Cannabis Season – Week 7 – Dispensary Tour
This week includes Serra’s (Belmont) 1-year anniversary, The Weed Blog’s sponsored happy hour at Cravedog (North Tillamook), and the beginnings of Memorial Day weekend. I also continue with my Dispensary Tour, this week wandering through the area between and around the 217/I5 corridors southwest of Portland and east of Beaverton. This tour is different than my top picks, but equally awesome and fun!
Here is how I walked 47.1 miles from Sunday May 21 through Saturday, May 27.
Dispensary Tour began Sunday, 5/21/17, 7.8 miles. With temperatures predicted to reach the upper 80s, I decide that celebrating the first warm days of spring/summer by people watching along the Willamette River is what I will do today. First I will visit Frankie and share most of whatever I have with him. I take public transportation from Frankie’s to the Hawthorne Bridge, where I begin my walk along the river at OMSI. I wander north for nearly two miles, cross over the Steel Bridge and wander south to Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The Saturday Market is in full swing and the whole west bank is being readied for the Rose Festival which begins on May 26.
Monday, 5/22/17, 5.2 miles. We go from temperatures two days ago in the 60s to yesterday in the 80s and today in the 90s. Another wonderful day to wander the parks along the Willamette River.
Tuesday, 5/23/17, 0.5 miles. Stayed home and wrote last week’s blog
Wednesday, 5/24/17, 10.8 miles. Time to wander the dispensaries☺.
Local Leaf – This is a great dispensary which also contains the Portland Cannabis Museum, which is why I included it as part of my Dispensary Tour. Many of the artifacts here are some of the ones I saw in the 60s and 70s as a young cannabis consumer growing up along our Eastern Seaboard. It is a wonderful piece of nostalgia for anyone interested in a bit of cannabis history and humor. I counted 28 chemovars on the shelf, including a frosty strain named Rug Burn from Cannanands at 28.39% THC and Platinum Animal Cookies from Phyre Farms testing at 17.9% THC, each at $12 a gram. Local Leaf also runs daily specials, and on this day they are selling Super Maximus (a sativa hybrid) and Raspberry Kush (an indica), each from Potluck Farms for $5 a gram and $8 a gram each (for medical patients) respectively. Also, at $32 for medical patients, the price for Empower’s 4-Play is the best I have found in any dispensary.
The CDC – One of the first things that I notice at The CDC is that they have a recycling box for our empty plastic pre-roll and flower containers. I confirmed with the manager that these containers are recycled by their container vendor. I count 24 chemovars plus 3 more that are CBD heavy strains. All of the flower choices here are $11.70 per gram or less for recreational sales, so the prices here are some of the most reasonable I have encountered store-wide. I also notice that they have Beehive extracts (many strains!) for $30.50 per gram for medical patients and $35 per gram for recreational.
CS Laboratories, Inc. – I left my Senior Cannabis Consumer business card with one of the ladies at the reception desk who told me that she would put it on Stephanie’s desk and that she would see it when she returned to the office. I do not know if CS Laboratories will let me tour their facilities, as part of my dispensary tour, but rarely does it hurt to ask.
Vacant Storefront – The State of Oregon maintains a list of recreational cannabis businesses and a list of medical cannabis businesses. The second list includes WWMP, LLC as a medical cannabis business located at 12215 SW Main St., Ste A Tigard. However, when I visited this address, all I found was an empty storefront ready to lease.
Chalice Farms Tigard – This is another dispensary who recycles our ready-to-be-discarded plastic containers, and should have a recycling box in each dispensary location, according to the budtenders and managers on duty today. Chalice does have a restroom in the dispensary for their customers. They have many chemovars, but other than some “smell” jars, all of their flower product is pre-packaged and they have a 2 gram minimum for their flower purchases. When asked to show a couple of their best flowers at the moment, I was shown: Silver Hawk, Banana Kush, and Pineapple Express from Yerba Buena; Blue Dream from Arnow Browne; Blueberry Kush from Noble Farms; and Obama Kush from Green Cross. All of these flowers looked amazing and any of them should help make a good time great!
Western Oregon Dispensary Sherwood – This Medical only dispensary welcomes each new patient with a complimentary joint. During my visit today it is a 0.5g Virgin Mary pre-roll. They also have a special selling 4 1.3gram pre-rolls for $20, which you can mix and match from a few strains. This is an incredible deal for pre-rolls. They also take plastic, using a third party named Linx which offers loadable debit cards which can be used to purchase cannabis products. A nice convenience, even if it does charge $3 to load money on the card. Western Oregon Dispensary also sells ounces of cannabis (Critical Mass or Mixed Green) for $99, and if you are interested in the Magical Butter machine, they will sell you one, with an ounce of cannabis, for $200. I also found Sandy River OG BHO for $32 a gram.
Thursday, 5/25/17, 6.7 miles. I visited Serra on SE Belmont for their 1 year anniversary. The folks from Level are there to promote their new flavored water, yummy! I picked up some Corazon, that wonderful sativa dominate hybrid which tested at more than 19% CBD. From SE Belmont I wander to Cravedog on North Tillamook to participate in the monthly Happy Hour sponsored in part by The Weed Blog. I learn so much from the folks who participate in these social gatherings! Now, if only I can remember all of these names.
Friday, 5/26/17, 7.7 miles. Today I take the MAX up through the Hollywood District to The Grass Shack on Broadway, just north of Halsey. I hit it perfectly, during a lull in the flow of folks coming in to score one of the $5 disposable REL vape pens. From here I wander west down Broadway, southwest down Sandy, and then west on Oregon Street to Home Grown Apothecary for a second $5 REL vape pen. Even though these pens contain only 0.25g of extract, at $5 each they are a great deal! I do love the magical look and feel of this wonderful dispensary. It always feels magical when I walk up to it. Leaving Home Grown Apothecary I wander south to the North West Cannabis Club where I can sit in comfort and pass the time while enjoying some fine Oregon flower and flower products. Utilizing public transportation allows me to enjoy the fruits of this lifestyle while staying safe.
Saturday 5/27/17, 8.4 miles. I choose not to perform my Dispensary Tour at times that I think dispensaries will be too busy with customers to spend time with me. Since this is supposed to be another gorgeous day in the Pacific North West, I will spend the day people watching again in downtown Portland. I disembark from the MAX at Goose Hollow and walk to PSU to visit their Saturday Market, then take the Orange line to OMSI. From there I wander aimlessly along the river, across the Steel Bridge, and more along the river. When the heat rises I take the Orange line to the NWCC and again enjoy the comfort of the social club.
