Portland, Oregon!

I just got back from Portland this morning at 3 AM thanks to a delayed Dallas to Austin flight but the trip was worth it!

I went to Portland to see my friend Todd from college and to check out a town I had never been to before. I hadn't seen Todd in eight years! It's funny though when you've been friends with someone for a long time (we've known each other for 13 years now) it never feels like it's been that long.

Flying into Portland, about to land, I noticed some bright gold and orange specks. At first I thought it was a pumpkin patch but then realized that it was the trees still in their gorgeous fall colors. Fall is my favorite season and I don't get to experience it in Austin so I kid you not, when I realized they were trees, in my head, in the voice of Tobi, in the voice of Brittany Spears, I thought, "Ya'll got fall here?!"

Immediately from the airport we drove through some of the Columbia River Gorge and on to Mutnomah Falls...the site where my cousin got engaged. I saw my first salmon swimming here! Then on to the mile COMPLETELY UPHILL, STEEP UPHILL!!!!! hike to the top of the waterfall. Holy crap my lungs were burning, but it was beautiful. Over 600 feet up in the air at the top of the falls looking out over the Columbia River and all the fall trees. I don't think I stopped smiling...except for maybe a second when we read that a "bus-sized rock" had fallen down from the top a few years back! Later that night we had dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant and walked around in a cute part of town called Hawthorne.

Friday we drove to the Pacific Coast...through the mountains and on some windy roads. I couldn't stop saying, "wow" and gasping at the evergreens, mountains, and all the scenery. Before getting to the coast we stopped at the Tilamook Cheese Factory, yep, my first cheese factory...I thought Todd was joking when he mentioned stopping at a cheese factory, but turns out he wasn't....pictures coming soon by the way. After that we continued to drive, stopping at several points along the beach until we reached Cannon Beach and saw Haystack Rock, completely lucking out with the weather. I was very proud of myself for hiking through thorny brush taller than me and ending up completely muddy. This is what happens when you have to create your own trails! Friday night we went downtown and ate at the Portland City Grill, a restaurant on the 33rd floor of a building so you can look out over the city lights. Great food and views!

Saturday we hit up two places that several people had recommended to me, Stumptown Coffee and Voodoo Doughnuts. Stumptown's coffee was delicious. I'm not a huge doughnut person, but Voodoo Doughnuts is an experience...every kind imaginable including one with bacon on top! We walked down to the Saturday Market where tons of artists were set up selling a variety of arts and crafts. We then drove to the Farmer's Market to pick some things up for dinner like mushrooms picked from the Portland forest. I did not expect to like them, but oh my gosh, delicious. Next we went to Powell's Books, the nation's largest independent book store. It takes up an entire city block. We then stopped by the fish market for some dungeness crab for dinner and smoked salmon to bring back to Texas. Before dinner we went to Bishop's Garden (something like that) and once again saw some beautiful trees and views.

Way more detail than any of you care to read I'm sure, but it was great seeing a new city and spending so much time outdoors, one of my favorite things.