Southeast Trip [Day 2]

Got up at 4:30 this morning and it hurt. We caught the shuttle from the hotel to the airport and took the long flight across the country to our layover in New York. It's a big city, bigger than I imagined. Erica and I both wanted to see more (manhatten, brookyln, the usual) but we didn't have enough time before our next flight departed. Needless to say, we'll be paying the big apple a visit sometime in the future to explore what all the hype is about. After two hours and a slight misunderstanding in departure time resulting in a sprint across newark int'l airport we were in the air on our final and much shorter leg of our flight. 

We arrived in Raleigh around 8 eastern time and proceeded to the rental agency where we were told that the car we had reserved a month ago couldn't be paid for with a debit card due to our age. Anger ensued. Their customer service will get a stern call from me tomorrow. Meanwhile, thank goodness for national car rental and helpful clerks willing to bend rules. We're here finally. It's in the 90s and very humind. Gotta love the south. Tomorrow we explore with Matt, and leave for Hot-lanta. 

Southeast trip [Day 1]

We started out our day leaving bend around 4-ish and arrived in good old Portland around 7. We went to the new(ish) Albina Press on 50th and Hawthorne and were very relieved to find it still open. It was also very impressive, with the coolest bar setup I think I've ever seen in a coffee shop. Full on wrap-around bar featuring, do I dare say, a FIVE group linea. Crazy. The barista pulled me a fine shot of the most balanced hair bender I've had in a while. I really enjoyed the strong cinnamon and slight smokiness, though it still doesn't vindicate Stumptown for me yet.  We then made our way to the grand-spankin' new Portland Deschutes Brewery in the Pearly district. It was huge to say the least. Very open and very lodge-esque. Thanks to Gray for the employee promo'd beers. 

Rose Festival this week. We caught it on free day as it was closing, so we  headed towards the airport to get a place to lay our heads for the night.