Mt St Helens wore us out so we stayed at a hotel an hour outside of Portland that night so we would be fresh for our trip into the city an onward. Our goal for the next couple of days was to road trip to Boise Idaho, seeing as much as possible along the way. We only had two days to make it to Idaho so it was a whirlwind. I think we needed at least a week but we didn’t have it. Neither of us had ever been to Oregon so we were both pretty excited to see this new state.
We headed into Portland with three goals in mind, since we actually were only driving through. We wanted some Voodoo Donuts, Stumptown Coffee, and to see the Portland sign in the opening credits of “Portlandia.” Check check and check! Our first stop was donuts, obviously. We got there in the morning, and there was no line, which apparently is not always the case judging from the queue tape set up outside. I have to tell you, we got some wacky donuts that they are famous for but Dan and I both say that the glazed was where its at. It was SO “where its at” that I would go so far as to say its the best glazed donut Ive ever had. Ever. Next we google mapped a Stumptown Coffee shop and ended up at one that was attached to the Ace Hotel there. Yay! I always love to see the decor at those hotels, and this one was super hip. The photobooth was really neat because it printed out real film photos. They were WET when they came out. No digital printer here. We headed back to the car and drove past the sign.. and then straight out to the Columbia River Gorge. While we only spent about an hour in the city, I already knew that we would be back one day. We really liked it. We both agreed that if we ever moved out to the west coast, this was a contender for a landing spot.
The Columbia River Gorge was out of control gorgeous. It was almost horrible that we didnt have any time to check this place out other than pulling over twice to see Multnomah Falls and take a short hike. This is definitely a place we are going back to, with our tents and time. So so so stinkin pretty!!! Go here.
By the end of the day, we had made it through Hood River (Dan’s Favorite spot) and all the way to Bend. It really was painful passing through these places with no time to take them in. Dan was beside himself in Hood River because of all the water sports potential. SUP-ing, kayaking, wind surfing, hiking, skiing, snowboarding… It was everything I could do to keep his mind off it enough to prevent us moving there immediately. My favorite thing about it was how happy he was there. Once we made it to Bend we were to tired to see much of it. All I remember is how sleepy the town was, how rude our dinner waiter was, and the amazing way the whole town smelled.
We got up, continuing on our road trip, and headed to the Painted Hills! Dan saw this spot online and we detoured to see it. It was quite incredible, and felt very forgotten. There was only one other person there for most of the time we were there. Kinda erie. I was impressed with how perfect it still was even though it was millions of years old. Thanks America for not screwing this place up.
A couple more hours of driving in the wild west, and we made it to Idaho.
Oregon Takeways:
- It so Pacific Northwest-y until you get a couple hours away from Portland. Then it becomes the wild west. We were shocked at how cowboy it was! Shows how much we know.
- I will go back to Portland and Hood River and The Columbia River Gorge. They were all way more awesome than just a drive-by visit.
- One of their main crops is Onions! I LOVE onions. Thanks Oregon.
- Get the glazed donut at Voodoo. On second thought, get a dozen. I would literally pay someone to mail me a dozen, next day air. F’reals.
