Go Ducks, eat a wing.

Me sitting on the edge of a cliff (left). The view from our hiking trip (right)

Andrea (pictured below on the left) came down to Portland from Eugene (about 2 hours away). And so begins the Miami Spring Break Reunion.



The background story: One of the best parts about traveling, are all of the different people that you meet. Just look at Brazil. We met 3 amazing couples, and then some. Spring Break in Miami is certainly no different. Amongst all of the beautiful babies that were ready to party Spring Break style, I met these 2 fools (look at the corn picture below). We danced, we partied; It was a good time. Through the miracles of e-mail and affordable national telephone plans, we kept in touch. Fast forward 4 years, and we come to present day - a little older, a little wiser, a little more partied out (I seriously can't physically party like I used to).

Now with Andrea in the picture, the beginning of my trip is complete - the trifecta is back!

So it's Saturday...which means one thing, COLLEGE FOOTBALL! Tammy and Andrea went to University of Oregon (Ducks), (the team to beat until Dennis Dixon got hurt). I went to University of Wisconsin (Badgers), who was ALSO having a huge year, until...well, they just sucked. Anyway, Oregon...so similar to Wisconsin, Oregon really has nothing to get excited about about or look forward to except for major college football, a bad NBA basketball team, and the comings of what sort of looks like a metropolitan lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, a beautiful place with lots of nature stuff to do, but Portland as a major city? Definitely no London or San Francisco.

However, back to football. Oregon pummeled Houston, Wisconsin spanked Washington, and life was in perfect harmony in Duck and Badger country. But what football day would be complete without chips, dip, sausage, and chicken wings. With that said, what weekend with the girls from O would be complete without us acting like complete fools?!? Videos and pictures are below.

And my trip to Portland in a brief paragraph: It's similar to other mid-major city in the likes of Seattle, Milwaukee, Houston, etc. However, there are differences. One unique thing about Portland is that it lies on the West Coast of the US. And so the weather is never ridiculously extreme. The coastal mountains allow for a decent amount of rain fall, which means LOTS of trees and the divine makings of nature all around. We drove 35 minutes away from the city of Portland and ended up at the hiking spot with waterfalls. There is definitely a nightlife, which made for some good times. They have their lounges meant for the grown and sexy, the dive bar with rock and occasional hip hop music, and even bars for the hipster in all of us. One really nice thing about Portland nightlife is that the venues are not ridiculously crowded to the point that you feel like you're being violated by wandering hands...Oregon has a great selection of local wines and beers available at any given grocery store, bar, or restaurant. Oregon wine is some of the finest in this country.

Now for some pics from our football and bbq extravaganza:




Tomorrow's entry will wrap it up and be about the beach.