Michael and I wanted to take a trip together this summer to somewhere we've never been. We looked at the map and discovered that he had been to all of the west coast states except Oregon. After a few days of discussion, we decided it would be Portland for a few days!
What's in Portland? I have no idea. But we are going to find out!
This is a VERY long post. I contemplated breaking it into multiple days, but decided to just make it all into one. This was not only the food tour of the area, but also the photo tour, so scroll on through if you get bored at any point. There are a LOT of photos...
I worked until 2 on Wednesday, then we had to make a quick trip to the airport.
Only to sit and wait because our flight was delayed....
But it was a short flight. That could be because I slept through most of it...
But in 1:35, we were in Portland! I took this picture out the window of the plane because I liked how many trees there were throughout the neighborhoods.
The weather here is supposed to be beautiful during our stay. Most days have a high of 83-85 and lows in the 50's. Yes! Sure beats the 100+ that is supposed to be going on at home. I feel bad that Bella is at home getting cooked in the house, but we are going to enjoy some cooler temps for a few days. We've got until Sunday to get around this town and see as much as we can see.
We landed in Portland and we were both walking around the airport with thoughts of Christmas. Michael said it looked the mall during the Holidays. Neon signs and decorated columns. The other things we noticed were all of the places to eat that looked delicious! We were anxious to catch an Uber and get to our hotel, but it was tempting to have dinner in the airport.
A quick 10 mile Uber ride and we are in Vancouver, WA and staying at the Heather Lodge.
We chose this place because of the reviews and that it wasn't so close to the downtown area. We will ride light rail to Portland in the morning and pick up our rental car.
Our Uber driver told us he really hears great things about this hotel. It is new, only a year or so old and built to resemble a log cabin. The rooms, hallways and restaurant are all made mainly of wood. Michael thought for sure there would be a mounted deer head in the room! No such luck, but the lights down the hallways so have antlers on them!
I had some of my leftover chicken wrap from the trip here and Michael wanted Chipotle for dinner. So we found one that was within a mile from the Lodge and walked on over. Mr. Uber driver said this are can be a little sketchy at night, so we made a quick trip of it and took a burrito bowl to go.
Along the way we found Chip! I think Michael has a new nickname...
Hi Chip!!
And what's a boy to do when he's away from home? Eat your dinner in your bed of course...
Mom is not enforcing house rules while on vacation, so have at it son. Oops, I mean Chip!
DAY 2
Making our way to visit the Columbia Gorge
We were both exhausted after our travel day yesterday and we both stayed up too late. We silenced all electronics, closed the black out shades and decided to sleep until we couldn't sleep anymore. I was up just before 8, and laid in bed checking emails, Facebook, news, weather, etc until I was all caught up. It's now 8:30 and all I hear is solid sleep breathing from the other bed. I was anxious to get out and explore so I decided to put on my running should and head outside. This was really going to be an exploration run. I have no idea where I am and not sure when I walk out the door of the hotel, which way I should go to run. I ended up heading East and ran through some sketchy neighborhood, where a couple of times I was wishing I'd had some pepper spray on me, just in case. I ran like I had somewhere to go and I got my 4 miles in, but I'll find another route tomorrow. I snuck back in the room, showered, dressed and it was now 10:00!! Michael must have been tired. I finally had to wake him up. We had to do breakfast and pick up the car in Portland before it got too late.
We headed over to Shari's cafe which was about a 10 minute walk and had breakfast. Michael had a delicious pancake and I had 2 poached eggs on an english muffin and we split an order of bacon. It was typical diner food. I think we will be hitting the grocery store and doing breakfast in the room from here on out. We headed into downtown Portland with an Uber driver named Lisa. She has lived in the area for about 8 years and been driving Uber only 6 months. She was a wealth of knowledge about the area and about being an Uber driver. Sounds like a perfect semi-retirement job. I may have to look into more when the time comes. She was having a blast. She told us all about where to go in Portland, where to eat, where to park, etc. We mentioned the gorge and she also suggested some places to stop on the trek there.
The first stop along the route was the Bonneville Lock and Dam located near Cascade Locks, OR
Wow, that's a lot of water coming from the spillway! There are two sets of spillways and these were all wide open. The ones on the other side were all closed.
The sound of the water is pretty cool.
We then made out way into Cascade Locks for some lunch. There were several places to choose from and I let Michael choose.
He picked the Cascade Locks Ale House.
I think he likes the sliders...
We met this guy on the street. He was the resident cat and claimed this spot of the sidewalk next to his food bowl and water. He wasn't moving.
Another suggestion was to visit the Bridge of the Gods.
It's an interesting bridge and the PCT crosses this bridge. We saw the trailhead on the other side and caught sight of several hikers all geared up and making their way around town for food and such. Would love to be one of those hikers one day...
A group of travelers asked us to take their pictures by the bridge, they in turn took ours for us.
Across the bridge, we made our way into Stevenson Washington. We noticed a museum along the road and decided to make another stop. We are so glad we did. We spent more time here during the day than any other place we visited. Nothing like a scrap yard/museum to get this kid excited. He is 13, but still loves trains and all of the equipment involved in mining.
An old caboose
There was also a very old set of cranes. The one on the right is from 1939
There were lots of things to photograph. I could have spent an hour taking shots of cool pieces of equipment. I brought my Nikon with me on this trip and I'm really holding back not posting the 200 pictures I took today... But here are a few...
Some volunteers build this mine and the disclaimer that goes with it...
Oh how I love confined spaces. This not really being deep in the mountain, I was ok with it.
Lots of cool rusty stuff to look at.
An old logging truck from 1954
We kept driving towards the gorge. The entire area is covered with railroad tracks on both sides of the Willamette River and there was a constant stream of freight trains going by.
Train tunnels as well.
We got up to a the Gorge National Scenic spot and caught a great view of Mount Hood.
I took a panoramic shot of the gorge. We were expecting something a little bigger than this, but after asking a few others that were in this spot, this really was the gorge area. It was pretty, but not as spectacular as all the hype. We both agreed that the highlight of the day was the journey to get here. We enjoyed all the sights along the way so it was all worth it.
We then headed back to Vancouver, WA to hit up Safeway and stock the fridge for breakfast and snacks. We came away with some puffy Cheetos. Michael thought this was the proper way to eat one. Silly kid.
It's been a long day and we are both tired. So excited to go and explore Portland tomorrow day and and get ready for a concert tomorrow evening. We are seeing Train, Natasha Bedingfield and O.A.R. Yay!
DAY 3
Our day started with visiting Paul Bunyan. Paul Bunyan, the statue, was erected in 1959, and restored in 1986 and 2009. He is 31 feet tall, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. He's in dire need of repainting and from the color swatches on his pant legs, I think it's about to happen soon.
Why is Paul Bunyan in Portland, I have no idea. He's not even from here. He isn't even from here, but here's a brief history as to why if your interested: Paul Bunyan statue story
Well, hello there Mr. Bunyan.
Now off to find some donuts!!
Welcome to Voodoo Doughnut! The Magic is in the hole.
You can smell them from a block away!
Voodoo doughnut was very eclectic inside and out.
The selection carousel. Choose wisely...
We chose the "dirt" doughnut!
Now that's a donut or a doughnut.... You decide.
Either way, it was amazing and weighed about a pound!
We took this right before we both tried to devour this behemoth. We were unable to finish it. It's huge! But the dirt doughnut did not disappoint. YUM!
And who did we run into near Voodoo Donuts? Mr Stewart!! Michael's elementary school principal. Funny to be so far from home and see a familiar face. He was here visiting his sister and family. Michael always really liked Mr. Stewart and it was great to see him.
We walked along the waterfront
We walked from here all around Historic Downtown. Lots of pics to follow so just scroll along...
The water fountains in the park were running and kids were playing in them.
A historic arch marker from 1883
I took this one for Chanelle since her last name is Reynolds. :-)
Old horse ring. There is an entire project around these called The Horse Project. It's pretty funny. People go around tying up tiny horses all over the city. Why? Well... It's just funny.
We didn't find any that day, but here's a pic of one. Wishes we had been able to run across one though. Here's a little info about them:
The sidewalks of Portland are peppered with metal rings. Mysterious to many, they actually date back to the early 1900's when citizens used them to fasten their horse carts. The city of Portland continues the practice to this day of preserving and maintaining rings citywide. Even when a new sidewalk is built, rings are added.
I took pics of lots of cool signs and columns.
This leather company is family owned and has been for many generations. The smell inside was amazing. I really liked the leather tray below and may order one online when I get home. Would be great for my car.
This is the U.S. Bancorp Building (aka Big Pink) for some reason it looks pink from other parts of the city. We are headed up to the top to have lunch and take in the views. Portland City Grill here we come!
Bridges, bridges and more bridges.
Train station
Pano of Portland to the North from the 30th floor.
We were in a hurry to have a quick lunch and get to our meter, so we decided to just get a burger and split it. The menu is delicious looking, but this was about the only thing he would eat on it. It was delicious! Even the fries were pretty amazing.
PCG American Blend Cheeseburger
Brisket, short rib & chuck, apple smoked bacon,
Tillamook white cheddar, crispy onions, brioche.
Gee, no tax, but with a tip that was a $20 burger. It was delicious, but wow.
You can put a girl in a big city, but she will still use her back country navigation to locate the car. This is milGPS. I set a waypoint so I'd know where we parked.
We had to make a quick trip to take a pic of the Heathman Hotel in Portland. Why? Well, because it's the Heathman... And it's in a movie...
Our overall impression of Portland was different after we spent a day parousing the streets. We found it to be dirty and smelly with a excessive amount of homeless. The homeless occupied nearly every street we were on and we often had to walk into the street to move around their makeshift shelters. Michael was becoming more apprehensive as the day went on as the people we were coming across were visibly mentally ill or intoxicated. Most of my pics are looking up as photographing looking down would have been an entirely different set of pictures. I've no huge desire to travel back to the actual city of Portland, but the donuts were amazing! We've enjoyed the surrounding areas a lot though, so at least there's that. Now back to the hotel for a nap to get ready for the concert tonight!
Found the venue in no time. Traffic wasn't bad and parking was easy. The part that everyone was grumbling over was the rules about bringing anything inside with you. Ladies could not bring in purses larger than 4"x6". Seriously? Many wallets are bigger than that. So, I loaded up my pockets with ID, money, and cell phone and left the rest behind in the car.
The venue is very nice, clean and not too crowded. I'm really liking Ridgefield, WA so far.
Let's get this party started!
Natasha Bedingfield took the stage first. I've always enjoyed her music. She put on a great opening show.
O.A.R. took the stage next. Great show, I wish I knew more than a couple of their songs. I really enjoyed their set. Michael recognized a couple of their songs.
He's starting to loosen up and have some fun at the show!
Next up... Train!!
This one really got Michael more excited. He loves this song and the "crappy purple Scion" always brings a smile to his face. Glad we got to see it live together.
They released beach balls. Michael had never seen this, he thought it was pretty cool and was trying to catch one! There were about 100 at one point.
This is an outdoor arena/amphitheatre, but the reserved searing area is all covered. The place was packed, all the way out to the grass you could hear everyone singing and having a great time.
For an encore they came out and played Under Pressure. It was a great version of the song!
You know the encore is over when they release all the confetti... You couldn't even see the stage anymore! It was a great show to see with Michael, we had a great time. He sang and even danced a little arm in arm with me. Special times with the now teenage son. We don't get these types of experiences often enough. We bought him a shirt (half price because the tour is over tomorrow and they have too many) and have a bunch of fun memories from the day. He thought the lead singer of train looked like Simon Cowell too! Haha
DAY 4
We have a day of record breaking activities planned today. We are heading to Gresham, OR to help participate in a Guinness Sidewalk chalk art record.
Saturday, July 15 Arts Plaza
9:00 am-5:00 pm / Celebration at 5:30 pm
A town in Canada stole our world record, set by the Gresham community in 2015 for the largest display of chalk pavement art. Now, we’re coming together to steal it back (from Canada) in an epic day of chalk art that’s free fun for the whole family.
We have a day of record breaking activities planned today. We are heading to Gresham, OR to help participate in a Guinness Sidewalk chalk art record.
Should be great weather today.
First order of business, outside for a run. There really aren't any great places to run around our hotel however, I'd rather run on this busy street with a bike lane than through some of the sketchy neighborhoods I ran through on Thursday. So, the long, busy road it is. Got a good 4 miles in to start the day.
After our meh breakfast at the nearby Diner on our first day here, we quickly decided we would have breakfast in our room. We made a quick trip to Safeway and Michael picked up silver dollar pancakes and I bought a $3 microwave egg poacher, eggs and some muffins. Later that day when he wanted some pizza, I got a salad from the salad bar, which I made sure included bacon! I saved the bacon for my breakfast eggs and voila! Poached eggs on a muffin. Who would have thought that microwave poached eggs with bacon in them could actually be pretty good! This is my new travel breakfast.
Today's record breaking adventure...
9:00 am-5:00 pm / Celebration at 5:30 pm
A town in Canada stole our world record, set by the Gresham community in 2015 for the largest display of chalk pavement art. Now, we’re coming together to steal it back (from Canada) in an epic day of chalk art that’s free fun for the whole family.
We arrived in Gresham, OR which was about 20 miles from Vancouver and were quickly told that the entire community turned our early in the morning and finished the whole road! As luck would have it, they were already marking off 5 foot sections around the plaza for more art. Since this was being officially measured, it would also be included in the record breaking attempt. We picked up a box of chalk and claimed a square. The squares that were on the road were pre-outlined by local artists and ready to fill in this morning, ours would be totally organic and just had to have a patriotic theme.
We decided the border would be a good place to start as we had no idea what we would be drawing.
We put our heads together and decided on a tree. Then Michael decided he would like the tree to have red, white and blue stripes. Ok, we can make that happen. Obviously neither of us have any real talent in the art department, but this simple design we could both handle. He drew the trunk and I made the outline of the canopy. We both worked on stripes and filling in the empty space.
My camera decided to wash out the artwork, but I'm signing my name in the corner. Michael claimed the opposite corner and adorned it with "MW".
Here is our finished masterpiece. I also included "C+C" on the tree trunk, but it's hard to see here.
One of the streets filled with completed squares. There were several streets like this.
Here we are, accomplished artists who've participated in a Guiness Book of World Record. It was pretty fun. I'm glad we found out about and participated in it. Everyone that was involved here was super nice and very helpful.
Our official stickers. Aren't we special? yep
Now we are off to walk through the art festival and farmers market that are on Main Street nearby.
This is "Thor". Michael wanted to hold him, then quickly didn't.... Get him off!
We asked around about yummy local eats and this was recommended to us. My description of what I wanted was eclectic, delicious and local. Yep, this was it.
The burger selection. They also had a salad and grass section, which I selected a taco salad from.
Yep, it was eclectic.
I had a California cider too. YUM
Finishing up our trip at the Arts Festival. How could we get through it without seeing Cha Cha the Clown. Now we have seen it all.
Then there is this handsome kid. We are having fun just walking around.
Here are some pics of things he pointed out while we were walking.
Michael liked this sign.
Then there is this... a 4' tall duck. Why? I have no idea. He did have a cute face though.
Quack, Quack! His price tag was $750. OUCH!
This reminds me of beaker from the Muppets.
Of course I had to take a pic of a hummingbird.... They are my favorite.
We enjoyed our time in Gresham. It was a nice town and the people were very welcoming. It was a refreshing break after our day in Portland yesterday.
We are headeded back to the Heathman to relax for a bit, which means Michael plays games on his phone and I blog! haha
We hung out for a couple of hours, then went and saw a movie. War for the Planet of the Apes. Anyone that knows me that movies are usually nap time for me. We went to the theatre at the Vancouver Mall and although it was nice, we are spoiled by our leather reclining seats at our theatre. I sat upright and didn't nod off even once!! This movie is long (2:19) but kept my attention and I stayed awake through the whole thing. Michael and I both thought it was better than the last one. .
So, we head back to our hotel to pack and prepare for traveling home tomorrow. Our tour of Northern Oregon is quickly coming to an end :-(
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