I had a late start to my day. I woke up at 6am (again) and watched “Brothers Grimm” (again) on Hulu. I knew I still had to get items from the grocery store but I was a little leery of having a repeat of Friday where I was loaded down with stuff. So, I decided to spend a little more money and shop at the closer New Seasons organic market to get heavier items checked off my list. Later on, I made the 0.8mile walk to the main grocery store. This time, I was very aware of every item I put into my grocery cart. I ended up with my backpack weighing close to 30 lbs and two grocery bags which is infinitely preferable to Friday’s hike with 5 grocery bags. 🙂 At this point, I have my basic needs met. For pots/pans, Matt ordered a Texsport Stainless Steel Backpackers Cook Set for me. I will be sleeping on an airbed and I don’t believe I’ll be purchasing any solid furniture (I think I’ll use plastic bins for my clothes, etc). For spoons/plates, I will be making use of cheap plastic items and I’m waiting on a shipment of a set of Coleman Speckled Enamelware Dining Kit (Red)Enamelware from Amazon. For cleaning supplies, just the standard aerosol/all-purpose cleaners, paper towels, tissue paper, etc. Once I got done with sorting my stuff, I decided to make my way down to Portland again to check out the Portland Saturday Market.
The Portland Saturday Market can be best described as an explosion of people selling a lot of artsy type stuff. I saw a lot of T shirts, jewelry, etc. However, what stood out to me was a guy who was selling scorched wood as art! Believe me when I tell you the stuff was quite good! He was essentially using fire to make pretty patterns on wood. I will be back next week and hopefully will get to walk the length & breadth of the market. It was almost too much to take in for me especially as there were 100s of other tourists around & I was in a fog of sorts. 🙂 Brief directions to get this: Hop on the MAX Blue Line to Gresham/Hillsboro and get off at Skidmore Fountain. From there, I made my way to the Portland Willamette River Walk which is pretty much like it sounds. I didn’t do the whole thing but I will be sure to complete the entire route before I leave. Then, I got a little lost in downtown Portland but instead of freaking out, I simply … walked. I probably walked ~ 3 miles today and I’m seriously considering the purchase of a little pedometer or a FitBit to keep track of my activity. As I tweeted earlier, I think I could end up being in the best shape of my life if I kept up with my current walking/exercise regimen!
Speaking of exercise, I think I have pretty toned appendages (towards the end of the Spring semester, I did a lot of arm/leg work). My current exercise favorite is power walking on the treadmill. However, I do have a tendency to focus on exercises that I’m pretty familiar with i.e. exercises working my arms/legs/back. So, one of my fitness goals for this summer is a stronger core. I’ve settled on Russian Twists as one of the ways to do this and I would appreciate any recommendations regarding exercises to do. That’s all for now! Thanks for reading and I look forward to reading any tips about places to visit or things to do while in Oregon!
PS: I’m uploading some cellphone pics I snapped today. There’s not artfully composed or anything. Just enjoy, dammit. 🙂