TripAcross.net
Total Miles Traveled: 62,631
 VooDoo Donuts |  The Grotto |
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 The Grotto |  The Grotto |
 Columbia River |
His View
Portland - Feliks' perspective
One of the cities I was really excited about visiting was Portland, Oregon. It was a city on our places to live list. The scenery in Portland definitely lived up to expectations. It was very outdoorsy, hilly, lots of forests all around, and I would imagine any direction you went from Portland would be just as awesome as the drive there. We stayed with an old college buddy of mine, who had only been there for a few months himself. He gave us lots of good reasons of why he liked Portland already. We didn’t do a whole lot inside the city itself. We had dinner at a local Mexican place, donuts in the morning from Voodoo, and then we did the Grotto and the Historic Columbia River Highway. The donuts from Voodoo were very delicious, and we later found out they were some of the best donuts in the country. Obviously Caywood was drawn to the donut with bacon, and I had the Voodoo Man donut. The Grotto was cool. I mean, it was a church built into a cliff. Pretty cool to see.
The Historic Columbia River Highway was definitely the best part of Portland. The road starts at an awesome visitor’s center viewpoint of the entire Columbia River, which is a sight on its own. After that the road leads along the river, where there are numerous falls feeding into the river. As expected, there were lots of people doing the trails like we were, but the best part was hiking through the water at the Oneonta Gorge. Read the details of this hike carefully, because it is not for everyone. Bring your water shoes. Wear your swim trunks. Because you are going to get wet, and the water is not warm. The hike itself was probably one of the more challenging because of the obstacles you have to climb over. There was a part where Caywood literally swam through because it was so deep. I hugged the wall and only got wet up to my waist. The reward at the end of the hike was worth it, but I think the hike itself was the best part.
Overall, I like Portland. It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be, and it wasn’t as clean as I thought it would be. But it still seemed like an awesome city. The roads are pretty good, and parking wasn’t an issue. But be prepared for some decent traffic.
Her View
Portland - Caywood's perspective
Portland: a city I haven’t heard anything specific about, but for some reason had pretty high expectations for. We got into Portland and had some great Mexican food at Raul’s with one of Feliks’ college buddies and his girlfriend. Our hosts Shane and Megan lived in Southwest Portland, so we primarily stayed in that area. The next morning we were told to go to Voodoo Donuts, where I got a maple bacon donut and Feliks got a voodoo man. Mine was AWESOME. Come on, anything is awesome with bacon on it. Feliks enjoyed his, which was a glazed donut with chocolate on top and raspberry filling. Next on our list was a visit to The Grotto, and we drove through Portland’s downtown on the way there. Only one skyscraper. Way more homeless people than I expected. Older looking than I would have thought. It reminded me a bit of Memphis. The Grotto is a famous Catholic place of worship, which is actually built into a mountain. This is one of those places that is pretty cool to see regardless of if you’re religious or not. However, I have previously visited the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama, which I feel tops the Grotto for sure.
Our next stop in Portland was to do the Historic Columbia River Highway, which includes nearly ten waterfalls. Our first stop on this road was the Vista House, which includes information on the scenic road, a cafe, restrooms, a viewpoint, and a gift shop. This area is also known as Crown Point due to a huge rock that overshadows the Columbia River below. After taking a few photos and using the facilities, we were off to the first falls - Latourell Falls. This waterfall was a super tall and skinny waterfall, which was a very short walk (not a hike) from the parking lot. The next stop was Bridal Veil Falls, which was our favorite waterfall of the day. The hike to this waterfall was 2/3 of a mile; the terrain was not rough, but it was pretty steep and all gravel so one could easily slide (as we saw a few people do). Next was Wah-kee-na Falls, which looked very similar to Latourell but not as impressive - so we just snapped a picture from the parking lot. Multnomah Falls was next, which is the most well-known waterfall in the city of Portland, and also the most touristy. This stop had an outdoor cafe and snack shop, a full restaurant inside, plus the usual gift shop. This waterfall was taller than all of the others, and had an amazing bridge in front so you can get a variety of great views. The next stop was the only was that was planned before the day began, and that is Oneonta Gorge. Feliks and I had not done a lot of research on this, but we did see beautiful pictures and heard that you need to wear water shoes. So we did.
Once you get down into the Gorge’s entrance, the first move is to climb over a huge pile of timber. Once you get past that, you have to walk in the creek the rest of the way through freezing cold water. At one point, the water gets chest deep. At this point there is a way to scale the side and stay only waist deep - Feliks chose this option. I chose to swim through the middle of the cold water in the shady gorge. If you’re there, you have to!!! I was freezing at first and felt like my lungs were going to collapse when I went underwater, but it was totally worth it. And I quickly got used to the water. Once you finish the “hike” to the gorge, there is a pretty Lower Oneonta Falls. We snapped some pictures, enjoyed the scenery, and headed back to the car. This is by far my favorite outdoors thing we’ve done on our trip - and I don’t think it will be topped until we go abroad. This was the first time I felt like I was in another country; that’s how beautiful it was. As always, pictures don’t do it justice. The last waterfall we stopped at was another very similar to Latourell, which was Horsetail Falls. This drive is a must!!!