It might be a bit of a surprise, but we like Groupon. And LivingSocial. And anything that lets us do our adventuring on the cheap. A while back, we bought some kind of discount for a company called Stray Boots, which specializes in on-foot scavenger hunts, where you get the clues on your phone. We immediately fell in love, and have been buying more mini-adventures from them ever since, in just about every city we visit.

One of Becky’s favorite things to do is to go hiking, so every year on her birthday we take some time out of our otherwise-busy lives and go on a hike. This year it’s an urban hike, with clues! We started with these elephants.

This is me being a pea in the POD.

Becky, with her nose in a book at Powell’s.

Playing air guitar outside a place where they sell real guitars.

Acting too highbrow for the Low Brow Lounge.

And giving a bear a hug at Jamison Square.

We spent two hours, solved 25 clues (these were only the ones that involved photos), walked about 3 miles, and got to know Portland just a little better. Happy birthday, Becky!