A Haiku for Portland

Rose gardens and rain
Makes me want to watch Twilight
Coffee all around!


Today we spent a wonderful day in Portland, Oregon. We began at Voodoo Donuts which was recently featured on the travel channel. The line was out the door and to the corner of the street and it featured donuts as crazy as peanut butter and bacon. From there, we headed to the Saturday street festival that featured over 400 vendors. It was so fun to browse around and watch people and see different crafts and foods. Today, I learned an important lesson about street festivals--never buy the first thing you like--you will inevitably see the same item 10 more times and probably at a cheaper price.
After the festival, we split up to explore the city in smaller groups. Pierce, Emma, Elisabeth, and I must have clocked a good 2-3 miles. We came across a festival and walk for Ulcertive collitis and Crohn's disease. It was interesting to talk to one of the organizers of the event about how the organization got started. Apparently a 14 year old girl with U.C. was shopping at Old Navy when she was having an attack and the manager wouldn't allow her to use the bathroom. She went on to get "Ally's law" passed in 9 states that allows persons with eligible medical conditions access to bathrooms under certain circumstances. There is even a card called "I Can't Wait" that people can carry to identify themselves. Now at first, I found the whole situation a little comical and the cause seemed a tad insignifcant compared to some of the other hot topics in legislation right now. But when I asked the lady what it meant to her to be an American she said "that one voice can be heard." And as cliche as it sounds it is inspiring to think about the fact that anyone can make a change no matter how big or small the need may be.
Well Andy, Pierce, Emma, Emily and I are smooshed into the back room watching Twilight and I can't help but be distracted!