Recap: My Trip to Oregon

It’s official. I have a serious case of wanderlust. For the most recent trip, Rob (my boyfriend) and I went to Portland, Oregon. It was my first time in the Pacific Northwest and I loved every minute of it. The views were breathtaking and the colors of fall were vibrant. No words, or even photos, can do it justice. So, here’s a recap of our trip.

Day 1 – Exploration in the City:

We left the DFW airport at 6 a.m. in order to get the most out of our first day there. We had a layover in Denver (where it was snowing) and hopped back on the plane to make it to Portland at 11 a.m. The first cool thing about Portland is that the MAX Light Rail runs all the way through the city, making it super easy to get around. We rode the MAX from PDX to the city center. For lunch, we ate at a restaurant called Veggie Grill, which was all vegetarian/vegan food. It was delicious. Then it was time for coffee at the famous Stumptown Coffee where I got a latte. Exhaustion began to set in, so we went to the Airbnb and got to bed pretty early. Our Airbnb was about 15 minutes driving from the Portland city center.

Day 2 – My Birthday:

I woke up to sweet sentiments wishing me a happy birthday. We rented a car and then went to an amazing restaurant called Jam on Hawthorne. Portland has no shortage of awesome and local places to eat. After breakfast, we went exploring on Hawthorne and beyond. We hit up Powell’s City of Books, which is the biggest bookstore…ever… and Camamu Soap. 32 oz. of White Lavender Kombucha was calling our name at Tea Chai Té. After a long day of exploring, we went home to freshen up and then out to an Italian dinner.

Day 3 – Adventure Time:

It was time to explore the nature. We got in the rental and drove to Mt. Hood National Forest which was about two hours from where we were staying. The drive up the mountain was mystical and there was fog radiating from the trees. Unfortunately, because we had a rental car, we could not make it all the way to the top. The roads went from paved blacktop to dirt pathways as we got higher up. Rob suggested that we stop for a hiking trail called Mini Crater Lake. I apprehensively agreed, but was definitely glad that we made the choice to hike this particular trail. The water on the lake was crystal clear with a tint of blue that didn’t even seem real. Again, words can’t do it justice. After our mountain explorations, we stopped to grab a beer at Mt. Hood Brewing Co. I got a delicious Oatmeal Stout. By the time we got home, my friend Raegan was en route to come see us! She lives about 5 hours outside of Portland and decided to come up and visit while we were there. We talked all night and then hit the hay.

Day 4 – Beauty: 

I called this day beauty because that is all I could say the whole time. “Oh my God, this is so beautiful.” We went to Multnomah Falls and explored the Columbia River Gorge, which is about 40 minutes from Portland. We hiked about two miles up to the Multnomah outlook. On our way up, we saw a stream that was the source of water for the waterfall. We began to play in the stream like children, skipping across rocks and collection pebbles. It was completely magical. This was my favorite moment of the trip. We hiked back down and grabbed dinner at a Mexican food restaurant. Then went out for the night on the town. We went to a Jazz bar in the Pearl district of the city called Jimmy Mac’s.

Day five consisted of packing up and heading out. Raegan was nice enough to take us to the airport around 1o a.m. and we got back in Texas at 7 p.m. We were completely exhausted, but the trip was so totally worth it.

Being in nature and soaking up the good energy creates a place of peace for me that cannot be compared. Portland was one of my top ten favorite places. I definitely want to go back in the summer for camping/kayaking and exploring the coast.