This is the 6th in a series of posts covering my trip to the US Pacific Northwest in 2022, adapting emails originally sent to friends. I use NOW to refer to any updates since I did the trip.
Whoever was causing the crackling sound was gone last night. Before I searched for help the night before I heard someone talk to someone else about noise and the crackling was all that I could hear so maybe they got in trouble for not turning it off. Or it could have been their last night anyway.
I slept okay at first but woke up around 3 and soon after I could hear snoring, which I have trouble falling asleep to. I finally got up just before 5 but my glasses fell to the ground in the hard to reach area of the bunk, so I had to wake up the person below me. That's one reason I prefer lower bunks: I have more of a chance of retrieving fallen items without waking anyone.I made sure I had my padlock key but then after using the washroom suddenly couldn't find it.
[NOW: The above was at Northwest Portland Hostel.]
I finally gave up and got a daypass at Providence Park MAX Station. I took a Blue Line MAX train (all light rail today TriMet) to Beaverton Transit Center, Beaverton. I did a brief walk and then returned to the transit centre and took a WES light rail to Wilsonville Transit Center, Wilsonville. Both SMART and Cherriots Transit share the 1x bus. For the first time since I rode a 1x bus it was SMART. I like that bus a bit more because it doesn't have a bill reader that has trouble reading bills. I took the bus to the McDonald's near the Oregon State Capitol, Salem. Not to be confused with the more infamous Salem, this one is a nice relaxing place to visit.
After breakfast I walked through Capitol Park and visited the World War II Memorial. I got a Salem area daypass at Downtown Transit Center. I took Marion Street Bridge over Willamette River to West Salem, which is still part of Salem proper but in a different county. I wandered Wallace Park and the nearest shopping area before taking a foot and bike bridge back to the east side.
I took a 2 bus (all Greater Salem buses Cherriots Transit) east a ways and wanted to visit a mall a little ways south but it didn't open until 11. I crossed the street to Four Corners because it was so nearby that I wanted to say I had been to that municipality today and then, after a quick Rite Aid visit, soon returned to Salem.
[NOW: That Rite Aid is actually in Salem; The municipal boundary is a bit strange.]
I noticed that the vulnerable spot in that one shoe now had a piece of broken glass in it but I couldn't get it out. At fye I bought a Mystery Science Theater 3000 set plus a few $1 movies. I then visited the new store nearby Radar Toys and Comics. As I waited for the bus I finally got the glass out of my shoe. I took the 15 bus up north. I think I was in Keizer when I got off the bus but if I wasn't I was when I visited walking west. I visited Tony's Kingdom of Comics which was having a sale but not anything I was interested in.
[NOW: it was definitely Keizer when I got off the bus. That fye has now closed.]
In the same shopping area, Mr. Video, the last Greater Salem video store is closing down. I bought 20 DVDs, all horror as per my informal tradition with that store. I got different deals than I thought I was getting but the total came to about $18 less. I got a beagle kiss. I spotted the guy helping me put the wrong disc into a case. Hope I didn't miss any other wrong discs. I'm particularly intrigued by Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula; I'm a sucker for a movie with an interesting title. I took a 19 bus back to the Downtown Transit Center.
[NOW: Mr. Video of course did finish closing down.]
Being loaded down by DVDs I wanted to take a bus back to West Salem but it proved to be faster to hike. After visit visiting Book Bin (they have a cat but I couldn't find it) I visited Reader's Choice and had lunch at McDonald's. Again the timing didn't work for me with the bus so I took the foot trail back to the east side and walked to Harvest Music. They have some DVDs but it's so crammed it was even hard to see some titles and it was hard to navigate with another customer, I doubt I'll ever buy anything there. It's just so cramped that I visit out of fascination that it's still in business.
There are some artificial and I think real water bodies nearby, e.g. at the Civic Center. I wandered around some more a bit randomly, revisiting the Capitol area, visiting another Rite Aid, checking Book Bin a second time for the cat. I finally went to Downtown Transit Center where I took another 1x bus (this time Cherriots Transit with its ornery bill machines) to Wilsonville.
Normally I head straight back to Portland from there but decided this time to explore Wilsonville a bit, including the Town Center loop and the Town Center Park, which has Korean War memorial. Wasn't that captivated with Wilsonville but I satisfied my curiosity. I took a free 4 bus (SMART) back to Wilsonville Transit Center. I got on the WES train after it arrived. All WES stations have pay phones surprisingly as well as some nice small sculptures. At Beaverton Transit Center I switched to an operating but malfunctioning Blue Line light rail (name of next station and announcements incorrect, thus sometimes which exit doors were incorrect).
I got off in Portland near Mill Ends Park. I think I got better shots of myself with the park this time. After visiting Salmon Street Springs I looked around for a place I wanted to eat (including inside Pioneer Place which inverse to the rest of downtown Portland seemed more high end than before) but to no avail, I walked east and then north. Someone had spray painted on a sculpture of a mother and child elephant. I was getting late and I was hungry so I skipped Powell's. I passed the usual McDonald’s near the hostel and found a Taco Bell. I was hesitant but it was actually good. I think the reason for my hesitancy was the name sounds a bit like Taco Time, which actually is bad. But even though I usually prefer it to Coke, the Pepsi was off; I think one container was actually cherry Pepsi. At the Northwest Portland Hostel I did another check for my padlock key. I finally found a key on a thin counter with a few things of others'. It proved to be my missing key. As before I am typing this outside in the Secret Garden area. Haven't had a beer yet (I will) but I'm getting some more fresh air while doing these reports.
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