TRAVEL // The Dragonfruit Goes to Oregon PT 1

TRAVEL // The Dragonfruit Goes to Oregon PT 1

• Saturday, August 15, 2015

At the start of August, I took off with one of my best friends on our first real road trip. While we've certainly driven around our home state a lot, we've never taken off on our own to see what else is out there. For one week, we drove through Oregon, passing through Portland before shooting on to the coast.

Man, what a reviving trip. The last time I'd been to the ocean, I was 12 years old and had taken such visits for granted. Growing up in California, we had easier access to the coast and would spend a week or two there every summer as a family. Each time I played in the sand and eventually worked my way into splashing in the ocean, I felt so alive and content. Almost ten years later, I finally got to experience that again. 

 However, I'm getting ahead of myself. First up, getting to Portland! Along I-84, there's a bridge you can cross to pop into Maryhill, Washington, where you'll find this amazing Stonehenge Memorial. I found out about it through Roadtrippers (seriously, go like their Facebook page to find out about a ton of cool locations) and insisted we stop along the way to visit. So glad we did too, it's amazing!

  

 

After a short visit, we hopped back in the car and headed to Portland. We made it late at night, and crashed at Saffy's cousin's place. Aaron was a real sweetheart who gave up his bed and room for us while we were there, and we all rested up for a long day of adventuring in the city. 

We started off the morning the best way - with coffee! I had to laugh when I found mason jar mugs in the cupboard, because we had obviously entered hipster territory.

PORTLANDIA!

Hehehe

While driving and trying to park in Portland is stressful enough, once you're out and mobile, it becomes much more enjoyable. We did a lot of walking around and stuffing our faces. If you watch my vlog on it (which you can view HERE), you'll see that's pretty much all we did. 

 

Getting lost in Powell's City of Books! 

 

 

We did go visit the International Rose Garden, which was stunning. I could spend an entire afternoon there just walking through those neverending rows of roses. While exploring, we found a couple sprawled out on a picnic blanket enjoying the romantic setting. Haha, hey, good date idea!

 

Hehe, can't stop laughing at this one. Looks like I have a creeper! xD

Overall, our long day in Portland was a good one, albeit one day is definitely not a long enough time to explore the city. I could spend a week there, eating and drinking the whole way through. Haha, next time! 

 

However, our main focus of this trip was the coast, which I'll be sharing in a few more posts. Because holy cow, if you thought there were a lot of photos in this one, brace yourself...

I'm trying to condense what I have, but it's very difficult. 

Hope you enjoyed a peek at our day in Portland! 

Have you ever visited? What did you think? What were your favorite food spots?