Portland - Day 5

Sadly, this was the last day of my Mom's vacation. Actually, it wasn't the end of her vacation, though she might think her other travels less vacation than work. But, since she traveled to Thailand and Burma shortly after this trip to Portland and would be heading to England shortly after that trip in association with work I am inclined to think that this entire summer is an enormous vacation for her.

After we dropped my mom off at the airport we went to Mount Saint Helens and stopped at numerous points on the way to see the volcano from all different vantage points. It was truly spectacular and even the learning center we went to was fun and informative. We debated taking a helicopter ride over the mountain, but not too seriously as the cost was a bit prohibitive for us on our budget. Maybe the next time we will take this adventure.

After driving back we stopped in downtown Portland at Powell's Bookstore. It's size was almost overbearing. I could have spent a full day here, but spared my companions of that boredom. I picked up a couple of books after speed visiting the sections of this goliath. From there we went to another record shop and went up to Mount Tabor to watch the sunset. Unfortunately, we arrived hours before the sunset and unruly teenagers just let out from the last day of school made staying up there seem untenable for hours. We went to a food cart pod where we ate Poutine, a sweet crepe and oddly fascinating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They were not just any sandwiches, the two we had were as follows: first, there was the peanut butter with spicy thai chicken, basil, sriracha and jelly. Second, there was the peanut butter, homemade pickles and shredded pork with jelly. On top of the poutine it was impossible to finish the second sandwich and it served as my breakfast the next morning.