Welcome to Portland

It was a thirteen hour journey from New York to my hotel in Portland, so I was beyond tired when I finally arrived yesterday. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, so I walked down to the park by the river, parked myself on the grass and watched the good citizens of Portland at play. (I couldn't understand why there were so many people in a park on a Thursday. By then, I had completely forgotten that it was the Fourth of July.)

My first two hours in Portland:

• A protester in a V mask gave me a copy of the Bill of Rights
• A different protester gave me a copy of the U.S. Constitution
• I bought a bottle of water from a woman wearing penguin-patterned bikini underpants and nothing else
• A teenage boy high-fived me for no apparent reason
• A man who has given up photography told me I must photograph Pioneer Square in the evening when the light changes