoma City. It turns out there is nothing too exciting on the north end of Oklahoma so I occupied myself taking pictures.

We crossed the Kansas border an hour and forty minutes after leaving home. Unfortunately, Kansas wasn't any more exciting than Oklahoma (sorry Kodi). Although we did see a wind farm, how fitting we thought. The wind mills are huge and turn a lot slower than I would have thought. Once again Peter has a cooler job than me, darn it.

We also saw a huge grain factory, which I'm assuming is the Ft. Knox of Grain. Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule so there was no time for stopping to see vaults of wheat, may be next time.

We saw several farms that reminded me of Dorothy's farm from the Wizard of OZ, which lead to a somewhat in depth conversation about the symbolism in the Wizard of Oz. Things really started to liven up in western Kansas when we hit the edge of some thunderstorms. Luckily we just had some rain and no hail or high winds.

Rain greeted us again as we reached Colorado. Total travel time at this point-seven hours. When we started out for the day Peter was pretty excited about Colorado and kept saying "I think you are going to like Colorado". Well, once we got out of the rain I finally got to see Colorado-like Kansas only browner. I was not a big fan and made sure Peter knew this. We drove and drove and no sign of mountains, I began to think the mountains were all a fraud and made sure Peter knew I felt this way. Finally, after a little over two hours of driving we spotted mountains at 6:26pm MDT and trust me they are not a fraud. We drove through Denver (the mile high city), someday we will have to come back for a visit. After eleven hours of driving we arrived at our stop for day one - Ft. Collins. We have a nice view of the mountains from our window.

Max is doing very well, which is to be expected since he such a world traveler.

Tomorrow Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho (no, you-da-ho, get it?). Stay tuned for more adventures from our road trip.

The Quirkiness of Portland

There was an interesting article on CNN.com Monday about the fun and funkiness that makes Portland unique. It definitely added several "must sees" (like the Velveteria) to our ever growing list. Check out the article it is pretty entertaining, and perhaps it will inspire you to embrace the quirkiness around you.

...So are the flags of our lives.

Flags are pretty cool, right? Ok so they aren't cool and I know we are probably quickly gaining the reputation of nerdiest blog on the block but we can't help it we nerd out about this stuff. I have lived in 2 states, and no I'm not referring to drunk or drunker, I'm referring to Ohio and Oklahoma. Peter has had the extreme honor of also living in Indiana for 4 years, lucky devil. So here is a little bit about the flags under which we have lived.



Ohio:

Ohio's flag is the only state flag in the pennant shape. All other state flags are rectangular. The seventeen stars represent that Ohio was the 17th state and the flag was adopted in 1902, before Oklahoma was even a state. The red and white circle represents the O is Ohio (pretty inventive, I know) and is also said to signify the buckeye for "The Buckeye State".

Indiana:

According Wikipedia the gold torch represents liberty and enlightenment blah, blah, blah...it's Indiana, honestly who cares (sorry Indiana).

Oklahoma:

Very Native Americany, composed of the Osage Nation buffalo skin shield and seven eagle feathers, which I believe represent the seven tribes that "came" to Oklahoma. It might be of interest to you that the state legislature adopted a salute to the flag in 1982, so next time you run across the Oklahoma flag just say "I salute the flag of the state of Oklahoma: Its symbols of peace unite all people". Short and sweet, what's not to like?

Oregon:

I know what you are thinking, and no Oregon does not have two flags-it has a two sided flag! And yes that is a beaver on the one side. Apparently this is the only two sided state flag in the United States, those crazy liberals are capable of just about anything. The beaver is really a special treat and the little guy/girl represents the Oregon state animal. I hope this means that beavers are to Oregon as armadillos are to Oklahoma because hands down beavers are better. Beavers have the ability to chop down trees with their teeth and then construct their own homes. Armadillos have the ability to dig and walk into to traffic.