(photo by me, Nov 9, 2018. A view of the tower at Union Station in Portland, with a light up sign reading "Go by train" above a clock, and a brigde in the foreground.)

I had a few hours between check-out at the hotel and the train departure, so I spent the time having coffee and playing pinball at Ground Kontrol. If you like video games and old school arcades, I highly recommend visiting Ground Kontrol! I played some older pinball machines plus a few newer ones like Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool machines.

During this time, my bags were stored at the train station. It took me until Portland to realize I had access to Amtrak's metropolitan lounges, which are reserved for sleeper passengers and first- and business-class ticket holders. I took advtange of this so I didn't have to explore Portland lugging around my bags. (Although I still grateful that I used a backpack instead of my roller luggage!

(photo by me, Nov 10, 2018. An animated landscape view from the train, showing snow-covered trees and mountainside.)

I slept through all of Iowa and woke up to a snow-filled Montana! The mountains were beautiful and I loved watching the scenery go by. I had a lazy morning and skipped breakfast, but opted to step off the train in Shelby just so I could say that I've been in Montana.

(photo by me, Nov 6, 2018. Me, a non-binary person, wearing sunglasses and a backpack, smiling at the camera with an Amtrak train in the background.)

There was not much signal on the train from Los Angeles to Portland, so I haven't posted until now. The ride was mostly smooth and nearly exclusively gorgeous. Since I'd previously taken this train southbound, it was nice to see some of the scenery I'd missed before. I had meals with some lovely people, plus a baby was in my car, and she was the nicest baby! She was also wearing a Nirvana shirt, so you know she's a cool baby into retro music. (My goodness, is Nirvana actually retro now?)

(photo by me, Nov 7, 2018. An animated view of trees and forest in Oregon on the east side of the Coast Starlight northbound.)

The train was nearly three hours late getting into Portland, but I had no hard plans for last night. I stopped into Food Fight!, an amazing little vegan grocery store. I bought brie for dinner. Vegan brie! I wish I had refrigeration on the train because I would have purchased all the cheese in the store. I really wanted the port cheddar, but sadly there is only so much cheese I can eat during my stay. Although, I did eat half a wheel of that brie for dinner.)

(photo by me, Nov 7, 2018. A voodoo doll vegan donut resting on top of a pink Voodoo Doughnut pastry box.)

Beside the trip to Food Fight!, I also made the practically obligatory stop at Voodoo Doughnut for a half dozen of whatever vegan varieties they had yesterday. I ordered the above voodoo doll, plus chocolate covered cake, Oreo, Portland cream, maple, and apple fritter donuts. Yum!

(photo by me, Nov 8, 2018. A wall of brightly colored and wildly decorated socks.)

First on my agenda today was Sock Dreams. I've been ordering from them for about 6 or 7 years now, but being in Portland, I had to hit their actual physical location. It was trouble indeed picking out the socks I wanted, otherwise I would have cleaned out my bank account. I grabbed some slouch socks and some thigh high socks, reminding myself that I have enough ankle and crew socks at home. I also squeezed in surprise socks for A. as a souvenir.

(photo by me, Nov 8, 2018. A tall glass of Thai tea with boba and oat milk.)

Mississippi Ave has some nice shops along it, up and down from Sock Dreams. Instead of lunch, I ordered tea from Townshend's Tea and spent about an hour just sipping and people watching.

(photo by me, Nov 8, 2018. Two slices of pizza, one Spiral Tap and one Mythbusters, from Sizzle Pie.)

After, I visited Pearl Fiber Arts for vacation yarn, obviously, and walked away with two skeins of beautiful locally-dyed yarns. For lunch then, I went to Sizzle Pie, directly across the street from Powell's. I'd been there before, but wanted to have just a bit of early lunch since tonight will be a full dinner at Farm Spirit.

(photo by me, Nov 8, 2018. The large lighted sign for Powell's Books on the corner of 10th and Burnside in Portland.)

I cannot believe I didn't take any photos inside Powell's, seeing as I was there for a good three hours. I browsed the entire store (minus the annex) from top to bottom, contemplating many books but remembering that I have limited room in my bags for the ride home. I only ended up with a handful of books, manageable but still hefty.

It was a quiet yet busy afternoon in the shop, and even though I didn't talk to anyone, it felt calmly rejuvenating to be surrounded by so many booklovers. If I lived in Portland, I could see myself coming here all the time, and A. and I would need to buy bigger bookshelves.

(photo by me, Nov 8, 2018. Me, a non-binary person, wearing glasses and a purple hand-knit hat sporting a heart-shaped bisexual pride button.)

I’m now all packed for vacation. My train leaves tomorrow night, but I’ve been anxiously awaiting this trip since February, so packing early helps me feel more secure. I use Tick Tick for my to-do lists, and set up several for packing: clothes, health and beauty, snacks, and essentials.

All my clothes fits in the above cubes, and all the cubes fit into my Osprey backpack. My goal is to travel light on this trip, and even here I’m worried I’ve packed too much! But I love these Gonex packing cubes; I have two sets, a 5-set in orange and a 3-set in teal, and here I’m using all but the large sizes. 

What’s included:

one pair of purple plaid pants

one pair floral leggings

one mint green tee shirt

two long sleeve tee shirts, black and grey

one maroon polka dot dress

16 pair underpants

10 pair socks

1 pair tights

3 bras

pajamas

swim suit

hat, scarf, gloves

two necklaces, several pair earrings, and a bracelet

(Not pictured above are shoes and other essentials; that’ll be another post.)