Portland, Oregon

We spent 5 days in San Francisco and before we got on the train to Portland we killed time seeing Scorsese's Shine a Light at the Imax theatre; a fifty foot Mick Jagger and Keith Richards belting out Jumping Jack Flash, it was a gas, gas, gas.

We bought a sleeper to Portland on the train which was well worth it as unfortunately I got crook and needed to see a doctor in Portland to get some antibiotics. That took about a day to figure out how to do but I got the drugs and I'm on the mend.

Portland was another beautiful Victorian style city, with stunning gardens. We visited their Japanese gardens and the rose gardens which were unfortunately not in bloom but the rhododendrons and azaleas made up for it. We also met a very friendly lady from Minnesota, called Patti, who had a hire car and drove us out to have a look at Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Valley and a 1920's hotel, that was frequented by Rudolph Valentino and others. The Oregon scenery was volcanic, snow covered and picture post card even in the pouring rain.