Onward and Upward, Edgefield Bound

The first night in Portland was a great way to start the trip. Good food and good drinks are a solid foundation on which to build a day worth remembering, and that is exactly what we did on the first day of the Dirty Thirty Extravaganza!

The only thing that could have made the evening more memorable would have been to see one the ghosts that are said to haunt the White Eagle. I did my best to keep an open mind and get in touch with my Spidey senses (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Spidey+sense) as to be ready if and when the ghosts decided to stop by.

In the end it did not take long for both of us to fall asleep, so even if we had had a brush with the paranormal we were dead to the world and too deeply entrenched in our dream world to have known the difference.

After a restful sleep we were up and at ‘em and ready to get the party on the road. We knew that we still had some time to kill before we were to meet our friends at Edgefield, so we decided to take the opportunity to do a little bit of shopping. Shannon had a purse and shades in mind and I, a birthday cap.

We did not have a rigid game plan for this shopping trip, we thought we would more or less wander around and see if we could find what we had on our minds. We got such an early start that many of the stores were yet to open. While we waited we made the decision to scope out the area so that when the stores do begin to open we will have a list to follow.

Our first stop was TJ Maxx. We found some good deals, but not for what we wanted. It was not until a few stops later that we found the type of purses that Shannon was looking for. This is not to say that we didn’t find nice purses at the other stores but we didn’t share the opinion of the target audience that a nice purse with worth more than our year old car (I am obviously exaggerating but not as much as you might think lol).

Though I was supportive of Shannon’s trek for a new purse, I was not overly interested in the endeavor. The one thing that I did find quite amusing was what she did with her old purse on the way out of the store.  As I looked back while holding the door for her as we left the store, I saw that I had lost her a few metres back. She was crouched next to the garbage can pulling items out of the old purse and transferring them to the new one. She wasn’t wasting any time J.

After it was completely cleaned out she crumpled up, the now barren, old purse and tossed it in the trash. Everything about the situation made perfect sense, the old purse was not in any kind of shape to be saved for another occasion, but it still seemed odd to toss, what from the outside still looked like a very usable bag, into a department store garbage can.

Needless to say she was quite content with her new purse and had accomplished her shopping goal since it was an either/or list for the purse and the sunglasses, and she was satisfied with the purse we picked up for her.

Now it was time to find what I was looking for. I found a few shops that had fedoras and other alternative style caps, but I could not find the style of newsboy cap that I was looking for. I had all but given up when we passed by a boutique style shop that caught my attention. I turned to Shannon and said “that is where I will find the hat I want.” I had asked the universe to find me a hat and I believed the answer to be in that shop.

We walked in and sure enough, on display, on the back wall of the shop, was the cap I had been picturing in my mind. It was the right style, the right design and everything! It was exactly what I wanted. I took it off the display, placed it on my head, caught my reflection in the mirror and it felt right. All I needed from that point was a price that fit my budget and it was a done deal. I took a hesitant and nervous glance at the tag and…..it was exactly what I was looking to spend. How awesome is that!! Everything about the situation was happening exactly as I had hoped….right up until I paid for the hat.

I asked the shop owner if they had any other sizes and she said that was the only one left. That was ok with me, it fit quite nicely I thought, but I had not had any other sizes to compare it to. It was not until Shannon mentioned that she figured it would look better once I grew my hair out a bit longer, that any form of doubt started to creep into my mind.

As we left the shop I put my old cap into the bag and the new cap on my head. I wanted to show off my new purchase just like my wife was doing with her purse. We did one lap around the block of food carts before I started to feel like the hat was too tight. I didn’t want to admit it to myself considering what I good story I had to tell about how I found the perfect hat, but how perfect is it if you get a headache every time you wear it.

So no longer than 10 minutes after I bought what seemed to be the cap I was destined to have, I returned that same cap to a very confused shop owner who didn’t seem to understand what could have happened in a period of 10 minutes to make me change my mind. I did my best to explain that if it is tight now how will it be when my hair is long again, but I she still didn’t seem pleased about the whole thing. Oh well, she did the exchange and that is all that really matters J.

What is the lesson that I learned from this experience? Next time I ask the universe for a favor I will remember to specify what size I need J.

Shannon and I were all shopped out at that point, so we shifted our attention to finding a way to satisfy our rumbley tummies. It was time to take a second lap around the food trucks!

There were so many options, so many choices, so many different types of food. How can you make the right choice and avoid food regret (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCWJk-mosz4)!! After more than a little humming and hawing we had made our decisions. Shannon being a sucker for dumplings went with Dump Truck’s unique take on the Chinese staple (http://www.dumptruckpdx.com/). I, on the other hand, being a sucker for noodles went with the classic, and economic, Pad Thai from the E-San food truck (http://www.yelp.ca/biz/e-san-thai-food-cart-portland).

While we waited for the Pad Thai to be served we munched on the dumplings together. While we were doings this we were approached by an older gentleman that we assume was trying to ask for money but we could not really understand what he was actually saying. He then proceeded to reach out his hand, looking for me to shake it. Funny thing is that you are conditioned from a young age to always shake someone’s hand when they extend it to you. This being the case, even though one of my hands was holding the tray of dumplings and the other was holding chopsticks, I struggled to get my hand free to engage in the handshake.

As Shannon saw me struggle and almost drop our food on the ground, she came to my defence by telling the guy we don’t have any money to give him and to please let us eat in peace. Initially it seemed a bit harsh but he really was making a nuisance of himself and it would have been super aggravating if we had dropped our food because I went to shake the hand of a panhandler who would have asked for money that we didn’t have to give. We do well to compliment each other and help each other in situations where we could use some support J.

The rest of our meal was uneventful apart from what was happening in our mouths J. It was a taste explosion!! I cannot go as far as saying that it was the best Pad Thai I have ever had, but it was a great choice at the time, and it was enjoyed to the fullest by the two of us that were indulging.

A quick glance down at the watch and we knew it was time to get going. We had friends that we needed to meet at the destination for the next leg of our Adventure. It was time to reunite with Edgefield for the second time!