Portland

The hum of traffic quiets as we settle in for the night. Our little Magic Barn in southeast Portland proves to be the perfect oasis for us. Tucked between two business districts, the neighborhood was peaceful enough to allow ample recharge time, yet provide enough amenities (like donuts, yum) without having to hop in the car.

After picking my jaw up off the ground looking at hotel prices, I created an account and made my first Airbnb reservation, this charming purple cabin with a gas fireplace, full kitchen, and thoughtful artistic finishes.

I didn't take many photos, but the place felt like a romantic cabin in the woods only it's in the middle of the city (here for more photos). The only issue I had with its "charm" is that I got a wood splinter from one of the walls while feeling around for a light switch.

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Since cities aren't about hiding out in your little corner, we decided to explore a little bit. We had just one full day in the city to explore. For me, this is plenty. Some people draw energy from the constant action of city life, but I'm afraid my recharge will always come from my quiet time. As such, I'm always at a little bit of a loss when it comes to finding something to do in the city.

The most obvious and natural answer for us is to run. We've explored many cities in this same way: Paris, Nice, Geneva, Frankfurt, Munich, New York, Boston, etc. After doing some digging in the literature left by our hosts, we decided to center our run on nearby Mt. Tabor and Blue Star Donuts.

I'm always impressed by urban trail systems. Despite the constant buzz of life around us, they are surprisingly peaceful. As we climbed a car road to the top of what is effectively a big hill, we were rewarded with brief views of the city to our west. We wove through moss covered trees and around the city's reservoir ponds. Just one day after our half marathon, our energy levels were low and I took a lot of picture stops to catch my breath.

On our return trip, we make a detour to the donut store.

Matt's life priorities: 1. Karen, 2. Yummy food. 3. RUN RUN RUN

With a fresh pot of coffee, our overpriced hipster donuts were surprisingly delicious. My favorite was the blueberry bourbon basil. I'm afraid the remainder of our choices declined in quality, but admit that they were a day old when we got to finishing off our box of six.

Then we took to exploring downtown. I picked up some fancy pants sock yarn and we shared a food cart bubble tea as we made our way through the busy city streets. We took a riverside stroll in the sunshine and I swear that Portland was showing off just for us.

Signs marking the Portland Marathon route were already in place and we debated whether or not we'd like to someday return and run the race. As far as cities go, this one was manageable.

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Then it was time for the main reason for our overnight stop in Portland: my cousins.

Remember when I said I’ve got about 40 first cousins? They live all over the place and two just happen to be in Portland. With Mark and his dog, Pinot, in tow, we made our way over the hills and out to his brother Pat's home for dinner.

On the menu: Grilled pork on pretzel rolls, slaw from my garden, and about 15 years of catching up.

What I love almost as much as actually getting to know the adult versions of all of the people who swim in my own gene pool is Matt’s reactions. Most of the time, he’s meeting them for the first time (I think he’s met about 20/36 cousins on this side of the family).

He quizzed me on family trivia and pointed out common traits that I haven’t really noticed. They say I've got the family nose. I tell Pat that he looks a lot like our Uncle Larry. You'll notice the aurora shot in the background. This particular branch of the family tree shares my love for Alaska too. We lived with their younger brother Shaun when we first moved to Fairbanks and Pat still spends his summers in McCarthy. Perhaps Alaska was in my genetic destiny all along.

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After a full day exploring the city and spotting Mt. Hood lurking over our shoulders, it was time to pay her a proper visit. To the mountains!