Portland

Route 101, for at least for the first 7 miles is really very scenic so far.  A little town, farms, small air museum (WW2 aircraft it seems), and life is now officially great!  Was great before, but it's official now.

An overview of my couple days in Portland.

Stayed in Troutdale, OR, so not officially Portland, but close enough to count in my book.  Stayed at the TA Truck stop the first night, and the Love's truck stop the second night, filled up the diesel tank at Safeway just up the road (thanks to GasBuddy for alerting me) though it was troublesome to get in there.

Also visited a couple fine dining establishments in the area..

Acropolis Steakhouse

Yes, it's more than just a steakhouse, but I swear it's not the reason I went, even though wasn't complaining.  It's because they have really good food, at an excellent price, for one of these types of establishments.  Had a one pound burger, and fries, for $4.00.  It's very difficult to get deals like this, and it is a really great price.  There is also filet mignon (have had before) for less than $10.00, as well as T-bone steaks and other typical fare.

The clientele that comes here is mixed as well.  Saw quite a few couples sitting there chowing down too (on food that is), and they seemed to be enjoying the atmosphere of the area as well.

While this place isn't for the faint of heart, if want great food for the price, it's definitely a must see stop in the area.

The person who originally told me about this place also informed me that the food is so cost effective because the owner owns a ranch someplace, so all the meat comes from his ranch.  Don't know if it's true, but if it is, lends some credence to how they can pull it off.  Did I mention it was good too?!

Shirley's Tippy Canoe

Sloppy Joe out of focus

This restaurant was really good, though a little pricey.  It was featured on Diner's, Drive-in's and Dives, and must say had really good food.  In the app I use to find places like this (TVFoodMaps), it said they had an awesome sloppy joe, so guess what I had..  A sloppy joy sandwich.

The sloppy joe was really good and it had a surprise luring underneath the sloppy part, a hamburger.  Didn't expect that at all but it added to the experience.  Pictures don't lie...

Little food tray

Shirley came up to me (I sat at the bar) and started rattling off all the yummy stuff they have in a shotgun approach..  Blew my mind and don't remember most of what she said, though there was a lot of talk about seafood mixtures and all that happy jazz. Every thing on the menu looked super great!

One neat thing about sitting at the bar is they gave me a little tray so don't have to lean over the bar and make a mess of the bar, or me, or anyone close by.

The restaurant itself has nice decor, nice outdoor seating area, and is very unassuming from the outside, but wonderful on the inside.  Due to the inclement weather didn't take a stroll to look at the river which flows right behind it.

Arleta Library Bakery and Cafe

While I didn't stop at this wonderful little hole in the wall this time, felt the need to give it an honorable mention.  If it wasn't for the income tax in Oregon I would've changed my plans and moved to Portland due in some part to this restaurant, and the good energy it gave off.

Very limited seating capacity and excellent food.  This was by far one of the best meals have ever had, even though there was "green stuff" in there. It's a small little organic and local restaurant that uses as many things close by, that meets their high quality, as possible.  The dish I had was some sort of mixture of veggies with some spicy sausage.  There were only little chunks of sausage, but it was really spicy, and I like spicy food.  Not the "spicy" from a supermarket, this was real....  and enjoyable.