Mark Spenser Hotel

In early May I stayed at the Mark Spenser Hotel in Portland. The hotel is located in a off beat area near the arts district and the downtown of Portland.

It was my first trip to Portland and I was satisfied with the hotel. It appears to be a converted residence hote, and all the rooms are non-smoking, and offer a full kitchen. The one drawback was that the television selection was slim, but I didn't go to Portland to watch tv, although I did manage to catch American Idol and the Aprrentice. Since the hotel is in a party area, it can get noisy at night, but if you are in a party mood, there is no better place to stay.

The Mark Spenser is close to Powell's Bookstore, and I got lost in there for hours, just bowsing the thousands of books they have on sale, some of the books are very rare, and under glass. I managed to buy some old pulp fiction novels from the 50's but when I got home I discovered that that the pages were so musty I can't read them! When I bought them I had a stuffed up nose so I couldn't even tell how musty they were! It was still fun.

I was in Portland as a stop over on my way home to Vancouver, BC from my trip to Eugene, but I had so much fun I stayed an extra day, and the folks at Mark Spenser, were very accomodating allowing me to stay an extra day even though someone else had booked the same room on the day I was to leave.

So, if you are in Portland, stay at the Mark Spencer, you will save money and have an adventure.

All board to Eugene

Late March and Early April was a special time for me, as I travelled to Eugene Oregon for book indexing conference. What made it especially fun, was it was my first time onboard an Amtrak train.

Even though I was in the midst of a bad Hayfever attack, I was able to enjoy the ride as we travelled through some of the most beautiful scenery in the Pacific Northwest. My only regret was that I forgot to pack a camera!

The service aboard the train was top notch, and the conductor reminded me of Donald Sutherland in his M*A*S*H* days.

If the views weren't enough, we were able to view movies on the train. I saw Zathura and Chicken Little.

I would recomend that everybody take the train!