There were a few ways we could have gotten ourselves from Seattle to Portland. The train was by far the cheapest and most fun option, which made it an easy choice.
I originally booked us tickets on the Coast Starlight, which is my preferred service, but a few weeks before our journey they canceled the train we were booked on.
Instead of simply rebooking us on the next closest service, Amtrak made us wait on the phone for hours just to rebook. After all that, we ended up on a Cascades train (essentially a commuter train) with a similar departure time.
It was still great fun, and the boys definitely enjoyed the journey despite the absence of the second-level observation deck and National Parks Service docent.
You simply can’t beat train travel. I don’t care how long it takes, the amount of space and ability to walk about the cars at your leisure plus not having to go through security puts train travel leaps and bounds above air travel, in my opinion.
Lori and I have always loved train travel. It’s really unfortunate the U.S. can’t get its act together to upgrade the rail infrastructure and encourage more folks to use it.
Had no idea there was such a thing. Wonder if you can eat them too! Bet Riley knows.
Noe spent a ton of time staring out the window. But even the exotic landscapes of Washington State lose their luster after a while on a three hour journey.
Back in Portland, Noe’s city of birth. This might be the first visit where he’s starting to understand that. Riley, on the other hand, still tells everyone he’s Malaysian.
When we got to the station, Uncle Matt was waiting at the curb to whisk us away to his and my sister’s place for a fun few days with the cousins. The whole process took a couple of minutes. To do the same at PDX would have taken an hour from touchdown.
Matt got a canoe and wanted to take us for a ride. Of course we couldn’t resist a boat ride down the Mighty Tualatin, even with this guy at the helm.
I was surprised by the Tualatin River. It reminded me more of Belize or Southeast Asia than the rip roaring rivers I’m used to seeing in these parts. The warm August weather certainly helped in that respect.
The boys look like they just saw a croc. If you hadn’t told me we’re in Oregon, I’d probably be thinking the same thing.
All in all, a fun couple of hours paddling through the “jungle,” just a few miles down the road from their house.
My sister needed a pile of wood chips relocated. Naturally, she thought of Riley. He might be here a while.
Checking out the new treehouse. Sturdy and stylish.
Next, it’s off to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Lori and I enjoyed strolling around the vast botanical park when she was pregnant with Noe. The highlight of our visit this time was watching a couple of bald eagles repeatedly dive into the pond for fish.
Someone found a new friend.
We can’t leave the cousins’ house without wiping them out of their blueberries…what’s left of them this season, at least.
These boys are blueberry addicts. Not a bad addiction, necessarily. But a good way to get a tummy ache as these boys quickly discovered.
After a fun-filled five days, it was time to migrate across town for some quality time with close family friends, and Grammy and Grampy who’d never miss a good party in Portland.
Summer in Portland. 85 degrees outside and still too chilly for our tropics boy.
Riley on the other hand didn’t have any complaints.
Out on a nature hike with Grammy.
We also got to meet up with some long time friends of Lori’s parents, who were kind enough to host our entire crew at their lovely pastoral property out on Sauvie Island.
We definitely don’t make it out to this area of town nearly enough.
Our final day in Portland was spent downtown, visiting the Mexican consulate to start the process of getting our Mexican Temporary Residency (green cards).
But first, a quick stop by the old place. Noe’s first home (our unit was the top one).
You may remember that things didn’t exactly go the way we’d planned with our immigration status in Mexico this past year.
After getting some bad information about renewing our tourist card in-country, we found ourselves in a difficult situation.
Rather than pay US$700 for a 3-month extension, we opted to take our chances with a potential fine on our way out of the country.
As it turned out, no one even batted an eyelash at the airport and we ended up paying nothing for our unplanned overstay.
Determined not to let something similar happen in the future, and knowing that we’ll likely be in Mexico for a while, we decided to apply for temporary residency status.
The tricky part is that you have to start the process from outside of the country first (or else we would have started it months ago).
We gathered our application materials and made an appointment at the Mexican consulate in Portland not knowing how long this first part of the process would take.
After some photos, fingerprints, and a quick chat with the consular officer, we were out of there in less than an hour with a sticker in our passport.
But that’s just the beginning. Within 30 days of getting back to Mexico, we’ll need to visit the immigration office to have our visa converted to a permit.
Once that’s complete we’ll be able to stay in Mexico for one year. If we want to stay longer, we can renew for up to three more years. Then, we’ll need to decide if we want to apply for permanent residency.
Besides giving us more time in Mexico without having to leave the country, getting temporary residency comes with other benefits, such as making it a lot easier to buy a car and get cheaper health insurance.
Before our visit to the consulate, Lori had a coffee date with a work colleague. Great, I thought. It’ll give me an opportunity to show Noe around his old stomping grounds. Or at least, mommy and daddy’s old stomping grounds right before he was born.
First stop, Heart Coffee, my favorite coffee shop…
…which has since been replaced by the unfortunately-named Never Coffee.
The plan was to grab a coffee for myself and have the boys split a steamer as a treat. Despite the new name, they do serve coffee, but it wasn’t the same.
Not a great start to this little outing, but there’s still plenty to see.
That’s when things started to get weird. Even for Portland.
I knew Portland, like a lot of places, had some major issues with rioters and vandals the previous summer, but figured that most of it would be cleaned up and resolved by now.
It appeared that Portland is still trying to climb out from under all that.
The iron security fencing around the Apple Store and security checkpoint to enter the store was one of the first signs that something’s a bit off.
Next, we arrived at Pioneer Place shopping center. Or at least, where it used to be. The entire place was completely encased in plywood – doors, windows, you name it. Hard to say whether it’s even functional.
Pioneer Square social distancing.
We continue on.
More boarded-up businesses.
And more.
In fact, 1 in 3 businesses seemed to be in some state of closure.
Tents have long been a common sight in downtown Portland, particularly in shaded medians, under overpasses, and in public parks. Now it seems, they’ve spilled out onto every sidewalk.
I couldn’t count the number of tents we passed on our walk. When I started to notice the piles of discarded needles on the ground, I decided it was time to call it a day with the boys.
Sorry Noe, your birth city was a lot more put together and a much more fun place to visit when you lived here.
When Lori and I were living here in 2015-16, it felt to us like few cities in the U.S. could compare to the livability of Portland and that Seattle had been in decline for some time. Following our recent visit to Seattle and now Portland, it feels quite the opposite.
Mexican cities sure feel safe and welcoming by comparison, which is reassuring given that all our stuff is waiting for us down there and we have no plans to move back to the U.S. any time soon.
Next stop on our overland adventure, our hometown. The excitement is palpable.
