The Green Gardens of Portland

Our journey is coming to an end and the second to last stop brings us to Portland, Oregon, or as the locals say "Orgen." It was a short but delightful sojourn in one of America's fastest growing cities, driven in part by the IT companies who are centered there, and the migration of millennials to this food-aware haven.We are greeted lovingly at the airport and after a little rest are off to a special outing in America's second largest city park. The satsang at the Regade home was a special one, with great questions from the group, talks of SBNR, a story by Paramacharya that brought laughs and lofty thoughts to all present and quiet blessings afterwards. Follow the slideshow for the details.

To get to Portland we had to make a connection flight from San Francisco. As we came in I thought of taking some pictures from the air.

We try to get a clear shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most photographed bridges in the world

More shots of the City as we end our tripologue

The welcome party of Ragades moved so fast I couldn\

t get the shot! Here is a quick welcome into Portland by Jagdish and Namrata Ragade. Their daughters Anusha and Shreya are around here somewhere. '

Our first stop was the Washington Park Rose Garden. It was a beautiful, stunning and aromatic tour of rich colorful flowers.

Next was a garden tour above the rose garden called the Japanese Garden. It was very much like walking through a Zen monastery.

Last stop after a world-class sushi place: Donuts! Hand made donuts made fresh at this local shop.

The girls gave me a lesson on how to order exactly what you want: Choose one of everything.

The only shot of the lunch and it\

s amazing sushi is me eating the last roll! We were all so amazed at the look and flavor of this vegetarian sushi that we blissed out and forgot to take photos. I sacrifice one for the group and take the last sushi, or maybe the last 5. '

Namrata and her husband Jagdish took loving care of the traveling monks (as did daughters Anusha and Shreya) for which we are most grateful

Portland is a young, hip place to be, full of fresh ideas, artisan shops, craftspeople and recycling on every corner. Good for you Portland. See you next year.

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