2009 Portland

Mount Saint Helens (east side)

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

With the girls getting their hands and feet scrubbed (read: manicures and pedicures), and just hanging out in general all day together, Roger and I were on our own so we struck out for one of the biggest attractions we could think of, Mount Saint Helens.

Mount Saint HelensRather than drive up to the main observatory, which would take a bit longer, we opted for the shorter less traveled east side route which takes you past some beautiful lakes and reservoirs and on up to the Climbers Bivouac.  The road was treacherous and the views rewarding. However; since we got so close to the mountain, rather than viewing from afar, our view of Mount Saint Helens was obstructed by pine trees with only one real good spot for viewing the mountain itself.  We had absolutely fantastic views of the mountains, valleys and lakes to the east and south though.

It was so impressive that I’ll be bringing Rachel back to explore the west side at some point during our adventure.

Rehearsal and Dinner at Portland City Grill

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The rehearsal went off without a hitch at the beautiful Aerie at Eagle Landing.  Because Smitty wasn’t flying in until Saturday morning, I acted as a stand-in groomsmen, which was a first but fun.

Sunset over PortlandAfter the rehearsal always comes the good part… the dinner.  For this particular event we ate at the Portland City Grill on the 30th floor of the US Bancorp building.  The view was incredible, and we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset way up over the west hills.  Pictures can’t do it justice, and since I only brought my 50mm portrait lens (without a polarized filter through glass at night) my pictures of the city and the skyline were all but useless.  Since it was also Michael’s birthday George and Stacie had a cake for him which was absolutely delicious!

You’ll just have to trust me, the view from the Portland City Grill is well worth the cost of a meal, it truly is spectacular.

Mt Hood and Columbia River Gorge

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Mt HoodOne of the things on the must-see list in the Portland area is the Columbia River Gorge. A large group decided at dinner last night to meet up and head out for that at about 10am. Because we’re relatively early risers we thought we’d get a head start, do the Mt Hood loop and meet them out. It’s a good thing we did!

Multnomah FallsIf you get a chance to take the Mt Hood Scenic byway DO IT! That being said, we did. We saw the Oregon trail at laurel hill, the Salmon River, the White River and some fantastic views of Mt Hood. We also got some sweet cherries for a cool $1.50/lb at a local fruit stand. They cost more than $4/lb at home!

From there we met the group at Multnomah Falls along the Historic Columbia River Highway where a few of us hiked to the top. Getting to the top is quite a workout, 15 switchbacks and a mile later. The group headed back from there but since we hadn’t gotten a chance to see the Vista House, we stopped there for a vista and what a one it was.
vista house view
The whole loop : Highly suggested.

An awesome first day.

The Ride In

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IMG_4488 On our way to Portland we flew through Newark (New Jersey) and for once we didn’t miss our flights because of it… Of course, once we got on the plane to Portland we did sit on the runway for an hour …sigh…

Ahh well, once we were finally in the air Rachel and I watched Kingdom of Heaven on my iPhone and we were then graced with some magnificent views of the Mountainous west coast.

After being in Portland for all of 30 minutes we had a few observations:

  • It’s very green.  There’s huge Ponderosa Pine Trees absolutely everywhere and they’re gorgeous.
  • It’s very green-conscious.  We probably saw 147 bikes between the airport and our Hotel.  There are bike lanes on literally every street, and bike paths next to every highway.  There are “Please Conserve Water” signs everywhere.
  • The flowers are amazing and they’re everywhere
  • It’s Claim Jumpers not Clam Jumpers
  • Shopping is great here.  Lots of outlet stores and no sales tax!  This doesn’t mean we’ll be doing any this trip, but it certainly is a good place to go if you’d like to.  The pearl district seems to be where all the higher class shops are.
  • Unemployment is bad here, we saw beggars on pretty much every major intersection between the airport and the hotel.

We had a great trip in and a nice relaxing first day.

Where We Are

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If you’re reading this on our website you might have noticed something new!

We’ve temporarily added a map to the top of the site courtesy of Instamapper which allows us to share with everyone where we are at the moment.  We thought it might be neat for family and friends to see our progress.

Right now it doesn’t show anything, (intentionally) but starting at the airport tomorrow morning we’ll check in once a day or so (where we have cellphone reception).  This should give everyone a good idea on what we’re doing and where.

And for those who don’t already know, the trip we’re talking about this time is our great Pacific Northwest Adventure.  We fly out tomorrow morning bright and early, and we won’t be back for 3 weeks!

Don’t worry (I know you were…) we’ll be updating from the road.

The next time we talk, we’ll be on (or near) the west coast!

Till then… Adieu