Portland has been on my travel bucket list since awhile. Summer is probably the best time to visit, but the last week of May is close enough. So I went on a 3-day trip to Portland, during the Memorial Day long weekend. I wanted to hit a part of Oregon coast, the Columbia river gorge and Portland city.
Day 1
On the first day, I hit the road for a 3 hour drive to Cape Perpetua. Cape Perpetua has some real gems including Thor's Well, Devil's Churn and Spouting Horn. A key point when visiting Cape Perpetua, is to check the tide times. Thor's Well and Spouting Horn are at best just before(about an hour) peak high tide. I went to the tidepool area around noon. The tidepool is a splendid place, where I got to see sea urchins, starfish, anemones and mussels. This place was a mussel harvesting site for the Indian tribes.
After exploring this area, I was still too early for Thor's Well. I drove into the Yachats town and got lunch at Ona restaurant. The tomato bisque was delicious and creamy. The pasta could have been a little less on the cheese. I came back to Thor's Well around 3pm, the high tide was at 6pm. I was really lucky to get some good shots of the well. The Spouting Horn, on the other hand, refused to spout, I hung around till 4:30pm with no luck. I drove back to Portland and had the famous chicken and rice at Nong's Khao Man Gai for dinner.
Day 2:
I headed east from Portland to explore the Columbia river area. After taking exit 22 from highway 84, I drove along the Columbia historic highway. My first stop was at the Women's forum outlook, from where I got some scenic views. Further along the scenic highway, I stopped at multiple waterfalls - Latourell Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Multnomah Falls. The parking at Multnomah Falls is crazy, it took me 30 mins just to park and cross that area. The falls itself is superb, falling from such a great height.
My next stop was at the Oneonta Gorge. Getting to the falls, involves a short walk, about a mile through the creek. The gorge is absolutely magical, it feels like heaven standing in the middle of the moss covered rocks. The water is crystal clear! This is the gem of the Columbia river scenic area. The first part of the hike involves climbing over a log jam, which was fun. Then on, I had to wade through the water. The water in the deepest section was till my chest, but this was a very short stretch, about 20 feet.
Then I continued on highway 84 till Bonneville Dam. I saw the fish ladder and spent some time at the visitor centre reading about what and why fish ladders are needed. My next stop was at Hood village to get some food. I ate at the sixth street bistro, the pasta salad I had was refreshing. I continued driving along the Hood river fruit loop. I was late to visit some of the lavender farms, so I drove non-stop till Timberline lodge. The view of Mount Hood from Timberline lodge is beautiful. This is maybe the highest point in the region. The lodge itself is well insulated and built from granite stones. I spent some time inside the lodge, and continued on the loop till Portland. It was dinner time, I decided to try Cuban at Pambiche. One of the best choices I made, the food was loaded with flavors. The fried plantains and the pineapple drink were great! I can't wait to try Cuban again.
Day 3:
The last day was for Portland city. I started the day with the Alberta art district. I walked along Alberta Avenue and window shopped. The street had some interesting graffiti on the walls. I bought coffee at one of the quaint coffee shops.
Then I continued to the Lan Su chinese garden where I spent around 30 minutes. My next stop was for lunch at the food truck pod on 9th avenue. I tried a Moroccan food truck and got a vegetarian Paella with quinoa. Then I went to the famous Powell's City of Books. I was simply awestruck. I have never seen such a huge bookshop, what a variety! The store has a map to go around it, which was definitely useful. A true book lover can spend a whole day at this shop exploring. Each category had so many choices, I just did not know where to start. I picked the travel writing section and got hold a copy of
Wide Open World.
I spent the remainder part of the day at the Japanese garden, International Rose garden and the 23rd Avenue Alphabet district. I enjoyed looking at the variety of roses in the garden, there were simply too many. The alphabet district was an interesting area. Each street is named starting with each letter of the English alphabet. The street was filled with interesting and quirky shops. My favorites were the Meadow - a salt shop, Poplandia - flavored popcorn and Salt & Straw - an ice cream place.
