We’ve been home for a week now, so i suppose it’s about time i blog about our vacation. Nathan and i flew out to Oregon together on the 28th of July to visit various friends and family members of mine and to look at Portland a little more closely.
We awoke at 4am in Des Moines to catch our 6am flight and arrived in Portland by 10:40am local time. It took about two hours to figure out how to get to the rental car place and get our wheels, but it was worth the $200 or so to sacrifice just picking it up at the airport. It was about 106 degrees by then and we were tired, so we headed to the Kennedy School b&b to have a drink and relax before checking in at 3pm.
Kennedy School is actually an old elementary school that has been turned into a b&b and hangout, complete with a heated sitting pool, a restaurant, three bars, conference rooms, and a movie theater with couches for seats. We had so much been looking forward to the heated outdoor sitting pool that we decided to take a dip despite the heat. The pool was a little cooler than the air at 102 degrees, but, being water and such, it felt warmer. This made getting out and sitting on the edge of the pool feel absolutely wonderful, and thanks to the heat we pretty much had the whole thing to ourselves.
We had some famous McMenamin’s burgers and beer and watched Year One in the theater (it was pretty bad, but i did laugh). We were too tired to check out the bars and instead had dessert and went to bed after the movie, having been up for something like 22 hours with only brief naps.
The next day we headed for the coast. Cannon Beach was so foggy that we couldn’t tell from the road where Haystack Rock was. We walked on the beach watching gulls and people on fun cycles drift in and out of our field of vision, and were just about to turn around and give up when i started to see the faint outline of one of the smaller rocks. We kept walking and sure enough, Haystack Rock came into vision.
There were a lot of tourists checking out the tide pools, having come to the coast to escape the heat inland.
We continued South along the coast and Nathan started to feel sick, so i took over driving. Gradually we fought our way through the traffic to Yachats, and reached the beach house where my sis Amy, her son Harper and her bf John were waiting for us. The next day we had a full house when my old friend Bonnie, my Dad, my bro Dustin and his friend Ryan all joined us. We had a lovely dinner and then made s’mores over a bonfire on the beach.
The next day Dad took us by some scenic spots that were unfortunately mostly socked in with fog. We saw some sea lions though, and Honeyman park was beautiful as ever. We had lunch in Florence (not at Mo’s) and bought some candy and ice cream for old time’s sake. Then it was on to Eugene.
Sea Lions, from a safe distance.
In Eugene we went to the Saturday Market and went up on Spencer’s Butte and down to the park below. We got some sushi with Bonnie and her new hubby Brian, and took a stroll around their new neighborhood. The next day, Dad and Mary took us along the McKenzie river into the Cascades and showed us a really lovely resort with English gardens and some popular swimming and rafting spots. We also went to Sahalie Falls, and Nathan and i climbed up to the top of the falls and then hiked down to the next waterfall downriver. The water was ridiculously blue and enticing.
For our last two nights, we returned to Portland and went to some recommended eateries and shopping districts, including Jam on Hawthorne, Powell’s books, NE 23rd, Montage and Genie’s Cafe. We didn’t explore the night life much, but i got a pretty heavy dose of that back in October with Dustin anyway. 
All in all it was a nice getaway, and i had a great time visiting and exploring with Nathan.
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 2:42 pm • travel, vacation
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August 12th, 2009 at 7:16 am
oooh it’s sooo pretty out there! I’m glad you had a good time.
Makes me want to go there (and maybe move there) sometime.
August 12th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
WARNING TO CALEE (and all others who may be fooled by these pictures): Oregon only looks like this for 3 months AT BEST during the summertime. The other 9+ months are non-stop rain, greyness, and gloominess. DO NOT MOVE THERE! Just go to visit in the summer when it is really, really pretty as it looks in these pics. Unless, of course, you like wearing rain gear, not seeing the sun for 9 months, and putting up with hippies constantly.
Another helpful word from Big Bro.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:16 pm
hahaha. Dustin.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
Also, that looks like the coolest freakin’ bed and breakfast ever! Do you have more pictures of the place by chance? These are some of the prettiest pictures of Oregon I have seen.
August 12th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
Thanks son for the negative propaganda. It is the kind of warnings we want the rest of the world to hear so they will stay away and leave us alone in this Paradise to enjoy and not be Californicated into the Rat Race.