Portland, OR

Today, Todd made breakfast (pancakes, yum!) and then we set off for a hike in the Mount Hood National Forest. It was freaking cold up there, Mr Bigglesworth – I could see my breath. But it was a lot of fun and extremely scenic.

We came across this massive Y-shaped tree and I managed to crawl up it and wedge myself into the Y as if it were some kind of hammock – that was fun.

We walked around Mirror Lake and saw lots of snakes in the grass! I got one of the snakes on film, and Todd got some pretty amazing photos.

Once we got back to Portland, we ate dinner at Montage, a Louisiana-inspired restaurant with lots of artwork on the walls and a laid-back atmosphere. Our doggy-bags were actually our leftovers wrapped in aluminum foil and crafted into elaborate designs – Todd’s was a crab, mine a jester hat, and people seated near us got roses and swans.

Tags: food, hiking

Columbia River Gorge

Today we went out to the Columbia River Gorge and the Bonneville Dam, where we saw lots of salmon and shad, and a guestbook where somebody wrote: “I love lamp.” which cracked me up. (If you’ve seen Anchorman with Will Ferrell, you know why this cracked me up. If you did not see the movie, yes I know “lamp” was short for “lamprey”, although abbreviating a 7 letter word by 3 letters is pretty funny too)

Next we checked out a ton of waterfalls – Horsetail Falls, LaTourell Falls, Multnomah Falls, Wahkeena Falls, and more. I saw another slug, and would you believe it, a giant snail! It was lots of fun (slooow fun, but fun) to watch them cross the paths to get to the foliage on the other side.

Todd and I wrapped up the evening by checking out the view from Crown Point and having dinner at Greek Cuisina, where I had spanakopita, my very very favorite.

Tags: animals, food, hiking

Seal Rock, OR

Today we went out to breakfast at Shari’s (Shari like sherry, not Shari like sorry) and I got some sort of mozzarella-and-marinara omelette, which was pretty tasty.

Next, we headed out toward the Sea Lion caves, and since that was so far away, we made plenty of stops along the scenic view car pull-off areas. Due to the wind and rain, I got lots of wild pictures of tall waves crashing against the massive sea stacks rising from the water, which was really neat.

Another cool thing was that just before we got to the actual Sea Lion Cave area, we hit the Seal Rock pull off, where we looked down over the cliff wall and what do you think were just kicked back, relaxing on the rocks below? That’s right, a bunch of seals just hanging out! They were stinky, but very cool.

Then we finally made it to the actual Sea Lion Caves at about 5:30 (they close at 6pm) and on the lookout there, we saw a baby sea lion nursing on his mother. (or wet nurse. how am I to know.) The cave itself was also pretty neat, but it was (obviously) dark, so I’m not sure how well those photos will come out.

We rounded out the evening with sandwiches and beer at McMenamin’s (I got a Porter, Todd got a beer with a lemon in it, I forget what it’s called.) and headed home after another successful day.

Tags: animals, road trip

Oswald State Park & Cannon Beach

Today we got up and went to breakfast at Elmer’s (you heard right, like the glue). Believe it or not, not bad, not bad.

We headed out to Oswald State Park for a bit of hiking on the Cape Falcon trail. I got to see a giant slug cross my path, blackberry flowers, and a bunch of psycho surfers out riding the waves in wet suits and sub zero temperatures. OK, maybe it wasn’t sub-zero – but it was hovering between 48-54 and that’s waaay too cold for this Tampa girl to be frolicking in the water!

Next we headed up to the Cannon Beach which had all these crazy sea stacks including the famous Haystack Rock as well as a bunch of tide pools. I saw lots of fish and tiny crab-like things, also sea anemone (sea urchins) and by-the-sea sailors, which looked like a cross between a jellyfish and a Dalí-esque bike reflector.

On our way back to Todd’s apartment, we come around the corner and guess what we see on the hillside? A bunch of elk, just grazing and hanging out.

Tags: animals, hiking

Portland, OR

Today Todd had to work, so he dropped me off downtown so I could walk around and see what I could see. I started out at Powell’s, the nation’s largest independent bookstore, and boy is it massive. I absolutely love to read (okay, I’m addicted to reading) and I could easily spend every dime I earn in a place like this. If you’ve never been, you should really think about checking it out.

Next, I walked all around downtown, looking like the tourist I was (backpack on, digital camera hanging around my neck). I walked through most of the parks (and there were a lot more than I anticipated), by the Chinese Garden, the Skidmore Fountain, the Ira C Keller fountain, City Hall, Portlandia, the Cultural District, Chinatown, and the Pioneer Courthouse Square.

I also visited the Art Museum, which had neat Asian, European, and Native American exhibits, and even a Forgotten Mid-Western Prints exhibit. Then I went to the Oregon History Center, which was pretty cool, and I was disappointed that photography was not allowed. There was an exhibit with scale representations of every type of wagon imaginable (ice wagon, conestoga, etc) and that was really neat.

Lastly, I walked along the river (Waterfront Park), taking photos of bridges and Canada geese (NOT “Canadian” geese, as I’m informed) and wandering through the Rose Festival area.

The cool thing about that was that it wasn’t open yet. While that may sound odd, consider this: typically if a fair/festival is not open, the general public is not allowed inside. So for the first time, I got to see carnies setting up, rides being constructed, midway game booths being assembled, and so on. It was really pretty interesting. (And I saw that they had my two favorite fair items in all the world: the Zipper ride, and Elephant Ears – yum!)

That night, Todd and I went to the Crystal Ballroom at McMenamins and saw the sold-out Sleater Kinney concert, which was a lot of fun!

Tags: books, festivals & fiestas, museums, music & concerts

Tampa, FL to Portland, OR

Nic picked me up at my house and dropped me off at the Tampa Airport around 9:30 ish for my 10:45 flight, Delta to Cincinnati to Portland. The plane arrived in Cincinnati ahead of schedule, which gave me a fantastic 4 hour layover (sarcasm). Way too much time for a layover, but not quite enough time to leave the airport and say hi to anybody and still get back through security for the second leg of my flight.

I arrive in Portland at 6:30 (9:30pm my time) and Todd is there to pick me up. I get my first glimpses of the Portland skyline (which is bigger than I thought it would be) and we have dinner at an Italian restaurant (Cocina Cocina) near his apartment in Beaverton, which is right outside of Portland.

My body is really tired of all this flying around, so I’m glad to finally be where I’m going!

Tags: airports