Welcome to Meow Wolf's Convergence Station

In 2021, Eric and I took a road trip to Las Vegas to visit with family and experience Omega Mart, an interactive art installation by Meow Wolf that I'd been waiting 3 years to open. There are other massive installations that they've done, but last year we finally had the chance to visit the one in Denver, Convergence Station. 

Meow Wolf is an art collective that wanted to do something huge and different that got people interested in art, and what started in a warehouse has turned into a phenomenon that has people traveling the country to get to one of their locations.

Why are they so special? Because it's a ton of different forms of art, very fun and weird, and there's an overarching story and mystery you can solve in each one. Each one has a different story, but also somewhat ties into other locations, which you'll see Easter eggs for while you're exploring. 

Convergence Station tells the story of a transit worker who was on her bus route and drove into a portal that opened up, now that other dimension is slowly taking over and morphing things into weird versions of themselves. People are losing their memories, which are used for currency. Before you lose yours, you can take on the mystery of the Forgotten 4, 4 people who disappeared and nobody appears to remember, except through missing persons posters up all over "town". 

You can choose to buy a Boop Card and try to solve the mystery, or you can just wander around and take in all the amazing, weird, and awesome stuff everywhere. A card is just $5 and you can use it on future visits, in case you don't do everything on one visit, which I completely understand. We arrived right at opening and stayed for 6 hours, and I'm sure we still missed some stuff. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shereen Travels Cheap | Budget Travel Tips | Travel Writer (@shereentravels)

You take the elevator up to the "street" level, where you'll find stores and businesses and even an art gallery, but nothing is what it seems. Dotted around the street are both public phones and Boop stations for you to learn part of the story of why Convergence Station exists and what became of the Forgotten Four. 

There are secret things everywhere you look, and that's sort of half the reason to visit. Anything can be a door or a secret passageway. Anything can conceal a tiny diorama or game or interactive art. 

This portal is actually a walkway that is as awkward as it looks, but also takes you into a completely different area. Your visit takes you through a bunch of different floors, levels, and environment. You're going to be walking and crouching and sometimes crawling, so wear comfortable clothes and good shoes.

Everything is weird here, but also amazing, and you're going to want to see everything, which can be super overwhelming. You can meet new friends here and you sometimes end up teaming up with strangers to learn how to do certain things or help each other with a challenge. You don't have to, but it's fun experiencing something so interesting and new with new people. 

You can end your story in the security room of Panopticon, where you can both see people in other parts of the building and also call other phones. While we were there, Eric called a phone in Omega Mart and spoke to a visitor there. When we finally figured out the mystery and did everything we were supposed to do to "get credit" for it, the people in the security room were excited to see it and were encouraged to keep going. 

There's something surprising around every corner and behind every door and there are so many places that create stunning and unpredictable photo ops. It's one of those things you can't really explain to someone if they don't know anything about it, but pictures help.

You can't leave and come back, but with your admission, you can stay as long as you want. There's a quick service restaurant in the lobby, which isn't terrific but it's not spendy and it has filing dishes like nachos and rice bowls. That way you can refuel and then continue your exploration of this weird and everchanging landscape. And, if you're lucky, you might even meet the Yawlp. He's awkward and sad, but he's my new favorite cryptid, because who isn't really? 

Have you ever been to a museum that was so amazing that you wanted to tell everyone about it? Tell me about it in the comments!

Portland Coffee Tour 2025 - Part 1

I'm getting back on my coffee grind, because I love coffee and a bunch of you love coffee, and if you come to Portland, I want you to get to some great shops and skip ones that are mediocre. I'm hoping to get up a new tour post each month. 

I'll post about 2-4 Portland (metro area) coffee shops in each post in the series, depending on how many I can get to in 4-6 weeks. Here are 3 that I've gotten to recently:

Hold the Wheat

This shop has all the vibes and it comes through on all of it. Located in Beaverton, it is a gluten-free coffee shop that just opened last June and has a ton of in-house baked goods that all look amazing in the case. 

The entire shop is done in mid-century modern decor in pink and orange and I love it. Even the outside of the building is cutesy and makes you want to go in and buy something. Now, we aren't gluten-free, but I'm always willing to give it a shot for those that are, because it's difficult to make good gluten-free baked goods. Everyone here is so friendly and personable and I heard them talking to other patrons about the decor and the inspiration. 

Eric and I made this a stop on a Sunday morning and bought a selection of items and two coffees. It wasn't cheap. We ordered 6 things and it came out to $49. Eric got a sugar-free vanilla latte, a butternut squash pesto fancy pie (with the leaf on it), and a little pumpkin loaf. I got a cappuccino, a bacon breakfast sandwich, and a strawberry pop tart. All of these things were amazing and really flavorful, but also really heavy, because gluten-free dough always seems to be. So, I was extremely full from my little breakfast sandwich and had to take my pop tart to go and eat it later. Not only do I recommend this for those who have special dietary needs, but anyone else in the area should stop in as well. I really want the great family-owned businesses to thrive. 

Symphony Coffeehouse

We were on our way to shop at the Columbia employee store on a weekend morning, so I Google Mapped breakfast restaurants and coffee shops and this came up. It got really good reviews. If you know me at all, you know I don't get out of bed for anything less than a 4.6 star rating, but I feel like the Google reviewers failed me on this one. They are located in a wonky strip mall in Beaverton, but I was still able to find parking. They still had all their Christmas decor up in January, after Epiphany, as well. (I only mention this, because when I started looking around, waiting for my food and drink, they seemed to be outwardly religious in their non-Christmas decor, too.)

The shop was packed, which is usually a good sign. I ordered a breakfast croissant without the sausage (there was no bacon option available) and a maple latte. Eric ordered a sugar-free caramel toffee latte and caprese panini. I've never had a wheat croissant, and I wasn't mad at it. The sandwich was pretty good, but the strawberries were the sourest fruit I've ever been served, to the point that I didn't even finish chewing the first piece I put in my mouth. I just couldn't do it. Apparently, this sandwich had chipotle pesto on it, but it didn't really come through. I'd eat it again though. My coffee wasn't anything special, and it's the whole reason I eat breakfast in coffee shops. It was a latte and didn't really have much flavor.

Eric said his coffee was just sweet and had no discernable toffee or caramel taste. His panini looked good and the chips were basic chips. He wasn't enamored with either and said he wouldn't come back based on those. I have to agree, because I can get a great coffee and breakfast sandwich much closer to my own house.

Kiss Coffee

This shop was recommended and is located in NE Portland, so if you're on your way to or from the airport, it's kind of convenient. I do a lot of events at a hotel down the way, so it's an jaunt over and back from there. They have all-day breakfast, and that's huge for me, because sometimes I just want eggs in the middle of the day. It's got a cute little shop front, an outside ordering window, and quite a few outside tables to sit at if it's nice out. The whole place feels very welcoming and like it just belongs right in the middle of the neighborhood it's in. 

Looking at their menu, a lot of things sounded delicious, but I specifically went for the gravy burrito, because what?! We pulled up and parked on the street, ordered and sat inside to wait for our breakfast. It's pretty minimal, but also kind of perfect. I don't particularly know how to explain that Portland feel, but it has it.

I think Eric ordered the sugar-free mocha and I got a iced dirty chai, and we both ordered a gravy burrito. He did sausage gravy and did mushroom gravy, because I feel like a veggie/vegan gravy is indescribably Portland and also a good judge of whether a place can actually make good food. And if you still have questions about what it is, I'll tell you. You get three eggs, seasoned potatoes, cheese, and breakfast gravy, but like, the perfect amount. And when I tell you that this was one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth, I can't stress how much I'm not kidding. It's so simple, but it's amazing. If I lived over in the neighborhood, I'd get so fat from eating these. Also, the coffee was very good, so that makes it worth the trip alone. I stopped by since to just grab a coffee, but I can't wait to go and eat another one of these burritos...and maybe figure out how to make it myself at home. It's not messy. It's just straight up delicious.

Okay, that's my coffee round-up for January. I'm excited to bring you more next month, because I have some fun ones on my list. 

Tell me your favorite coffee shops from Portland or where you live, or one you'd like me to try for a future review.

Get More Travel Help From Me!

Are you on Patreon? Do you want to save more money on travel and learn more about specific destinations, get more say in what content you see, and maybe win (or purchase) some travel goodies? Well, then join me over on Patreon, where you can choose from several membership tiers, so you can do some or all of those things! 

Why do I need a Patreon? Because there are some things that I want to do that require a lot more effort than a blog post, but unless I get paid for that, I can't really invest my time in them. I'd also like to give you more things that are personalized, so each month I'll have some polls up for you to vote on the next content you'd like to see, higher tiers will be able to request mini travel guides from me each month to help plan their specific travels, and I'll be putting together goodie boxes that have some of my favorite travel items in them, which you can have a chance to win, or straight up get one sent to your door with your subscription.

Your membership should also help me bring more free things to the blog that you'll want to see and help you more on your trips. Depending on how it goes, I'd love to do a lot more packing videos, including showing you which things I swap out for common travel items that only do one thing or, in my opinion, aren't as efficient.

If any of this sounds like something you want to get in on, membership starts at just $5/month and gets you access to all my mini guides (so far, there are 3 up), my 48 Hours on a Budget posts (more are coming this month), my planning guides, and more. Right now, use code NL50 and get 50% off your first month for any of the first 3 tiers.

I hope to see you there!