We rarely need an excuse to take a mini-vacation. This time we used the Cyber Monday discount on airline tickets as a reason to go back to Portland, Oregon. Super Nel rarely likes to visit a place twice but Portland is the exception-it's one of his favorite places to visit. Darius came with us since he loved the city the last time we visited. This trip we were joined by our friends Freddy and Dana. One silly reason we chose to visit Portland in January was to test our warm base layers and clothes before Europe. The weather in the northern countries when we arrive in Europe is going to be cold-at least cold for us Southern California people. So in order to determine if we will be warm enough we decided to test out our winter and rain gear.
We flew out in the afternoon since most of us worked the night shift before departure and we needed a little shut eye before the flight. Before falling asleep I went grocery shopping and prepped numerous snacks to take on the flight. There is nothing worse than when one of us (ANY one of us) gets hangry. And since I knew most of us were going to sleep until the last possible moment we would probably miss out on eating anything before departure.
My snack bag included as many healthy options as possible since I knew we'd be eating plenty of unhealthy things while in Portland. I packed pumpkin seeds, cliff bars, almond/cashew trail mix and dried fruit mix (coconut, tangerines, mango and pineapple), apple carrot sauce, dried apricots, beef jerky, rice crackers and dark chocolate covered pretzels. This bag was popped open before our plan even took off and what was left came in very handy during the rest of the trip. This bag of snacks of snacks is what I usually bring on any trip/vacation because it helps prevent hungriness and helps save some money (no need to buy expensive airport snacks). Also, I always bring some packets of oatmeal to eat at breakfast or any other time we need some fiber.
Super Nel pops open the rice crackers (his favorite!)
Darius enjoying the pumpkin seeds.
Freddy grubbing on a cliff bar.
Dana enjoys the beef jerky and a cliff bar.
The flight was short and sweet and since everyone carried on there was no need to wait for luggage after arrival (good practice in packing light for some people). After picking up our rental car we set off to find our VRBO condo rental. Anyone new to VRBO should know that it is a great way to save some money while traveling. We scored an amazing 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom rental in Portland right on the waterfront. We were walking distance to almost everything, parking included and this place had a gym. VRBO (vacation rentals by owner) is similar to airbnb, flip key and many other companies that allow you to book directly through an owner of a property. We plan to use a few of these companies while traveling through Europe. After checking in we practically ran back to the car in order to go eat dinner (hangriness was setting in). We'd decided to introduce one of our favorite spots to Freddy and Dana-Pok Pok. A thai inspired restaurant that is known for their delicious chicken wings.
Sadly, we didn't get a photo with our food-it was gone in the blink of an eye-we were starving!
After dinner we went to Voodoo Doughnuts to get dessert.
It had been a long day and since Darius didn't get much sleep between end of night shift and our flight departure he was fast asleep by 21:00.
The next morning we woke up ready to spend some time in nature.
This sign was hanging in our bathroom and I loved the words on it so much I felt I had to share it with others.
On our second day we drove out to explore some waterfalls. We love waterfalls-its become somewhat of a tradition for us to try to find waterfalls whereever we go. Our first stop was Bridal Veil falls. There is a short 0.8 mile hike to this waterfall. It was an empty trail and there were a few spots to stop and sit on a bench if you wanted to enjoy the view. Once your each the waterfall, there's a platform you can climb up to via stairs.
Bridal Veil falls-here we are standing on the viewing platform. The waterfall really does look like a bride's viel.
Super Nel and I at the base of the water fall.
The view from the hike was amazing. One one side you had the view of the waterfall and on the other you had a view of the mountain, trees and river.
At the very top there was a platform that extends over the waterfall!
Our last waterfall visit was to Horestail falls-no hiking necessary, this one is right on the edge of the road. There are a ton of different hiking trails within 5 minutes of all these waterfalls and plenty of other waterfalls to hike to. If you get the chance to camp here or have more time-I highly recommend you visit this area and do more waterfall exploring.
Horsetail falls is well named-it looks just like a horsetail.
The rest of our trip was spent stuffing our faces (the food in Portland is delicious!) and enjoying the no sales tax. We finished up as much of the shopping necessary for our Eurotrip since it was all tax free. The biggest find we scored were warm jackets that fold up into small bags (ie won't take up much space in our luggage). They are made of down feathers and keep you very warm.
This tiny bag (about the size of my hand).
Super Nel found this reversible jacket at Eddie Bauer-it's also made of down and keeps you very warm.
The Eddie Bauer jacket folds down into an attached pocket so it will take up minimal space in the backback when not in use.
On our last morning, Super Nel and I woke up early and walked over to the Portland Farmer's Market. I love all the fresh food and snacks they have there. Plus, a majority of the food comes from local farms in Oregon.
We were sad to get back on the plane and head back home. But the one thing that made us smile is knowing that the next time we get on a plane it will be to go on our Honey(group)moon.
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