[rescue] In the Portland, OR area...

[Rick Hamell]

I've lived in PDX all my life. Going from geeky and close in, to less 
geeky and further out:

Ground Kontrol - an 80's themed Video Game Arcade. 
http://www.groundkontrol.com/

It's only two blocks south of Powell's Technical Book Store (which is in 
a whole separate building from the main book store.) Do not miss this, 
as they have a small computer museum of sorts inside.

On the same street another few blocks east is what is left of the Church 
of Elvis. It's a window display with a few coin operated machines.

Four more blocks east and two south should put you right at Voodoo 
Donuts. http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/ home of the Bacon Maple Bar and 
many different flavors of vegan donuts which are much better tasting 
then you'd think.

Across the river in the industrial district is FreeGeek. They get tons 
of computers donated to them and every once in a while you'll find some 
great stuff there. If you plan on purchasing anything, you'll need to do 
some convincing, they don't like letting anything out the door that they 
do not know 100% works. http://www.freegeek.org/ But they tend to get a 
lot of SGI stuff, some Sun stuff, and can have other good things in 
stock at any time.

If you're into Geology or even history, the "Oregon Building" which is 
the rounded dome building near Lloyd Center has displays of rocks and 
fossils from around Oregon.

In the downtown area is the Chinese Gardens, bit expensive on the 
admission, but worth a trip. Also the Japanese Gardens, next to the Rose 
Gardens near the Zoo, near Pittock Mansion. All worth checking out for 
visitors.

Also downtown, is the Oregon History Museum. http://www.ohs.org/ my 
favorite display is about the USS Oregon where they have a few artifacts 
left from the ship.

A bit further abroad, visit Astoria, home of the Goonies. 
http://www.thegoonies.org/viewersTrips.htm It's about a 90 minute drive 
from Portland, but you should make it a day trip and hit Seaside/Canon 
Beach.

Evergreen Air and Space Museum in McMinville. 
http://www.sprucegoose.org/ Another bit of a drive, but the Spruce Goose 
is there. They built a new building in hopes of getting one of the Space 
Shuttles (rumors say they're a shoe in,) and they're currently working 
to build a hotel with a 747 integrated into the design. The space 
building has a couple of Titan Missiles a V2 rocket, a real moon lander 
and a Apollo Capsule being "rescued" by a Navy Chopper. (Pictures: 
http://www.1nova.com/photoblog/?p=432 )

Since you're in Vancouver, check out Pierson Air Museum right next too 
Fort Vancouver.

Let me know if you have any other questions, I'm a native and use to 
contribute heavily in a Travel Oregon Forum.

On 3/25/10 3:49 PM, Steve Hatle wrote:
> So, I'll be in the Portland, OR - Vancouver, WA area with my wife for the
> next week or so.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone can recommend any good things to do or places to go
> while I'm here. My wife's sister (yes, she has a sister<grin>) lives here
> so we do have a local guide, but the more recommendations the better.
>
> Bonus points for 'geeky' things to do, anything from attractions to good
> computer junk/salvage/surplus shops to check out.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve
> _______________________________________________
> rescue list - http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
>

-- 
Rick Hamell

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