Portland...Whoa!!!

I have always considered myself a cultured country girl.  I have lived in big cities and never really thought that I could be shocked by my surroundings, boy was I wrong!  I have been in Portland for a month now (my apologies to my 3 readers for just getting around to updating :-) ) and I have decided that the people here march to their own beat!!  To say that Portland is laid back is an understatement, the people here care about the environment but don't care that people are walking around half dressed.  This is the land of the hippies and I understand why.  My poor conservative background wants to run from this city screaming!

My work schedule is fantastic.  I usually work several days on, then have a block of days off, which I use to sightsee.  So far, I have been to the Oregon coast, Mt St. Helen's, Mt Rainier, Multnomah Falls.  I have also been learning my way around Portland via public transportation, which I love.  The hospital I work at is very similar to Carle in size and patient population.  The ER has fewer patients and the patients are not nearly as sick as I would see at Carle.  I am grateful for this on my first assignment because it has given me the chance to adjust to being so far from home without the stress of work.  The staff have also been incredibly kind, welcoming and helpful to the travelers.  Most of the Oregon hospitals are switching over to a computer charting system through August, I have yet to decide if I want to stay through August.  I have a couple of weeks.

My mom and I had a great time on our road trip out here!! She was a great navigator and kept me calm through the mountains and I kept her calm going over the bridges throughout the city.  The bridges in Portland are like none I have ever seen, but I have never been to New York or San Francisco.  Even I had anxiety the first few times going over them!!  There are many reasons I think my mom is the greatest, but spending the week with her, made realize how special and rare it is to have a great mom and a best friend all in one.  I have really missed her being so far away, but we get to facetime via our iphones and it makes the distance short when we can see each other.  My nieces love to facetime too, and I love seeing their cute little faces!!

Portland is famous for its beer and microbreweries, and I am not ashamed to say that I have been indulging in the different flavors.  IPA is big out here and it is my least favorite type of beer.  In fact, I would say that I really don't like an IPA at all.  IPAs are a very hoppy beer and in Portland, they love their Hops.  They love to shove as much hops and possible into the beer and just when they have enough, they shove more in.  Being a wheat beer girl, I am having a hard swallowing all the hops, literally.  It is like freshman year in college when I was acquiring a taste for beer, now I have to acquire a taste for hops.  As a beer lover, it is distressing to me that I am not adjusting well to all the hops!!  I have 9 more weeks to get it together!!!

Here are some pictures I have taken since arriving

For movie lovers, this is the Haystack, it can be seen in the movie Goonies.  It is in Cannon Beach!!

 Multnomah Falls, my pictures do not do it justice!! It is beautiful there.

Voodoo doughnut is an Institution in Portland, a must see and eat!!

 Classic Portland, they are everywhere!