Stumptown

Here we are roasting in Portland enjoying very fine caffeine beverages at the Stumptown Annex. What a world of info regarding the bean that we never really knew existed. muddy grrl is busily chatting away on her phone ordering equipment for her new lab - rather amusing coffee shop chatter to me. Such is life in the PNW - everyone with their laptops up in front of them and cell phones at the ready. A far cry from the coffee shops back in the early 90s - Perkins in the Minnesota and the Fuel Cafe in Milwaukee. I digress...

We had a fantastic dinner last night with Sirikit and Greg in their stunning early 20th century house. They undertook a HUGE project renovating it from the ground floor up and it's shaping up beautifully. Original crown moldings, cross room ceiling beams, a stellar kitchen and a great garden make for their house to be a spectacular crash pad. Gelato and a walk around the 23rd NW area capped the night and sent us well on our way to "Snuggle Bunny Island" - Muddy grrls childhood land of sleep (always have to watch out for the menacing King Bunny Kong!).

We departed this morning to meet up with a fellow MU grad, Matt, his angel of a newborn baby and later his wife Amy - funky coincidence, eh? We experienced the newest Stumptown rage, a biscuit joint that served up large sandwiches on a buttermilk biscuit. Mine was the Reggie Deluxe, fried chicken, bacon, cheese, and a fried egg covered with gravy on a biscuit. I did have collared greens to offset some of the heaviness of the gravy...

No pictures to add yet - I keep forgetting to grab the camera and download whatever we shoot. Eventually we'll get the hang of blogging! For now, I'm itching to get off to Hood River to hit the trails on my new 2-9er and hook up with some of the Wines folks for some carb loading.

Ok I lied, I ran back to the car to grab the camera and post one of our send off shots. We always drove by this downtown lookout and it seemed an apropos spot for our final spot: