Travel Diary: Portland, Oregon Week One

In April of last year I got the opportunity to travel to Portland, Oregon to visit my Aunt and cousin with my grandma! It was a trip that I've been wanting to take for years and just never had the time or financial ability to do so. This last year, living at home and working for a company that is primarily a remote position, I now found myself with the time to plan trips ahead! I took four trips this year and Oregon was by far one of the coolest places I have ever been to. The sight-seeing, the art, and the foods were all so different from what I've experienced, it was incredible!

I spent two-and-a-half weeks in Oregon. Here's what we did, saw, and ate!

Day One: Babushka's Russian Deli, the North American Bigfoot Museum, & a winery

I'll combine the day we touched down and the first official full day we were there. When we got to my Aunt's house, it was already lunchtime. We decided to order in burritos from a spot near the house and man were they big and delicious! I got a chicken one with different hot sauces. During the day, we just chilled out after being on the plane for so long and we waited for my cousin to come home from school. We played card games. Then we had dinner - homemade spanakopita with salad, yum!! Then we were able to check-in to our Airbnb and relax for the rest of the night.

I had made a vow to myself that I would try a different coffeeshop each day (or try to) that we were in Portland. The next day, our first full day, we stopped at Coffeehouse-Five where I ordered a vanilla latte - my go-to order for all new coffeeshops. Honestly, it's really hard to mess up a vanilla latte, which is why it's my safe order. I will say that it wasn't the best coffee I've had but it wasn't the worst. I'd give it a solid 4 out of 5 stars.

On the way up to our destination, we did make a pit-stop at Babushka's Russian Deli. Though my family is Polish, not Russian, we thought it would be really fun to take my grandma to see an Eastern European deli and market. Let me tell you: we had SO much fun seeing all the different meats, cheeses, pastries, and candies. Grandma and I were like two kids in a candy store (literally) as we kept putting more and more pieces of candy in our bag to try. We even got flavored rye chip snacks, meats from the deli, and homemade pierogi for dinner later that night.

The only thing we had planned out officially was to go to the North American Bigfoot Museum. This was on the top of our lists because if anyone knew anything about my dad, it's that he is a firm believer in Bigfoot. It's become a running joke in our family, but that man truly believes that one day he will discover it (though he's never actually tried to seek it out). We always find him watching some Bigfoot hunting show or the history channel episode on aliens, so it was a must-do for us to go to the museum. I, as a not-so-much believer, thought this was such a fun thing to do! The museum is really in the middle of nowhere, blink and you'll miss it. It was just the museum and a restaurant in the same lot off the highway and that's it - but that was part of the charm, really. Just a small building but this place was filled with evidence of Sasquatch. From handprints, to nests, to hair, to audio recordings, and even a bottle that sprayed the scent (ew!) of Bigfoot this place has everything to convince you that they are the real deal. Not going to lie, it was pretty compelling. My favorite part was the statue of Bigfoot when you first walk into the museum. It was all fun and games until I stood next to it for a picture and the thing roared at me! I think I jumped ten feet into the air, it startled me that badly.

Afterward, on the way home we stopped at a winery-type location. I honestly forget what the name of this place was but it was a beautiful outdoor place with buildings throughout that had little shops, restaurant, and lots of space to admire the landscape. We had hard ciders and French fries before exploring the grounds and heading home for the day.

Day Two: Farmer's Market, Track Meet, & Portland's Weekend Market

On this day we started off with a quick stop at a farmer's market in the morning, picking some items up for dinner. We sat and enjoyed some coffee while listening to live music and people-watched for a bit. Before heading out we stopped at a tamales booth to eat for lunch at my cousin's track meet. My cousin is about six years younger than I and is still in high school. He is a great runner and I, as well as my grandma, were super excited to see him run! We had never been to a meet of his before, so it was super special for us to do. We ate our tamales as we watched and, let me tell you, these were the best tamales I've ever had. It been months since I've had them and I still dream about these and have been searching something comparable ever since (if anyone knows of a good place in West Michigan PLEASE let a girl know!!).

After watching the events my cousin was in, we then headed to downtown Portland for the weekend market and to explore. If there's anything to know about me, it's that I'm a sucker for any art and food markets! This weekend market was huge, had quite a few people around, music playing, and has anything you can imagine. One of my main goals for this trip was to look for some rings and that is exactly what happened! I found someone whose husband makes puzzle rings, so I bought one!

Once finished with the market, we headed towards a speakeasy type restaurant called Huber's. This was a really cool place right from the start because everything had that old-fashioned decor and vibe. The ceiling is beautiful stained glass, the menu has gorgeous artwork, and the staff is traditionally dressed. We ended up getting French fries and I had ordered a Spanish coffee! That's what made us want to go in the first place - the Spanish coffee is an event in its own right, where the waiter comes and makes this alcoholic drink in front of you, finished by catching it on fire! Be warned: this drink is super fun and super strong! After, we finished the day by making homemade Dungeness crab cakes!

Day Three: Hiking Wildwood, Hot cocoa at Mount Hood, & a tour through the mountains

This was one of our bigger days for us because we had my cousin to hangout with all day! Our main event was to see Mount Hood and go to Timberline Lodge. After stopping for coffee and while on the way up, we stopped at a hiking point at Wildwood. Even though it was a super rainy day, we put our rain gear on and headed out to the trail and the cascade streamwatch. We watched the stream flow by where fish would normally lay their eggs, hiked along the river, and took lots of pictures together. It was

definitely a cold - and wet - start to our day but it created such a cool memory for me during this trip!

Then, we made it to our final destination! Timberline Lodge! This was a big one on my list as I am a huge horror and thriller fan - this was the setting for the movie The Shining!! It's a massive, gorgeous ski lodge and resort with multiple levels on this large and snowy mountaintop. There is so much history and design in this place, it was so nice to just take it all in. We explored the open spaces and watched a 'history of Timberline' video in the movie area, then hung out in the lounge with the large fire. My cousin and I decided to go up to the next level and order the famous hot chocolates - these things are loaded with all the chocolatey goodness, topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce and toffee bits. It was a drink from heaven, that's what it was!

Days Four, Five & Six: Work day, Pittock Mansion, Art Museum, & Peruvian food

These next few days definitely meld together a little bit. My aunt had work on these days and I also had to spend a portion of my day working remotely, so my grandma and I had to fill up our time ourselves. We took a day to catch up on some work and relax at our Airbnb and eventually walked over to a coffeeshop for a change of scenery to work in - I worked and my grandma read. We ended back at Coffeehouse-Five, right across from Portland Community College. After I was done for the day, we walked across the street to a restaurant themed to be 'Midwestern'. As Midwesterners ourselves, we obviously had to check this place out! It had a very dive bar-y feel and we chuckled when we saw that a Rice Krispie treat was on the menu.

The next day grandma and I set out for Pittock Mansion. The history of this place is pretty remarkable, as the mansion is atop a hill with a decent view of Portland. Close to none of the original furniture was found or salvageable so every room was themed to a different time period. We chose to walk around ourselves rather than having a guide, and I'm so glad we did! This allowed us to have more time in each room. We stayed inside the mansion due to the rainy weather but I recommend walking around the grounds and gardens if you can!

To wrap up the first week, grandma and I took an Uber to downtown Portland where we went to the Portland Art Museum. We spent hours here, especially in the Oscar Howe exhibit on the first floor. A lot of Native American art was displayed throughout the entire museum, which is something that grandma and I have great interest in. When we got back to my aunt's for the night, we decided to head to a newer Peruvian food spot close to home. This, I will have to say, was such a fun experience and the food was amazing! I had my first ever Pisco sour drink and ate the best ceviche in my life. My cousin is also a really big foodie, so it was nice to bond over food with him.

And that was week one! I could go on and on about the rest of this trip, but this post would be miles long! Check in soon for what I did my second week in Oregon :)