Family Vacation Part II - Portland | Seattle

After leaving Cannon Beach, we arrived at America's Bicycle Capital! Some might argue that Minneapolis is the capital, but I've never seen a sign like this in Minneapolis. That said, the numbers of bikers in Portland has to outnumber Minneapolis 4 to 1. There were packs of riders at every stoplight. 

Our first stop at Portland was the world famous Voodoo Doughnut. They are known for their off the wall doughnuts, so we had to get the variety dozen. This was probably 9 too many and ultimately too much variety. I ended up taking a bite out of most, but Nerds one (top left) was probably the most sugar rich item of food I have ever had. I highly recommend going if you are ever in Portland, even if you only get a glazed. During peak times, the line here can be up to 1 hour long. However, since the girls were still waking up at 4am, there wasn't even a line when we arrived. Silver lining. 

After getting our sugar rush for the day, we made our way to Multnomah Falls which is just east of Portland. As you drive along the Columbia River, you pass a large number of waterfalls. Most of them are either right next to the road, or a short .5 mile hike off of it. Since we had the girls, we stuck to the stroller friendly location of Multnomah Falls. It will be great to come back to this area when they get a little older. 

We walked a little over a mile on this trail, however you can walk upwards of 10 miles between the various falls. It has to be a gorgeous hike...assuming you aren't pushing an extra 50 pound up hill. All in all, it was another great stop. 2/2 in Portland. 

At this point, we decided to continue our journey east towards Mount Hood. We normally have a decent idea of what we are going to do each day. But for some reason on this trip, we didn't. I am sure it had a lot to do with it being our first family vacation, but was a nice change of pace to have a few unplanned days in a new part of the country. 

After stopping for lunch, we made our way to Trillium Lake which is suppose to have one of the best views of Mount Hood. At least that's what the full service gas station attendant told me. Apparently the entire state of Oregon is full service. Who knew?! That said, his advice was spot on. Stopping here on a calm early morning should create a perfect mirror image.  

Once the girls were stretch their legs and have a snack, we decided to head to the lodge on Mount Hood to check out the views from the top(ish). The lodge is located at 6k ft, while the top of the mountain is 11k. 

Mount Hood is actually home to 12 glaciers. Surprisingly to us, there were people skiing in August on the mountain. 2 chair lifts were still operating, however you had to walk a pretty good distance (uphill of course) to get to the first lift. After walking around for 30 minutes or so, I was ready to call it quits on pushing the girls around. The stroller is much easier than both of us carrying one, however at 6k feet everything gets exhausting quickly. It was time to head back to Portland. 

We ended up spending the rest of the day walking around downtown Portland. It is actually very flat, which makes it perfect for us. I think Jennifer said it best, "downtown Portland is like South Minneapolis on steroids." Every shop|restaurant|bookstore is independent, organic, and very friendly. I can see why so many people move here and want to live downtown. Can't recommend this city enough. 

The following day we ended up meeting Jennifer's old co-worker for breakfast. We talked about driving from the coast to Mount Hood, while she talked about running it. After saying our goodbyes we were off to the zoo! I am not sure why we always hit up the local zoo, but it seems to be a trend on our trips. 

Unfortunately, the infamous Portland weather showed up about 30 minutes into our visit. It started as an annoying sprinkle, turned into a light drizzle, then finally started to pour off and on until we left. The girls did get to see a number of new animals (baby elephants, cheetahs, rhinos, and orangutans) before the rain forced everyone but the lions into hiding. I think we picked the right activity, we just needed the weather to cooperate a little more. 

Since we cut the zoo short, we left for Seattle a little earlier than planned. If only we would have know that this wasn't early enough. The 2.5 hour drive turned into a 5+ hour nightmare in what I can only attribute it to "cabin traffic." After traveling for a few hours at 20 mph, we come to find out that this is a common occurrence between the cities on the I-5. By the time we arrived in Seattle, it was almost time to put the girls to sleep. Thankfully this day was over with.

The following day, we decided that we were only going to go to places we could walk to in Seattle. Our first stop was the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden. 

The building Jennifer works at has one of these Chihuly sculptures, and I never thought much of it. But when you see room after room, plant after plant made out of glass it is very impressive. The view from the Space Needle is great, but in true NW fashion it seemed to be the most overcast when we were actually out on the observatory. 

Since we were in a walking mood, I was able to talk Jennifer into walking to Kerry Park after lunch. The girls were sleeping so I didn't think the 30 minute walk would be much of an issue. Most of it wasn't bad, except the final 4 blocks. The incline of this road has to rival any street in San Francisco. It is actually very similar to Ramsey Street in St. Paul. 

In the end, the view was worth the hike. The girls also loved the view of the Puget Sound. 

On our last night in Seattle, after we stopped by the major tourist spots Pikes Place, City Target, etc. we decided to try on of the kid friendly sushi restaurants. This was the girls' first time trying it....and they loved it. As you can see, there are a lot of options to choose from which allowed them to try a variety of cooked seafood. The moving food conveyor belt also helped keep them entertained. Its all about the little stuff.

Overall, it was a very successful trip to the Northwest. I think this trip did just as much for our confidence to be able to travel with them as anything else. I don't think either one of us would have expected a better trip. 

One final note on our trip... For some unknown reason, no matter how long we had them in the stroller, the very first thing the girls would do when we got back to the hotel was get back into the stroller. They would get in and out of the stroller for 10-15 minutes everyday. Next to the 50% transparent curtains, it was their favorite toy.