Really spectacular weather here in the NW these past couple of days.... just right for being outside and doing stuff. I went down to the Saturday/Sunday market along the water front in downtown Portland this afternoon. There are lots of fresh fruits and veggies that come in every weekend, but also a lot of permanent stores that carry goods of all kinds. I spent some time admiring assorted didgeridoo's in one store, as well as hats in another. Plenty of arts and crafts stuff for sale also, so it was very tempting to buy a lot of different things. But as hard as it was, I still managed to resist, partly because at heart I'm kind of cheap, but also because there isn't a whole lot of stuff out there that I really need any more, even if I do 'want' it. In the end though it often comes down to the fact that I no longer have any room for any more stuff in the trailer or truck. In deed it will be nice to actually unload a whole bunch of it a couple of months from now when I make it back to the east coast again.
     So a couple hours downtown just wandering around and then off to the supermarket for one last shopping spree before I pick up and move tomorrow. Usually I leave the grocery shopping for after I arrive somewhere, because it makes no sense to carry something 100 miles if you can just buy it there, but I remembered that the Astoria area doesn't have all that many stores, and that it was a good deal more expensive there to boot. Plus I was craving some banana's and some tostada's for tonight's meal. Not necessarily in the same dish of course.
    So I made some bean tostada's for the main meal, using up some refried beans, some cheese, and a little more of the salsa and jalapenos my friend Stef put up for me before I left Colorado. Pop them in the micro-wave for 2 minutes and eat along with an ice cold beer. Tasted pretty yummy.
    I'll be heading west for the Astoria area tomorrow morning, so I gassed up the truck this evening and put the extension mirrors back on. It shouldn't take too long for me to get every thing packed away and ready to go in the morning. Then it should only take a couple of hours to drive on out to the State Park out there and check in. Which reminds me; I need to check one last time and make sure they still have plenty of space for me. Last time I checked there were several hundred open spots, but they may have closed a section or two since then so I better check.


brk*