November 15, 2016. A real soaker!

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Portland, Oregon WEATHER:  Light rain, then a downpour.  Highs about 50   At this housesitting assignment, George takes care of the koi and koi pond while I'm in charge of the cat.  Each day he cleans the pond and feeds the fish. The pond adds a pleasant feel and sound to the backyard Japanese garden.  

We decided on an outing, even though it was raining.  We dressed in our rain gear and grabbed umbrellas.  We bought an alll-day pass on the public transportation system.  We got the "Honored Citizen" reduced rate (aka old peoples' fare).  Not sure how that makes me feel.     We made our way to a place called Growler Guys that is highly rated.  They have lots of unusual beers on tap....

We each tasted one, then started our trek to a restaurant for lunch.  While planning the outing, I thought the 2.5 mile hike would be nice.  However, as soon as we started, the rain turned to a downpour.  We became absolutely soaked.  The wind blew my umbrella inside out, and hail started to pelt us.  We were miserable, but just had to solidier on.     We made it to our destination, the Little Bird French bistro.  Lovely.  Cozy. Warm.  Dry!  

I was a little embarrased to enter with my squishy wet shoes and my dripping pants, but we did.  We had eaten in this bistro last year and really liked it. On our train ride here, I read an article featuring the top burgers in Portland.  Little Bird was listed as one of Portland's best.  And, the best part was that during happy hour, the price was reduced on their double brie burger from $14 to $5.  We savored the burger while we warmed up.  

It was a perfect meal.  We sat at the bar and had a pleasant conversation with the bartender.   Sadly, we had to leave and face the elements again.  Since we had the all-day bus pass, we figured out how to take the MAX rail to the bus stop, then the bus back home.    DINNER:  Since our lunch was the late afternoon burger, we just had a small platter of Mexican chorizo from the farmers' market and some goat cheese I had bought while in Salt Spring, BC.