I Love a Road Trip
Adventures in Oregon
Rachel and I have been to NYC, Chicago, Miami, Denver, Park City, San Diego and Ojai over the past few years for our Mother/Daughter trips. But this year we decided to hit the open road and visit Oregon. We strategically picked Cannon Beach, Bend and Portland, making a detailed plan for each destination. And this trip reinforced that planning is great, but flexibilty is even more important.
I was scheduled to pick Rachel up at Seattle’s airport on Monday morning at 7:00am to begin our journey. But due to the airline disruptions of the previous weekend, her flight was cancelled on Sunday night at 10:30pm. Luckily we were both still awake and she was able to book another flight on a different airline getting her into Seattle even earlier. This also allowed us time to meet Michael for a quick breakfast in Seattle before embarking on our journey.
Since this was a road trip, we were able to make a stop at a pie restaurant, enjoying a piece of marionberry pie. The marionberry is a cross between a blackberry and a boysenberry and is found only in the PNW. It was well worth the stop. We were also able to have lunch in Seaside, about an hour from Cannon Beach. Finally arriving in Cannon Beach, we stayed at the Hallmark Resort & Spa, just steps away from the famous Haystack Rock. This resort did not disappoint as it was right on the beach and offered amenities such as beach chairs and blankets and supplies for bonfires and s’mores. They also give you a tide schedule so you can see Haystack Rock at low tide, when you can actually get up close and personal and it is the perfect place to see Cannon Beach’s legendary sunset.
We woke up the next morning, laced up our hiking boots and headed to Ecola State Park for a 4 mile round-trip hike to the beach and back. I am not much of a hiker, but it was fun being in nature and seeing the sights. We then spent the afternoon eating and shopping in Cannon Beach. After dinner, we ended the evening with a bonfire and s’mores on the beach.
On our way to Bend, we stopped at the Tillamook factory and took a tour, learning all about how they make all of their dairy products. I have a new respect for the company. We then made our way to Bend and about 2 hours before our arrival, we noticed the sky becoming smoky and began to smell the wildfires. And when we checked into the hotel and discussed the air quality with the hotel staff, we knew we had to make some changes to our plans. We wanted to go to a state park to see waterfalls and do some short hiking but we were advised not to do it and we also cancelled a sunset dinner we were planning at the top of Mt. Bachelor. We spent the next day shopping in Bend (there is no sales tax on anything in Oregon) and before we left for Portland, we had to make a stop at the last Blockbuster on earth.
We loved Portland. We spent the morning at Powell’s Books, a city-block independent bookstore in downtown Portland. After, we had lunch at one of Portland’s food cart areas and spent the afternoon in Washington Park, visiting the Rose Garden, the Japenese Garden and the Holocaust Memorial. We had an early dinner at Ken’s Artisan Pizza and finished the night with a walk to get ice cream at a local ice cream parlor.
Before our trip back home, we stopped at the farmer’s market on Portland State University’s campus. This was one of the best farmer’s markets I have ever been to and we were able to get some produce, bread and spices to take home.
Rachel and I had so much fun exploring Oregon. Being on a road trip allowed us to be flexible when we had to change our itinerary. We also saw beautiful scenery driving through Oregon and were able to make additional stops along the way.