After our dinner at Sel Gris the night before, we didn’t really feel up to much on our last morning in Portland. I snagged coffee and a bagel from the guesthouse kitchen, then we staggered up the street to Haven for a little extra caffeine and sugar. Sitting in the sun with the Sunday funnies and a cup of hot chocolate was about the right speed.

Afterwards, somewhat fortified, we boldly found what I believe to be one of the fastest (and maybe stupidest) routes up Mount Tabor, an extinct volcano that sits at the east end of the Hawthorne district and is covered with roads and paths of all sorts. We weren’t sure where the road started, so instead we found a trail and went straight up. It was a gorgeous day, and the view was fantastic, with both Mount Hood and Mount Saint Helens out in the sun.

Once we made it down it was lunchtime. We had intended to go downtown to the Veritable Quandary, but instead just went back to the Hedge House for beer and sandwiches. They serve beer from the Old Lompoc Brewing Company, which produces some excellent brews: I really liked the Centennial IPA and the C-Note Imperial Pale, and J approved of both the 69 dark lager and the Sockeye Cream Stout (no, we didn’t drink all of those at once – we were here on Friday, remember?). We were hot and tired, and beer was very welcome.

For lunch, I ordered the reuben with a side house salad. Like the salads we got here the other day, this one was very nice – fresh greens, sprouts, decent tomatoes and a very decent balsamic dressing. The sandwich was good, too – not the best reuben ever, but it was hot and absolutely stuffed full of meat and sauerkraut. The kraut seemed a little sweet and bland to me – it would’ve been nice with a little more vinegary punch to it. J got a cheesesteak sandwich, which he seemed pleased with, and salad with a lemon-garlic dressing.

After lunch, all we had to do was catch the train back up to Washington. The weather stayed clear and beautiful, and we had a great view of two more volcanoes along the way, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier. Mt. Baker would have made five total for the day, but it was pitch black out by the time we got home.

We made it to the Skagit River Brewery just before they closed the kitchen, and fueled up with pulled pork and a burger before heading off to our own bed (and three cats who missed us).