Pacific Northwest Trip June 2013 Day 3 Tuesday June 18

UPDATED: February 10, 2021

This is the third of a series of posts dealing with my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult, this time also covering Portland. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.  What few updates there are indicated by NOW in brackets. 

Minor editing to fix typos/incorrect names.

Last night one of the people in the room was a young visually impaired woman with dog. The dog greeted me briefly when I woke up around 6 this morning, a lot more refreshed; must have had a deep sleep. Since I was awake pretty early, I opted for my Thursday itinerary, as that’s the only Portland area one other than the day I leave that would otherwise require setting my alarm.

I went to JELD-WEN Field MAX Station, bought a TriMet daypass, then took a Blue MAX train to Beaverton Transit Center in Beaverton. There I transferred to a WES train (also TriMet); there was a ticket check just after we left. I got off at Woodinville Station where I transferred to a 1x bus (Cherriots Transit). I didn’t get a window seat so I did the next best thing and sat behind the exit doors and use the windows there to shoot through.

 

[NOW:  JELD-WEN Field MAX Station is now Providence Park MAX Station.]

I got off in Salem and had breakfast in McDonald’s near the Capitol. I went to the Capitol right after and got some nice fountain photos there. One fountain defies any attempts to describe; the other is water jets shooting from the ground. I walked to the downtown core and bought a Cherriots Transit daypass from the Transit Mall (I couldn’t get a daypass on the 1x because, as I’d researched in advance, express buses aren’t included. I bought some DVDs at Book Bin. Northwest Comic Gallery wasn’t open yet, but as the gallery name implies, it looked pretty sparse inside. I walked out of the very beautiful downtown core to Paperback Exchange. On the way back I saw an interesting used music/movies store but there was no indication as to when it would open. I tried to visit Tea Party Bookshop back downtown but it was replaced with a bridal shop. Book Habit also wasn’t yet open; given more time I might have checked it out since it opened at 10:30. I went to the Transit Mall but had to move because someone tried to tell me their life story as I was trying to get my notebook out, probably to hit me up for money. I realized I was on the wrong side anyway.

 

[NOW: NW Comic Gallery, Paperback Exchange, and Book Habit are now closed.]

On the correct side, I took the 19 bus (Cherriots Transit) to Bookmart (defunct), then Mr. Video (bought DVDs and blu-rays), then Tony’s Kingdom of Comics (not yet open despite arriving 16 minutes after opening time). It took a while for it to arrive, but I finally another 19 took me back to downtown Salem. I visited Borderland Games before crossing a bridge to West Salem, oddly in a different county. If the weather was as beautiful and sunny as when I arrived, I might have spent more time in downtown Salem, but now the weather was telling me to get a move on.

[NOW: To clarify further, despite being in a different county, West Salem is still part of Salem. However, the former Bookmart, Mr. Video, and Tony’s are in Keizer. The latter two have moved. Borderland Games has closed.]

After buying blu-rays in West Salem’s Blockbuster Video (yes, a few still exist) it started pouring so I put on long sleeved pants over my short sleeved ones and of course put on my coat. There was still time before the next bus but didn’t want to miss it so made a point of walking to it ahead of time. Then, with a bit more time, I tried to find a fast food place. I did see a DQ but the light was taking forever to turn and I didn’t want to get soaked, so doubling back I visited Roth’s (grocery store) and Oasis Games before returning to Glen Creek Transit Center.

 

[NOW: Blockbuster has closed.]

I got on an 11 bus (Yamhill County Transit; van-type bus; got daypass) and took it to downtown McMinville. I visited Third Street Books before leaving the downtown area to visit Movietime Video (got a couple more DVDs). There was a Mexican buffet near there for $5, but I wasn’t that hungry and needed to keep an eye on the time, so I grabbed a deal from 7-11 instead.

 

[NOW: Movietime Video is closed.]

Returning downtown, Parnassus proved to be closed on Tuesdays. I did a bit more wandering including taking photos of a train passing through but ran out of things to do and returned to the bus area. There it started to pour dramatically. Unfortunately someone also smoked something a bit strong so I started to gag at one point. As it turns out they changed when then next bus arrived, so I had a longer still wait. McMinnville is cute enough but I was pretty bored near the end so I probably wouldn’t return unless there was a shorter wait between buses.

 

[NOW: Parnassus Books is closed.]

I got on the 44 bus (Yamhill County Transit) which weaved through numerous small communities before finally making it to Tigard Station. I was limited on where I could sit on the bus because it had those screens which makes it hard for people to see in but which is all too visible if you try to take photos. At Tigard I wandered into a convenience store named Roja’s. I wanted to buy a Pepsi bottle, but the woman took her time wandering from the counter to the front and the Pepsi proved $1.95 vs. Coke’s $1.50 so I just left and returned to Tigard Station.

 

[NOW: Roja's is closed.]

There I took the WES train back to Beaverton Transit Center and the Blue MAX train to downtown Portland. Between Washington Park and Beaverton Transit Center, the MAX view (red or blue) is much better if you sit on the left heading towards Beaverton and right heading the other way.

[NOW: Again, both of those trains are TriMet Transit]

In downtown Portland I briefly revisited Salmon Street Springs and Mill Ends Park before grabbing dinner at the Subway near Pioneer Place. Cameron’s Bookstore had just closed for the day but I’ll get there tomorrow or Thursday. Floating World Comics, which I think was in a different location in 2008; very unique atmosphere for a comic shop; the superheroes seem like an afterthought there. I walked to Watch This DVD! but found a building with lots of businesses, none of the this one. Next door was Countermedia, an alternative book and comic store. Shortly thereafter I passed the main Powell’s but didn’t got in, though I checked their No. 2 store across the street; “number two” was also how interesting I found the content there: car manuals and the like.

 

[NOW: Countermedia and Powell's No. 2 are now closed.]

I bought a Powerade at the Rite Aid; I didn’t have my card but got the discount by typing my phone number into a screen. I walked to Videorama and bought more DVDs, then returned to the hostel to drop off my stuff and start charging camera batteries and cell phone. I walked to Everyday Music and then Powell’s (this time I did go in) before returning to the hostel.

[NOW: Videorama is closed. The hostel was Northwest Portland Hostel.].

As I was typing this I could hear someone a door down playing his guitar and singing (not much of a problem) and some kid(s) using the main hostel area as their personal running and screaming area (much more annoying but they’ve stopped, guitar guy’s still performing).