Happy Wednesday!!! Whew! We are now completing day 11 of our Oregon Summer Adventure and I have to admit that I waaaaaaay underestimated the level of exhaustion from traveling for this long. I would say from traveling this long with two littles munchkins BUT they have been absolutely AMAZING. It’s more just the go-go-go and the do-do-do and the see-see-see. So I will just blame me for all of that! There’s literally just sooo much to do here that I want to fit every single thing in but thinking we may need to take some days as breathers. And resters ;-). Last week I shared our first three days here in Oregon in my post “Our Must-See Portland, Oregon Weekend“. I have been sharing a TON of video from our trip on my IG stories and I have had lots of requests for an itinerary of our travels SO I have decided to add that into each post as well. So basically I am giving you all a full play-by-play of everything we are doing here in Oregon.
Today I am sharing our adventures for days 4-7! I am trying to keep my blog as close to our actual travel days as possible so I am basically just about four days off on sharing. Day four was pretty low key and it was the first and only day thus far that we have had any rain here. Everyone always says that of course it rains alllllll the time here but this is my FIFTH time vacationing here in Oregon and last Tuesday was the FIRST TIME I have ever seen it rain! I heard someone say the other night that it’s the summers that suck you in and get you hooked and then “you move here” and realize it actually does rain like nine months out of the year. LOL. Yep, based on my weather experience and obsession with this State I could totally get sucked in!
So back to day four… We pretty much just hung out with Mark around the condo and had breakfast that morning, dropped him off at the airport and then stayed put for most of the rest of the day in the condo. I got caught up on work stuff and the girls played and watched movies. There is something so relaxing about being way up high overlooking the city on a rainy day. We did manage to pop out and get some acai bowls at a cute little place down the street from us called Moberi. It was my first time having one and it was CRAZY good!
Then came Wednesday and another beautiful day! I decided to take a little drive about an hour west to the Hood River and an area known as the Hood River Fruit Loop! It is a scenic loop in the Columbia River Gorge that starts and ends on the Hood River and features tons of U-pick orchards. There are also vineyards with wine tasting rooms and lavender fields where you can pick bundles of lavender. Mt. Hood is the backdrop to most of the stops and it is STUNNING to say the least! Unfortunately we didn’t realize that since Oregon had an even wetter than usual Winter, their fruit isn’t quite ready to pick just yet so we just enjoyed the drive and purchased fruit from the little stores at each stop instead. Oh and we made a little pit stop first at the Bonneville Dam and fish hatchery that was along the way…
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Then we stopped for lunch along the Hood River at the Solstice Wood Fire Cafe. They had GREAT gluten free pizza options! Then the girls played at the cutest little park right by the restaurant and they even had a little beach spot they played at as well…
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DAY FIVE ITINERARY (re-cap!)
Wednesday, May 31st
- Pit stop at Bonneville Dam & Fish Hatchery
- Hood River Fruit Loop
- Visited Fruit Orchards & Lavender Farms
- Lunch at Solstice Wood Fire Cafe
- Hood River Waterfront Park by Luhr Jensen Beach
- Dinner at the condo!
Thursday we got ready and met up with a sweet friend of mine, Lisa, who lives just outside of Portland. I actually met her about six years ago through Instagram (loooooong story) and we have hung out every time I have been in Oregon. Her and her son even came and visited us at our house in Georgia last year! Let’s just say that we bonded over some Twilight movie spots and Northwest hashtags. LOL! She suggested lunch at a little food truck on the way to the Portland Rose Gardens. Koi Park is homestyle Korean food and it was yummy! Kind of like mexican food but with Korean spices and garnishes.
Next we headed up with Lisa to the hills of Portland to the International Rose Test Garden. It is free admission and has GORGEOUS views of Portland! Although the roses weren’t quite all the way bloomed, it was super beautiful and smelled amazing!!! Definitely worth a stop!
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After Lisa headed back home to pick her son up from school, we drove over to the Portland “famous” Powell’s Books. It is absolutely HUGE!!! The girls loved looking at everything and each got a little book. Definitely a great downtown stop!
And you can’t walk around Portland without stopping at the Ace Hotel and Stumptown Coffee…
That evening we took an Uber over to the Pearl District for the First Thursday Art Festival in the Pearl District. First we ate dinner at Irving Street Kitchen right by the festival (it was okay, not my very fave). After dinner we walked and shopped through all of the artist booths. There was some amazing artwork and crafts! We even found Mark a Father’s Day present there!
DAY SIX ITINERARY (re-cap!)
Thursday, June 1st
- Lunch at Koi Fusion Food Truck in Portland
- International Rose Test Garden
- Powell’s Books
- Shopping around Downtown Portland
- Ace Hotel & Stumptown Coffee
- First Thursday Art Festival in the Pearl District
- Dinner at Irving Street Kitchen
- Shopping in the Pearl District
Friday morning we woke up to the girlies saying “Nana is coming todayyyyy!!!” They had been counting down days for my mom to arrive here in Portland. She is staying with us for a week and had literally spent MONTHS planning out my entire trip for me. Maps and folders and mounds of info!!! We picked her up at PDX and then headed to lunch!
We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant just outside of downtown Portland called Pok Pok. It is super authentic Thai food and EVERYONE had absolutely raved about it! It was definitely…. different… I honestly usually LOVE Thai but of course I am sure our Georgia version is not authentic AT ALL. Pok Pok was honestly not my fave. At all. Sorry y’all! I know everyone loves it but ya know. Maybe it’s because we didn’t order anything spicy and most everything she suggested was spicy or maybe because I don’t eat beef or pork. Whatever the case, I can’t say I loved it. At all.
Our next stop for the day was something I had been dying to see… The McMenamin’s Kennedy School. It is an early 1900’s elementary school that has been turned into a hotel and restaurant. Seriously one of the coolest re-use transformations I have ever seen! Very inspiring! I love seeing things re-purposed like that! The grounds were STUNNING too!
Next up, The Grotto! Another stop just outside downtown Portland, The Grotto is an internationally-renowned Catholic shrine and botanical garden. It is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!! Very serene and spiritual just walking around the grounds. Much worth the visit!
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And finally, DINNER! We were pretty exhausted for the day so we stopped at Stella Taco for a quick bite!
DAY SEVEN ITINERARY (re-cap!)
Friday, June 2nd
- Pick Nana up at PDX!
- Visited the McMenamin’s Kennedy School
- Lunch at Pok Pok
- Visited the Gorge
- Dinner at Stella Taco
Thank you for following along!!! XOXO, Brittany Hayes
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