Burgers and Bikes

For Black Friday I avoided the malls. Instead, I slept in and then went to the pool for a quiet, relaxing swim. No one was in the pool, either! I love it when I have to myself. When I got home from my swim, Michael wanted to grab burgers at a place he recently went to. This place looked like it should be on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

The Quest for the Best Burger in Portland – Part 4

We went to Roake’s in Milwaukie for lunch. It was adorable! Total dive on the outside but cute. There was covered outdoor seating, which I’m sure is super popular in the summertime.

It had a vibe of a food-cart mixed with an old 50’s diner. The inside was super cute too, small and cramped but cute. Probably not a good spot for a big group.

I got the deluxe bacon cheeseburger, so did Michael and we shared a small order of fries. The burger wasn’t huge but it was plenty of food for me.

The bacon was thick and perfectly prepared–not too crunchy, just crunchy enough. Every bite was awesome. I think this burger makes it into the running on our Quest for the Best Burger in Portland!

We ate about half of the fries and I was completely stuffed from the fantastic burger. The place had been there for a long time it seemed; there were old photos showing the place how it used to be. Bottom line: I’d definitely go back here for a cheap, delicious burger anytime!

Burger Quest Ranking:

1. Slow Bar

2. Laurelhurst

3. Toast

4. Roake’s

5. Foster Burger

6. Gruner

After lunch we headed home and decided to go for a bike ride. It was sunny, fairly warm afternoon. Probably the last sunny day for awhile. Time to take advantage of that. I hadn’t been on the bike outside in a month and a half. I will admit: I was a tad anxious. That’s what happens to me when I take a break from riding outside. I lose my confidence a bit and get nervous.

One danger about biking in the Fall are the leaves. They are usually massive in quantities, covering the bike lanes. The leaves are also wet and slippery. It takes a lot more caution when riding. The bike lanes had a lot of debris in them: leaves, tigs, fallen branches, acorns, rocks. It was kind of a disaster waiting to happen. It just took more paying attention.

We biked from the house through neighborhoods with bike lanes and then down to the Springwater Trail. It’s a good 10 mile loop that we’ve done in the past. It was a gorgeous day out! I was feeling a lot better about being outside on the bike and had a boost of confidence.

I also realized that I had not lost all my cycling ability. I was shocked! We biked up this one short but intense hill and it was a snap for me. It was easy, I recovered quickly, I didn’t even breath hard! I was so surprised at my ease. Could one spin class a week really be maintaining my cycling fitness?

The trail was pretty empty out but it was a nice ride. We made it almost home when something sort of negative happened. A guy hit Michael’s bike by opening his car door. It was really upsetting and ruined anything good about the bike ride for me. Michael and I are okay, he didn’t get hurt, but it was upsetting and negative. I don’t want to talk about it other than how bummed I am.

I don’t know how many calories I burned because I don’t have my heart rate monitor right now, but comparing it to the last time we did this route, I’d estimate between 375-400 calories burned.

Other than the unhappy ending of the ride, it was a good day. I got in a nice swim, a fun bike ride outside and had an amazing burger for lunch. I finished off my Black Friday adventures with a trip to Darcelle’s to celebrate my cousin’s 21st birthday. 🙂

It was a good Friday.

QUESTION: How was your Black Friday? Share your horror stories of shopping!