[Lake Oswego, OR, Jul 4, 2019]

I was sad to leave Bend, but I was excited to head to Portland to visit my friend Megan. We met in Los Angeles in 2010 when we ended up in the same MBA program. I was immediately drawn to her vivacious, bubbly personality. She lived close to me, which, in the traffic nightmare that is LA, is invaluable. She helped me train for my first half-marathon in 2012, filling my long runs with easy chit chat that made the time fly by. In 2013, we celebrated our MBA graduations together with both of our families. And in 2014, she referred me to a friend of hers who was renting out a space in her home, and I lived there for 3 years. She moved to Portland in 2015, and I hadn’t had a chance to visit her yet – until now.

The three-hour drive from Bend to the City of Lake Oswego, a suburb of Portland, took me over the Cascades.

After leaving Bend, I headed West on Highway 20. This portion of it was very scenic. I could see the Three Sisters to my left and Mt Jefferson ahead of me.

I got to Lake Oswego around 11 am. Once Megan’s kids and husband came back from the July 4th parade in downtown Lake Oswego, we went that way ourselves in search for lunch.

Our first stop was Stickmen Brewing. I loved their lake-front patio, but instead of their regular lunch menu, they were only serving burgers and hot dogs.

Megan’s favorite sushi place, Bamboo sushi, was closed, and another place had too long of a wait. And that’s how we ended up eating ice cream for lunch at Salt & Straw.

In the afternoon, we headed to a July 4th party friends of theirs were hosting. The house was right on the lake, and the big deck was perfect for a party. I learned some interesting facts about Lake Oswego from Megan, who is a very successful real estate agent with Sotheby’s. The city limits access to Oswego Lake to city residents. Lakefront homes have access to the lake automatically; of all the other homes, only 3,000 come with deeded lake access via one of the 20 lakefront easements. All that to say, I was very happy we could enjoy the lake on this gorgeous summer day.

The late sunset (after 9 pm) meant that the fireworks did not start until after 10 pm, but they were worth the wait! Happy birthday, America!