When I told people I’m spending an afternoon in Eugene, Oregon I either got a “why” or just a confused blank stare… with the exceptions of a few.

My brother, whose is also named Eugene and wanted to visit a city that shares his name.

And any running nerd friends out there; will know Eugene for its collection of elite runners. It is after all known as Track Town USA thanks to Nike.

So it is with no surprise that between me and brother, we had to make it a pit stop on our road trip.

Our first order of business was to find a brewery… because if California is known for wine, then their friendly neighbor to the north has the beer corner.

We stopped at Ninkasi Brewing Company and immediately ordered one of everything!

Which of  course left us starving. We hit up yelp and found a Korean place about half mile away. Since we have been sitting in the car for several hours. The drive from Crater Lake is long one, we decided to walk.

The area was absolutely adorable with a Yoga place, some tasty looking bistros and cute little houses with little micro farms and wild flowers.

When we finally got to our destination, we realized it’s also a burger place. Korea food/burger place? Interesting combo, but Yelp reviews don’t lie? Chingu Burger Lovers, okay we decided to go for it!

I got the bibimbap, a mixed rice with veggie dish. My brother got brave and ordered a burger. Tony ordered a beef dish and we all ate happiliy as Who Wants to be a Millionaire played on TV. After being on the road for a week, it was our little home from home type of feel. TV and Korean take out. All that was missed was a couch.

After stuffing our bellies, I decided there’s no way we could leave for Portland without a visit to University of Oregon…

I don’t know what I expected, but a field under bolt and lock was not it. Maybe Galen Rupp doing 400m repeats? Or the ghost of  Prefontaine? Either way, after walking around the field and looking for a way to sneak, or squeeze onto the track, i gave up and settled for a photo by the gate instead.

I wish I could say that one day I’ll be back to compete here, but we all know I’m getting too old and am far too slow for these dreams.

And with that, back to our car we went for our next stop was Portlandia.

QOTD

Ever been to a city with the same name as you? I would love to find the city of Liana out there.

Weirdest food combo? This burger Korean place is only beat by Kosher pizza/Chinese take out combo I always see in Brooklyn.