My brother is an airline pilot and sometimes ends up in the PNW when he is on-call. Usually it’s Seattle, and it’s usually on short notice. last time he was there was a couple months ago, but we were booked for the weekend and couldn’t make it up.
Well on Thursday morning I got a text that he would be in PDX for 17 hours on a layover from Friday into Saturday. Luckily this weekend was free from any obligations so it worked out perfectly.
In what is becoming a tradition for New Englanders visiting Portland, we took him to Porque No on Hawthorne. This is where Juston and Laurel took Mia and me when we came out for my interview 2 years ago. This is where we took Paul, Shannon and Freestyle when they visited too. So we kept tradition alive.
The line was typical……out the freaking door! It’s totally worth the wait though. I love the food here, and it is nice to be able to get 2-3 small tacos and create a variety plate. I had something from each of the meat groups that I will eat….chicken, pork and seafood.
Bad cell phone picture, but here is the youngest and 2nd oldest of the Rhodes Boys.
Saturday morning I met Steve for a 4ish mile run around the esplanade. Instead we ended up doing just about 10.5 via the Sellwood Bridge, starting and finishing right near Yamhill. This equaled the total amount of miles I have run in the past 3 months combined. Needless to say, I’m a bit sore today.
The reward from the run was a trip to St. Honore on Thurman. Of course since there is only a couple million people in the greater metro area, we passed Juston and Laurel driving on 23rd and they turned around to meet us. You see, Steve and Juston were stationed at Tinker AFB together and technically knew each other before I met Juston at a 50 mile mountain bike race in Vermont via a mutual friend. It’s the perfect example of a “small world”. Unfortunately we didn’t have much time to hang out as Steve had to be back for a 12:30 pickup to resume his flying duties. Got to hang out for about 30-45 minutes and then had to get going.
It was awesome to see my brother unexpectedly. I hope he can get this route here and there again. We’ve got a lot more places to show him and some more runs to do.
Now I need to put the challenge out to the rest of our family……2 years out here now and only Paul, Shannon and Steve have visited!
Thanks for reading,
-Pete
ON & OFF RHODES 
I want to come and may just show up some day!
Okay. Sounds like a plan.
Perhaps Martha, James & I could plan a trip sometime even if it’s a long week end. I would have to talk to Martha about it. Robert is leery of traveling long distances now because of his heart health….He’s more comfortable just a bit closer to home….
Having your brother surprise you was such a great event for you both. Happy to hear you had some good bonding together. Take Care & see you on July 1st. Let us know your time of arrival & where you are lodging. I heard via Lisa that you don’t need a pick up but that you are renting a car. So Long For Now & Love Ya’s…..