To Portland and back....

My update is a day late this week as we were in Portland for the weekend and just got back today. I must backtrack first to Friday when Joe's parents arrived for a 7 day stay. They couldn't have arrived at a better time as the day was crystal clear and the views from downtown were beautiful. They had friends that happen to be in town at the same time so we met them for dinner down at a restaurant by the Market. We had a seat right in front of the window over looking the Sound with views of the Olympic Mountains as we watched the sun set. We couldn't have asked for a better view if we tried. Saturday morning we got up and drove to Portland to explore the weekend Market right downtown. I didn't realize how big it was going to be! It's located right under one of the bridges by the river. There were so many different kinds of vendors from pottery to jewelry to paintings to photography to cat toys. We enjoyed walking amongst the crowd and exploring. From there we made our way to our hotel which was about 20 minutes from downtown. We had a little downtime before finding our way to the rehearsal dinner (Joe was in the wedding) which was another 20 minutes away down open roads and in a little neighborhood. Joe's friend Matt was the one getting married and his parents rented a house and hosted the rehearsal dinner there with a caterer. It was an eclectic group to say the least and I had some interesting conversations and made some interesting observations of people. I was grateful to the brides' brother for being into football as I actually got to watch a Penn State game on the west coast-a rarity! (although by the end I was sorry that I did- it was a sad ending!) The wedding wasn't until 4 on Sunday so we passed the afternoon with a little shopping and lunch. I was the emergency relief for the groomsmen who forgot his white undershirt and the ride for the groom and his groomsmen when they weren't sure another way to get to the wedding. The wedding and reception was at a really neat facility- it felt barn-like with the wooden planked floors. The ceremony was outside and then we made our way to another part of the property where the tables were outside but the bar and dance floor were inside. I made a mistake in wearing heels as I caught my heel more than once in the spaces between the boards. The wedding color was a deep red with beautiful arrangements of fall flowers for the centerpieces. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and it was a nice night. Our first west coast wedding with some definite differences but enjoyable none the less!
We woke up today and headed back to Portland to see the Rose Gardens that are located within Washington Park. It was amazing to see all the different kinds of roses and surprisingly there were a lot still in bloom. We wandered the Pearl District and Powell's bookstore before grabbing lunch and then heading back to Seattle. We were met with very fall like weather here and I just might make it through a week without sweating at work! Joe and Colleen are here until Thursday so Joe has the job of playing tour guide with them.