Portland Day 1 & 2

Hi Friends! I’m so excited to be sharing my trip to Portland with you all. I have so much to share that I’m going to be doing this in three parts so keep staying tuned 🙂

Day 1

We were so excited to go to Portland to see Lauren. Kristen dropped us off at the airport and we took off at 8:50 with no delays. We didn’t plan to all coordinate.

We had an easy flight and took the MAX train from the airport to Lauren’s apartment. The MAX only costs $2.50 and was pretty quick. The public transportation is great in Portland. There are so many MAX trains and buses that run all over the city. We walked and biked most of the time except when we went to the airport or had to go on hikes.

Portland was so hilly and it was tough to get our bags up the hill! The picture doesn’t do this justice. My sister’s apartment was very cute, they’re in the middle of renovating it, but her views are incredible I’ve heard.

We were pretty hungry and walked into town and ate at Pepinos. I had chicken tacos with guacamole that was delicious.

My favorite part about Portland was how green it was everywhere and how fresh the air seemed.

We walked to Powell’s Books which is the biggest bookstore in the country. I’ve never seen so many books in my life. There were so many different rooms and floors filled with books.

We went to Vodoo donuts afterwards, there will be a separate post on that…

We walked to our AirBnB afterwards to rest for a bit, but when we walked in it hadn’t been cleaned yet and we were very grossed out! We walked back to my sister’s apartment and my mom got us a new hotel. (She’s the best travel agent). Luckily we found a great hotel a few blocks from Lauren.

We went to dinner with Lauren at Blue Moon and I had a chicken gyro and fries. They are known around Portland for their spicy tater tots, I tried some and they were really good. I was so exhausted that I slept for almost 11 hours that night!

Day 2

We took off early to go hiking. My sister drove us to Multnomah Falls so that my dad and I could see it.  Unfortunately, because of the forest fire we couldn’t go on the bridge or hike behind it. My mom and Lauren hiked it before the fire and were amazed to see all of the damage surrounding it.

It’s just so beautiful everywhere you look in Portland!

We then drove to Washington and saw the Bridge of the Gods. This is a famous part of the Oregon Trail and the bridge is grated so it’s scary looking down. There also isn’t room to walk on it so it would be scary walking across the bridge. Behind it you can see how the trees on the hill are all burned from the fire 🙁

We hiked Cape Horn and it was a great trail along the Columbia River Gorge. Lewis and Clark canoed down this river. The terrain was pretty tough, I was just hiking in my Nikes, but I didn’t slip. The views made it all worth it.

The viewpoints overlooked the Columbia River which separates Washington and Oregon. We were about four miles in, and had two to go when we came to a sign that said the path was closed for Falcon breeding. We had two choices: go all the way back or walk 1.5 miles along the side of the highway to our car. We chose the second option.

Luckily there was a bit of construction, so they were only letting one side of traffic go at a time, and we could switch sides to avoid the traffic and stay safe. I was so exhausted when we finished! My calves were already sore from the incline.

I was pretty exhausted after all the fresh air that I just walked into town to grab a salad. Jon and I got to Facetime for a bit. I think I went to bed by 9:30.