Kelly and his lovely wife Yecenia made us feel super welcome and comfortable! Yecenia met us when we arrived and showed us around, gave us the key to our room (and the private back entrance), and even offered to make us coffee. During the 6 days we stayed, they checked in with us frequently to make sure we had everything we needed and were comfortable. They provided fluffy clean towels, two nice fresh white robes, and offered cereal and toast and coffee anytime we wanted. The room had a TV with netflix, its own wifi network, extra blankets...there was nothing we needed or wanted that they hadn't already thought of! They also let us borrow two bikes, complete with helmets and a just-in-case kit. The room was clean and had its own entrance that we used as we came and went. We had our own bathroom, was a definite plus over some of the other listings we had considered. Living in someone's home essentially for several days has the potential to feel awkward, but it didn't at all with Kelly and Yecenia (and their son Diego). They went about their normal lives and we ran around Portland seeing the sites on our own. Kelly provided us with suggestions for bike-friendly streets, where to get good coffee and food, and we enjoyed great conversations about cooking and the history of Portland and all sorts of things. It couldn't have been more perfect...just the right amount of attention on their part with all the privacy we needed.

In terms of the neighborhood, we found our way around easily using GPS. We walked to restaurants, "food pods" and coffee shops (our favorite was Speedboat). We also caught the bus easily ($2.50 per trip, or $5 for a day pass.) It was easy to get to areas like Division, Hawthorne, and Mt. Tabor park. We rode bikes all the way downtown and across the bridge - very doable. And two days we rented a car and drove to the coast (one day) and to Hood River (the other day). The combo of being on foot, on bike, on bus, and renting a car provided a whole range of experiences and we enjoyed them all. The FoPo area is not the "ritzyest" in the city, but the neighbors we encountered were super friendly and it's very quiet (at least compared to where we live in LA!) All in all, we had a great experience at the big blue FoPo house!