A few weeks ago, Michael and I took a 9-day road trip from Phoenix to Portland! It was an amaaazing trip that I will never forget. :) In my last blog post, I talked about the 3 days it took to get to Portland! Starting right where we left off. . .
Day 4
We woke up in Lincoln City, OR, and drove 2 hours over to Portland. Finally, we had arrived!!!
Our first stop in the city was the Portland International Rose Test Garden. I had no idea that there are hundreds of different species of roses, but there are! This garden grows different types of roses in all the colors of the rainbow. The garden was so beautiful and, as you can imagine, it smelled absolutely LOVELY.
Right next door is the Portland Japanese Garden, so we checked that out too. It is so beautiful and peaceful. Even though it's outdoors, I felt like I had to whisper the entire time we were there! haha
Michael being Michael :P
After our morning walks through these 2 gardens, we drove to the nearby Pittock mansion, which is a restored mansion that was built in 1914. I love visiting historical homes and learning about the people who lived in them and the culture at the time, and this was no exception. I didn't take many pictures, but look how beautiful even the back of the house is.
We were pretty hungry after doing all of these touristy things all day! I searched on Yelp for some Thai food, and we settled on a place not too far from our hotel. . .only to discover it was completely shut down. We randomly picked a different Thai restaurant, and I don't remember what it was called but I remember it was near a community college. Anyways, Michael says he was served the best fried rice he's ever had! The most memorable part of the dinner for me is when Michael was given this teeny tiny box to put his leftovers in. I was cracking up!
After dinner, we stuffed ourselves silly on ice cream from Salt & Straw. When we ordered two scoops, we didn't realize that they would be monstrous. That didn't stop me from eating every last bite of my Cinnamon Snickerdoodle and Chocolate Gooey Brownie ice cream cone. I'm drooling just writing about it.
Day 5
I call this our wilderness day! The entire day was dedicated to exploring the beautiful outskirts of Portland. It's crazy to me you can see waterfalls from your car while driving down the road. WHAT?! I could hardly contain myself with excitement from the first waterfall we saw, Wahkeena Falls. Michael and I pulled over to check it out. I was literally jumping up and down because I was so overwhelmed with how beautiful it was! We found a path near the parking lot and decided to follow it for a little bit---about an hour later, we had hiked up to the very top of the fall (with my purse and all LOL)! I'm not sure what I was expecting to see at the top of the waterfall, but I was not expecting to see a pool of water flowing out of a hole in the ground!
This was definitely one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done!!
After that adventure, we made our way to the Fruit Loop to eat some local produce from some farm stands! The Fruit Loop is literally a 35-mile loop with tons of different farms and small stores to stop at along the way. I had the most delicious peach ever, ate my first huckleberries (#oregon), tasted fresh jellies and mustard, found beautiful sunflowers, and fed alpacas! I didn't realize this before our trip, but guys, I really want a blanket made with alpaca wool. Oh my word, these creatures have the softest hair. Blankets are pretty gosh darn expensive, but ah so warm and cozy!
I can't decide what I love more about this picture - those chompers on the big alpaca, or the sweet little baby alpaca
On our way back to Portland, we stopped at famous Multnomah Falls! Wow, what a view! We also had dinner right there at the water fall -- our one "fancy"-ish meal of the trip. It was so special! :)
Day 6
The next morning, Michael and I fueled up at Blue Star Donuts. Guys. These beautiful things melt in your mouth. I had a blueberry bourbon basil donut all to myself, and Michael and I split an original glazed donut. I washed it down with some Stumptown cold brew, because the lovely man who helped us assured me that would be the very Portland-ian thing to do. Again, it was delicious. After breakfast, we went to check out Forest Park, which is a very long trail that is lush and green and over-brimming with beauty, and I just really wish there was a trail like this in Phoenix to run through. Like the Redwood forest, it just doesn't seem real to me.
We didn't have time to walk very far before we were back in the car and headed to Husum, WA, for some white water rafting!! This was my first time white water rafting, and Michael's second. The guides from Wet Planet are AWESOME, and very thorough about going through all of the safety procedures. After the safety talk, you gear up (wow, I am glad I don't have to put a wet suit on every morning :P) and are bussed out to the river. We got in our raft with our guide and 2 other couples, and away we went! After a little while, the rapids become a little too intense for the beginners class, so we had to get out and portage. We walked up this cliff, and we had the option to jump 20 feet into the 40 degree water below. I gave a big HECK NO, but Michael did it! He always has a blast doing the things that give me heart attacks. :P Soon enough, we were back in our raft and flying down the river. At the end of the river is a 12 foot waterfall, and the guides give us the option of getting out of the raft before the water fall, or going over it. Michael and I decided to go over it, and I am glad we did! It wasn't nearly as scary as I expected.
That night, we ate dinner at Pogy's Subs, and I don't have any pictures or anything, but the food was great and the customer service was the best that Michael and I have ever, ever had. We were both just super impressed, and I highly recommend stopping there to anyone who happens to go through Milwaulkie, OR. :)
Thank you so much for reading!
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