Portland and such

I didn't know a lot about our new city before we arrived here.

Portland:
-smaller than Seattle (turns out not much smaller)
-really far from Texas (but swest flies here)
-lots of Liberals (a mixture)
-rain, rain (only 1 hr of rain in the last 2 weeks)

Portland (so far) is different than my preconceived notions. I mean, we sort of jumped into this cross-country move head first. (I knew lots more about other cities like San Diego, Denver, NYC, Miami, but Portland seemed like the right place.) And-truth be told-settling in has been a process. We will retire the lovely air mattress for our own bed and furniture in a few days, & I'm thrilled. But here are the top 5 things that have surprised me about Portland so far:
1. It is gorgeous!! Trees, shrubs, bushes and enough flowers to meet Ladybird Johnson's standards.
2. People are friendly and many are not from here. In TX, most non-native borns are from Oklahoma or Louisiana but not here. I've met Brits, Alaskans and many Canadians. Accents are fun.
3. The weather thus far is gorgeous. A 70-degree August day is unheard of in many places, but not here.
4. Coffee shops almost everywhere...this might have to be a line item in our family budget.
5. Lots to explore...many memorials, gardens, trails, parks, rivers/lakes and all sorts of outdoorsy stuff I've never done before. Exciting!

I'll show you more as we experience it in the coming months. Happy Monday to ya. So far, so good here in the City of Roses! (more on that tomorrow)

And a little strawberry apricot oats with apricots from our neighborhood farmers market!