(March 26, 2017 | Spring Break Road Trip: Day 2)
Before heading out of Humboldt, Ana and I decided to grab breakfast together at this cute cafe in downtown called “T’s Cafe North.” It’s that “cafe that used to be a old house but we turned it into a trendy cafe” sort of cafe. Say cafe again, J. Cafe. Hahha, anyways… the place didn’t disappoint. I got stuff banana french toast topped with fresh fruit and a homemade banana sauce. Everything that everyone ordered looked yummy and, as far as I know, was. I tried a bite of the Eggs Benedict and the bacon was exceptional.
After breakfast, I said my temporary goodbye to Ana and headed off on the next leg of my trip: Portland, Oregon. From Humboldt to Portland was another 7 hours or so, but the first half of the drive wasn’t actually that bad. Again. Most of the driving wasn’t that bad on this trip in general because everything was so scenic to me. I’ve never driven through a mountain before, so it was a new experience for me. Oh, and to clarify. I’ve been in the car driving through a mountain, I’ve just never been the driver. Hahah. It was little bit sketchy since it was raining, but it was fun to drive at the same time. I was going Grandma speed but, ya know, slow and steady wins the race. I wanted to make sure I was careful. I didn’t want to hydroplane or accidentally skid or hit the cars around me. There were so many nice views around me that we had to stop to take photos, but photos don’t do any of it justice.
Once we were out of the mountain, we were back in civilization. I’ve heard so many good things about the coffee company, Dutch Bros., that I had to try it. Especially since I saw one in Eureka when I was on my way to Ana’s. I was going to get some before I left her place, but she had informed me that there were a ton more on the way up that I could potentially stop at. I found one right after we finished driving through the mountain, so I stopped by. I wasn’t sure what to order, but pretty much everything seemed promising. I went with a medium, iced Annihilator and it didn’t disappoint. Dutch Bros. lived up to the hype, for sure. It should also be noted, though, that I’m no coffee connoisseur. I’m a “cream, milk, and sugar with a dash of coffee” type of girl. And even that is something I don’t drink often. I do enjoy coffee, but it’s not a regular thing in my life which is odd to many, especially in college where every zombie body is living off of caffeine or other questionable substances of choice. It was a small, drive through location that I went through and the worker gave me a stamp card, so you be I’ll be trying to get through that while I have it accessible to me.
The last half of the drive was the worst half because it was only a few hours left until we made it to our Airbnb in Beaverton, but it felt like forever and we were all tired from so many hours of driving already without any adequate rest. It was worth it though. The Airbnb I booked was even better than I expected when I was looking online. It was basically a nice hotel room. Clean, spacious, owners are amazing, commodities provided…everything you could imagine! Excited to be here for the next few days. From the first 10 minutes of arriving, I was already ready to give them a good review.
I didn’t want to waste any time. Even though it was later in the afternoon when we arrived, I wanted to at least squeeze something in. I remember my coworker mentioned a bookstore that was nearly a block big so, as a bookworm, I had to check it out. Powell Bookstore. It also didn’t disappoint. There were so many sections of books. It was…overwhelming. It was a trendy Barnes and Nobles on crack. I wanted to get a book, but was couldn’t decide. My friend got a book though. Jealous. Hahaha. Maybe on the way down.
Next and last stop of the night? The famous Voodoo Doughnuts, of course. The distance from Powell to Voodoo wasn’t very far so we decide to walk instead of move the car. A mistake. I mean, not a mistake, but a mistake. I don’t know if I’m just being a snotty teenager, but the less than half a mile walk there sketched me out, mostly because of the people around me. In any city setting, it’s a given that there are homeless people out at night time, but there was a different kind of ominous vibe that I was feeling (that my friend also felt). It was weirdly scary than any of the times I’ve walked around at night in SD, OC, LA, or even the times I’ve walked around Berkeley. I’m not sure what it was, but I speeded up my already running-pace walking speed. I just wanted to get those donuts and get back in the car. But also, I don’t want to discredit how cute downtown Portland is. The stores, lights, and modern aesthetics are to be appreciated. Voodoo Donuts has a variety of amped up donuts. I order 5: the Voodoo Doll, Chuckles, Mango Tango, Powdered Sugar Jelly Filled, and this one with Rice Crispies on it. And the cashier even gave me an extra Voodoo Doll. Yey. I thought that the doughnuts were all pretty good. The only one I wasn’t as fond of was the Mango Tango. It was a little too sweet for me, especially because of the frosting. I would probably pass on that if I ever went again. Other than that, the doughnuts were really good and, price wise, it was around $9 for 5 (half a dozen if you count the free one I got) which is a little bit more expensive than a regular doughnut, but it’s the cost of the novelty and experience. Oh, and side note: if you’ve ever been down in San Diego and have been to Lucha Libre, it kinda has those same vibes!
Overall, it wasn’t a bad first night in Portland. Lots of beautiful views on the drive there, finally tried Dutch Bros, got a small taste of downtown. Can’t wait to experience a full day of what Portland has to offer tomorrow.
Until my next day in this quirky city.
Love always, J.
The Invisible Crown 
Leave a comment