the Pirate town of Portland, OR and the Pool of the Winds 10.10.22

Portland has more tattooed people per capita than any other pirate town on 5 of the 7 continents.
🏴‍☠️💀☠️ 🖤

I was supposed to be housesitting in White Salmon for 2 weeks but in the midst of working out details and dates I had put down the wrong info and showed up a month early. One month early, folks! I don’t even smoke the marijuana cigarettes or sniff the glue or noth’n!

All good… It’s all part of a serendipitous universe plan anyways. I came to the PNW for more ocean time and to look for home base 2… or 2 1/2… I’m not sure of the numbers or the order. I have a mid-term boarding room set up so I’ll be doing 3 to 6 in this particular pirate town until I see a shiny penny elsewhere.

I spent a couple of days in Carson, WA… up the Columbia River Gorge. A night at the BlackBird cottage on Carson Creek with artist Debbie. Surreal property that has its own waterfalls on site.

One lovely hike to the Pool of the Winds that entirely validates my interest to spend some significant time here. I met a British couple that were huff’n and puff’n and they commented on how warm it is here. I thought the same… the temp is in the high 80’s… is it supposed to be this warm in the Autumn?

There’s a simple hot springs down the road that was calling my name after the hike. I soaked for free because I had won 2nd prize in a beauty contest from some board game… or possibly no one was at the front desk… I don’t know… I don’t work there. I didn’t have a towel with me so I used my ‘shemagh.’ If you hike, travel, or just slip past front desks… get a ‘shemagh.’ Essential gear.

There was a group of a half-dozen gals chatting up the therapy pool at the hot springs. It wasn’t exactly relaxing to my nervous system. I strolled outside for a break from the chatter and discovered they had a table filled with snacks and organized with great care. They know! I think I want to join their pirate gang.

I drove out to Sauvie Island before my checkin time for my Kerns neighborhood boarding house. Sauvie loooooooooves their MF’n signs! There was a “this sign is private property” that was posted on another “private property” sign.

Anymoo, lots of wildlife and bird friends. I didn’t see squat. They have 250 species of birds… and I could hear but not see them. Cuz… you couldn’t park anywhere and there were many-a-signs alerting you to that.

It’s smokey in the PNW from the wildfires and it’s barely feeling like Fall.

My latest of “WhatHell?!?” moments is that I can’t find my gym key fob, yet again… I only have 2 packs with me but ten tons of shit and apparently I need to go to the gym because the Portland snack scene is off the hook.

I’m here for a couple more days before I head to the coast if you want to meet me for a 15 cheese Mediterranean pizza and I’ll share the story of where I found my gym fob in 73 liters of travel gear and why not to walk into a random barbershop in a new town for a trim.

I’ll be wearing a hat if we meet.

💙🙏😘☯️🏴‍☠️