International Travel Day Four - 11 May

Sunday 11 May (Mothers Day)

Ian and Karen gave Deb a very nice Mothers Day card with a ticket for Cirque du Soleil and because I wouldn't be here for Father's Day they gave me a card  and a ticket as well. The tickets are a gift from Ian, Karen, Liz, Liam and Bec  (and guess what? Ian and Karen are coming too!) The performance is on Thursday which is the day before we leave.  I saw some advertising for it but thought it was a little late because we would be leaving.  Both Deb and I are really looking forward to it.

Deb and I had a bit of a rest this morning.  Ian and Karen went to the Nike Employees Store because they were able to access it in order to get Nike products at a greatly reduced price.  When Ian and Karen got back at 11.00 am we had to get a taxi because we were off to another sporting event that started at 11.30.  It was a soccer game between the Portland Timbers and LA Galaxy.

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Portland Timbers Logo displayed at the start of the game.

The Timbers Army - They beat their drums and didn't shut up for the whole game

Boy Scouts Guard the Flag

At every game we have attended there have been a guard with the US Flag at the beginning of each event.  At the baseball it was the Police, at the basketball it was the Army and at the soccer it was the Boy Scouts,

The game was absolutely fantastic which ended in a 1 all draw.  Both goals were scored in extra time with the Portland Timbers scoring in the last seconds.  I might have to try and get to an A League game next season.

We headed downtown after the game and while we were passing one of the big hotels Ian recognised a couple of the basketbal players from the San Antonio Spurs and he asked if he could have his photograph taken with them.

Ian with Manu Ginobili

Ian and Karen with Patty Mills - He is an Australian

After our sojurn downtown we took a street car to 23rd Street. 23rd Street has a lot of shops that have been set up in converted houses.  All the buildings around seem to be normal residences.  The day was absolutely beautiful as can be seen from the photographs taken at the football.

We took another street car back towards the city and visited Powells Bookstore.  This is a wonderland of books.  I could get lost in there.  It covers nearly one block and is a number of floors.  There was some renovations going on so didn't see its full potential.  Something to do next time.

Karen had booked us into a nice restaurant for Mothers Day.  Unfortunately she got a call earlier in the afternoon that they had had a blowout in their hot water system and they had to close for the night.  We had to make other arrangements and found a really nice brewery/restaurant where we had a nice meal.

We had all had a pretty big day by this time so we headed back to the motel, again by the light rail system.  Got back at about 7.45 pm ready for a bit of a relax.  Back to Vancouver in the morning.

Deb and Den