Oregon
The Beaver State
Welcome to Oregon: Where the Coffee is Strong, the Trees are Taller, and the Rain is Just a Free Shower
City of Portland
Seize the Saturdays:
We landed on a Saturday, so we were very lucky to catch the Saturday market. Located on the Portland waterfront, the Saturday market consists of local vendors that sell personal goods. Things like homemade carved goods, knitted products, food carts, and even a glass blower! Some of these people have been vendors here since 2012! We got a set of cards with each card that is painted of some part of the Oregon coast, and the artist shared his love of painting with us. We also got a pupusa and a gyro from the food carts and it was super tasty.
A Novel Idea:
There is a reason why Powell’s City of Books is on everyone’s Portland itinerary. There were giant shelves (both in the height and length dimensions) full of books, gifts, toys, and other things at a bookstore. Being the largest independent bookstore, we got lost trying to get through all the rooms. There were also different rooms based on subjects and genres and it was super cool just browsing through all the books they offer.
Address: 1005 W Burnside St, Portland, OR
Some Yummy Stuff
Time to Wake Up:
We landed 9:00 AM in Portland and we needed some coffee to stay awake for the day. We went to Less and More Coffee for a cool coffee to start out our day. It was a cool, small coffee shop on the outside on the street. We got a iced tiramisu latte and a cloud cream coffee, both super tasty. A good intro to the pacific Northwest’s coffee, and was very happy with it!
Donut Tell Me This Pun is Bad:
Blue Star Donuts was the donut place we went to and I heard all about it online. Their blueberry bourbon donut is quite popular, and they offered samples at the front. It was tasted “floral-ly” and really good. We also got a maple donut that made us smile.
Feed Me with Food Trucks:
The Food Truck Scene was the food I was the most excited for. We went to Hawthorne Asylum for some cool street food. The service was great and the options were plentiful, from so many parts of the world as well. Honestly, the best street food I’ve had in all of the US.
Food we got: 1. Sweet Cheese Variniki from Pelmeni 2. Burmese noodles from Burmese Delight 3. Jjajang Tteokbokki 4. A fried chicken waffle sandwich
Hiking Trails
Washington Park
Located on the edge of Portland, Washington Park is a gigantic park with some many small attractions including the Oregon Zoo, a Japanese Garden, and a Rose Garden (that was not in bloom at all when went).
The Japanese garden was beautiful and they had a nice quaint cafe at the entrance. They served an assortment of authentic Japanese teas and we got a genmaicha and a hojicha. It rained a little bit, but nothing to where it affected our visit here!
After, we wanted to walk towards to the Oregon Zoo, just to see what the outside was like. We walked on the inside of on Wildwood Trail to get there, but there were a whole bunch of trails you could walk to arrive there. Washington Park is also massive so there is a bunch of other trails you could also explore and check out.
Funny anecdote but my brother and I got a little lost trying to follow our map, and we ended up walking on the side of the road for a little bit, we looked like hitchhikers but it was a fun experience trying to figure out how to get back to the main trail.
Multnomah Falls and Larch Mountain
Located in the Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls is located 30 miles east of Portland. Fed by underground springs from Larch Mountain which is roughly 6 miles away. Breathtaking views from Benson Bridge and the top of Multnomah.
We took the CAT shuttle over! Here is a good reddit post that helped me get tickets for the shuttle. The shuttle was an amazing way to get to the falls cheaply, and without worrying for parking as well. We got there early (around 9 am) to avoid a large crowd and it was quite worth it to wake up earlier.
There are also a few trails you could take to get a different adventure (like Wakheena Trail), but I took the one that took you to the top of the falls, then Larch Mountain. Larch Mountain was quite a ways away and we wished we were able to finish it, but a snake in the road made us think if we really wanted to and we turned around. We lost signal at around the 3 mile mark, and since it was a Monday, there was no one on the trail at all (plus we were quite far away from the entrance. There was something really pleasant about us being disconnected from the rest of the world.
My Itinerary
So what about you?
Here are the things we did in our Oregon trip:
Day 1: Portland Day
➼ Less and More Coffee
➼ Blue Star Donut
➼ Powell’s City of Books
➼ Portland Saturday Market
Day 2: Washington Park
➼ Japanese Gardens
➼ Enjoyed the Park and Hiked on Wildwood Trail
➼ Hawthorne Asylum
Day 3: Multnomah Falls
➼ Hiked up all day to Larch Mountain (well we tried to)