Portland has become my frequent flyer destination. Why my frequent trips to Portland? Totally personal travel this time, nothing school related or teacherish this time. My son moved to Portland at the end of the December.
First, we made a quick 4 day trip before Thanksgiving to find an apartment and just check things out. Then the day after Christmas, with his SUV loaded with all the things he thought he couldn’t live without, we started our cross country journey and second trip to Portland. Driving 30 hours over 3 days across Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon surviving snow, cold, and rain we arrived to an empty apartment ready for the next chapter in my son’s young adult life. He was starting a new job and living many miles from where he has grown up. Definitely an exciting time for a recent graduate.
Food stalls downtown Portland. A great place to grab a quick, inexpensive bite to eat with options from around the world.
Portlandia statue: over 34 feet tall, 2nd largest copper statue in the U.S.(Do you know where the largest U.S. copper statue is located?)
Mt. Hood; located 20 miles east of Portland, considered a potentially active stratovolcano
My third trip in eight months was a short one. I flew into Portland to spend a couple of days with my son before I participated in a workshop in Seattle. Again another quick trip with just a little sight seeing downtown. Finally visited the largest book store in Portland. I could have spent hours reading my way through the four floors of books.
The next journey to Portland was to celebrate spring break 2017. This time my husband traveled with me. A rare occurrence as he isn’t as fond of travel adventures as I am. The adventure part of this trip was our first stay at an Air B&B. It was somewhat odd to stay in someone else’s house, especially while they are living in the house. The host was very nice and the house was comfortable. I would definitely consider staying at an Air B&B again. I do think I would seek accommodations that are separate from the host’s main living area. A little more privacy and not feeling odd coming and going through someone’s front door would make things a little more comfortable.
Our primary focus of our trip was to spend time with our son. It really didn’t matter what was on the agenda for the trip, we just wanted to spend time together. A couple of things that we did do was to ride a tram that gave a great view of Portland. The tram took riders to the hospital at the top of the hill. The easiest parking for was at the bottom of the hill so the tram became the primary transportation to the hospital for visitors and staff.
We took a road trip to Astoria, Oregon on the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean. Astoria is a fishing village where Bumble Bee Seafoods canned salmon until 1976 and tuna until 1980. It still has working fisheries processing shrimp and sardines. The school was used in the movie “Kindergarten Cop” (1990) and the cream-colored house with red trim up the hill to the east was the Goonies House in “The Goonies” (1984). Movies filmed here also include the first two “Free Willy” movies (1992/1995), “Short Circuit” (1985), “Benji, the Hunted” (1987), “Come See the Paradise” (1989) and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III” (1992).
We stopped for lunch at a brewery in an old George Hume Cannery. Part of the movie “Free Willy” was filmed around the docks. Cable TV was invented in the upstairs of the cannery building by the inventor Ed Parsons. The building also has a maritime museum with artifacts from the fishing industry and Bumble Bee Seafood. There was a stand selling fresh fish. We purchased two fresh salmon steaks. I froze the steaks at our B&B and then carried them home in my suitcase. The lump of fish in my suitcase did result in my bag getting searched when I went through security at the Portland airport. The TSA person thought it was funny that I had fresh salmon in my carry-on luggage.
Then we climbed to the top of the Astoria Column, modeled after the Trajan Column in Rome. It rises 125 feet on a hill 600 feet above sea level allowing a view of Young’s Bay, the coastal range, the Columbia River, and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. It is covered with a spiral painting extending to the top where there is a deck with a360-degree view topped by a light that shines each night. The breath taking view was amazing especially when out of breath after climbing hundreds of stairs. It was built in 1926 to celebrate the people who settled in the Pacific Northwest.
Expecting another quick trip in the near future, but at this time have not set a date for my next trip.
Roaming the World with Mrs. Kelly 