Long Trip Report - One Week in Oregon

Hello. A LONG (sorry) trip report, of our recent one-week visit to Oregon.

We arrived early on our first day, so we returned to the magnificent Vista House along the scenic route, and stopped at the Multnomah Lodge for lunch. I had several Portland restaurants picked out for a possible lunch on our arrival, but DH wanted to return to Multnomah and visit with a friend who recently moved nearby - so we did as he pleased. Lunch was good, The Wahkeena Salad: smoked salmon with marinated vegetables, smoked salmon luncheon plate: assorted cheeses and fruit as well as delicious bread, and a bbq pork sandwich.

After a bit of visiting, walking and sightseeing, we returned to the city and checked into The Inn at Northrup Station. We liked the funky décor. I dubbed it “Art Students Gone Wild”. But it wasn’t SO wild as to be tacky. The suite was large and comfortable; my son liked the fact that there were two televisions in the room. We liked the large desk and comfy office chair; this would be a great place to stay if you had to work and still wanted to sightsee. There is also a business space upstairs, with a computer and printer and more comfy office chairs. There were giant jars of saltwater taffy on the tables in the cool lounge area – the assortment of colors in the taffy went perfectly with the colors of the Inn. The third floor deck/patio is equipped with a large grill and kitchen area, tables, umbrellas and beautiful pots of plants. The Inn’s location is great; Paley’s Place is right next door and the daily menu available in the lounge downstairs. The front desk gave the three of us streetcar tickets and we headed out to see the city. DH has been craving more crawfish since our trip to Louisiana in May, so we headed into Jake’s Famous Crawfish for dinner. We had no idea what to expect and if we did, we probably would have cleaned up and changed our clothes before stepping inside the restaurant. The atmosphere was clubby and quite elegant, people were dressed up. We were not. Oh, well, they served us anyway and the food was excellent. After dinner, we decided to walk home and checked out the assorted bistros, interesting stores, 24-hr fitness club and bought some camping pillows at R.E.I. before the night was over. As usual, we did not give ourselves enough time for Portland, and vowed to spend more time in this great city on the next trip.

Before heading out in the morning, we went to the Saint Honore Boulangerie. Everything we ate and drank was great and DH made the observation that most of the people he’d seen so far had the physiques of rock climbers. From there, we drove around “the area that is not called Nob Hill by the locals but is marked as such on the tourist maps” and marveled at the beautiful homes and landscaping.

We then headed out to the coast via the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, as my pilot hubby wanted to see the Spruce Goose. This museum is worth a visit for aviation buffs. There was also wine tasting in the lobby area. We drove past all the wineries, one more thing to insist on for the next trip! Next stop, Lincoln City and beach area, then down on towards Waldport and the KOA. Photographed the Devil’s Punchbowl, Otter Rocks, enjoyed a scenic drive along Alsea Bay, walked on a beach after sunset (north of Waldport, but I don’t recall the name). From the Waldport bridge, we watched the seals bobbing their heads out of the water near the KOA campground for our evening’s entertainment. This KOA was in a great location, there’s a nice beach access and we skipped rocks across the bay. However, there are for sale signs on the land (sand) around it, so it looks like progress is rearing its ugly head. We stayed in a Kabin and were surprised to find a television and VCR player in it. We ate at Pizza Express – it was not memorable. The next morning we had breakfast at the Courthouse Café on the advice of the guy at the gas station across the street: great greasy spoon food and interesting art on the walls.

On to Corvallis for the weekend. Checked in at the Holiday Inn Express on the river. Son and hubby drove to their half-day whitewater rafting trip on the McKenzie River. They returned worried about our next one scheduled for the Umpqua – and whether I would both survive and like it. One of their passengers went under the raft early on during their adventure, but they loved it. (We booked with Oregon Whitewater Adventures – a very professional company that has been in business for 18 years.) Since there was a heat wave and record highs happening, my Corvallis friend and I spent a lot of time indoors in our room’s air-conditioning. She had just had surgery, and had to stay cool. The hotel has a lovely recliner in each room as well as fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies that they put out in the evenings. We thoroughly enjoyed the Saturday Farmer’s market and bought organic wine, wonderful artisan cheese, fantastic bread, heirloom tomatoes, basil. The flowers were beautiful – the dahlias were gorgeous. We let our friends pick the restaurants - we had breakfast Shari’s – new to us, dinner at McGrath’s Fish House – also new to us, and pretty good. Also, went to Michael’s Landing for drinks and appetizers and the food there was also good and the view was excellent. There were several interesting shops and galleries in town to explore. Hubby went on a search for mountain bike rentals, to no avail – but did discover that Oakridge is apparently the destination for mountain biking. He talked to the Oakridge Chamber of Commerce president on the phone and got all the info needed for our NEXT trip to Oregon which will definitely include mountain biking.

We next drove down to Yachats, which we really liked. The cooler weather on the coast was a relief. We had ice cream cones, and watched the big surf. Yachats looked like a nice place to rent a house for a vacation. Heceta Head Lighthouse was the next stop. We did not hike, but were interested to discover that the keeper’s house is now a bed and breakfast. We were worried about the possibility of setting up our new tent in the dark, so we continued down to Florence and set up camp at Honeyman State Park. This was an awesome park, the lakes are beautiful. It had great clean showers and restrooms. Our campsite was quiet and comfortable, we could have stayed longer. We took a Sandland dunes tour with “Wild Bill”. He was great. We wished we had signed up for the longer ride. The dunes are amazing. We liked the old downtown portion of Florence, it looked quaint and touristy (reminded me of Lahaina) – but we did not do any shopping. The first night we had dinner at a roadside family restaurant, the name of which escapes me. I believe it may have been Weber’s? It was packed and we had high hopes, but were disappointed that most offerings were deep-fried. The next day, we had lunch at Mo’s. It was crowded and we enjoyed the crazy busy atmosphere and the great view of the water. We did go down into the Sea Lion Caves, despite having seen sea lions along the coast before and after this spot. It was interesting and probably worth it – but be prepared for the strong “sea creature” smell! I kept telling myself to imagine that I was in a fish market or at a sushi bar!

Next to Roseburg, this would be our base for the North Umpqua whitewater trip. Once again, we booked another Holiday Inn Express with a beautiful river view. (We almost booked at the Dogwood Motel which would have been closer to the river and after seeing it, we wish we had. The drive from it to I-5 would not have been a problem like we had worried.) We had pizza at Abby’s Pizza, which was very good. The downtown was charming, but we didn’t spend much time there. The drive the next morning to our check-in point on the Umpqua was beautiful, we saw elk on the way out. The raft trip was magnificent, we are hooked. Once again, it was with Oregon Whitewater Adventures. Our guide was Sean and he was great, had us “surfing” at some of the rapids. They were all Class 2 and 3 and one Class 4. What a blast!

After the rafting trip, we headed to Crater Lake for a look. It was magnificent, what a beautiful sapphire color. It had been a long day, so we didn’t venture along the loop road. We also checked out Diamond Lake on the way back. That looked like a place we’d like to stay, quaint cabins.

The next morning, it was time to head up I-5 and back to Portland for an evening departure. We picked out Acadia restaurant as our final stop before the airport. (What can I say, dear hubby lived in Louisiana for three years and he loves the food.) Unfortunately, as we got closer to the restaurant, we decided to call to make sure they were open – and discovered that they really are a dinner restaurant. Sigh. Another thing to put on the list for next time. Baja Fresh it was.

We did discover that PDX has great food and shopping and I was happy that the drive to Portland from Roseberg did not take long at all so we had so much time to spend in the shops before we left. I really enjoyed seeing all the beautiful art in the Real Mother Goose Gallery. Also got some Christmas presents at the Educational Kids%26#39; Store. We ate (again) at Good Dog/Bad Dog (I think that%26#39;s its name) and it was pretty good.

So, in summary, Oregon is beautiful and a very enjoyable place to visit. The food in Portland was definitely the best we had on the trip. The coast is magnificent, but the interior is pretty darned pretty, too. Next time: Bend, Sisters and Oakridge, more rafting, more Portland, more Portland restaurants. Next girlfriend trip: Salishan spa and wineries. Trip after that: Coast past the Dunes, jet boat tours...

Thanks to all the TA forum members for their recommendations, tips and advice. I referred to my notes during the whole trip!

Long Trip Report - One Week in Oregon

%26lt;%26lt; the area that is not called Nob Hill by the locals but is marked as such on the tourist maps” %26gt;%26gt;

LOL .. yes, now you know, a sure sign of a Tourist :)

Thank you for coming back with a great trip report! I loved it, so glad you enjoyed yourselves and I hope you do get to come back soon and enjoy more dining and shopping in Portland..I am looking forward to my own trips to Sisters and jet boating etc :)

Long Trip Report - One Week in Oregon

Sounds like a fun trip! Thank you for letting us know how it went. It is always good to hear feedback:) Next trip, where you include Bend...include the Sage Springs Spa at Sunriver. Excellent spa!!!

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for reporting back so you can be helpful to future travelers to this area. The Salishan Spa was gorgeous when I toured it! We had a nice lunch at Salishan restaurant. My husband and I decided this would be a nice place to celebrate an anniversary sometime! :)

Thanx SO MUCH for the detail report. Too often we do not hear how the trip went. Sounds like it went well for you!!

I got a good chuckle from your Lahaina reference. I often describe Lahaina to friends as ';Old-town Florence (or Cannon Beach) on steroids';!!

Den

Speaking of Nob Hill and tourists, Salishan wouldn%26#39;t be my idea of a nice December destination, syrahgirl. Especially when there are so many better options much closer to where you live.

Thanks for a fun read and a great report, hapahaolegirl. You made me want to pack up the camping gear and head out the door. And it%26#39;s great to read you want to come back for more. What... you%26#39;ve already got your next three trips here planned???? Maybe after those we can talk about the Wallowas. ;-)

well, you got it done. I had wondered if you planned too much, but sounds like everything worked out well. And like others quite glad you chose to report. .

And Mistletoe right lets talk Wallowas, Some decent floats in that country too.

You are right, phirl, we did plan too much. At times, I felt like one of those people who ';see'; the National Parks by driving through them. I would have liked to spend more time on the beaches and around the tide pools. I also wish we had taken more time to see the falls along the drive to Crater Lake. ( Apparently there are hot springs somewhere around there, as well?) Part of the problem was having friends to visit - and their hometowns being so far apart. Oh well. Our current fantasy is this: upon retirement, we%26#39;ll spend summers in Oregon and the other nine months in Nevada/Utah. ;^D! Now if the earth will keep from burning up before then...

Thanks for the report! I%26#39;ve lived in Oregon for 13 years, but I haven%26#39;t done as much as you did in your short time here! (I%26#39;ve pretty much SEEN everything that you did, but I haven%26#39;t DONE much of what you did. We drive a lot, don%26#39;t get out of the car all that much.)