Hello Oregon: Thoughts on my first visit to Oregon

Our first stop in Oregon was the coastal town of Cannon Beach. My sister had visited this town a few years since her husband has family in the area and raved to me about its beauty. That day we were greeted with lovely misty rainy weather as we walked down to the beach to dip our toes into the Pacific Ocean. I have to be honest and say that seeing the Pacific Ocean was something I was looking forward to on this trip. The furthest west I had gone before this road trip was Las Vegas in 2003, so I was excited to finally experience the west coast. My only west coast disappointment was that I was not near any In and Out Burger location to see what all the fuss is about. What can I say I love a good hamburger.

Coming from growing up in Florida where I either went to the beaches of the Atlantic or the ones on the Gulf of Mexico, the rocky terrain of the Oregon coast was different yet uniquely beautiful.


The next day I finally got to spend time in Portland. I think I might have come into the city with too high of expectations, partly from my love of Portlandia's The dream of the 90's is alive in Portland skit and hearing how awesome it was from my sister and a close friend. We were only able to spend an afternoon in Portland so the first stop was naturally a visit to Powell's Books. If you love books, this place is like heaven. It takes up a whole city block and houses every book you can imagine. The fact that I only spent $40 in there is amazing. We had a bit of a tiff with our friend/traveling companion right as we arrived into the city and split up for lunch. We ended up at Fat Head's Brewery where I enjoyed the Bumble Berry Honey Blueberry Ale and commented how many hipsters I saw while we ate outside on the patio. I personally found Portland to be heavy on the hipsters which isn't my style. It's not that I disliked Portland, I just think that coming from living in DC now it doesn't seem as big city as others described it to me. If I went from living in Orlando to then Portland it would have probably made a different impact on me.

We were advised to make the 45 minute drive from Portland to see Multnomah Falls in Columbia Gorge and I'm so glad we did. Oregon has so many varied landscapes and I think we were able to see several of them in our short time in the state.

The last stop on the Oregon trip was Crater Lake National Park. To get from the Portland area to here is a long and boring drive through sparsely populated Eastern Oregon. I didn't know it yet but it would be worth the tedious driving once I saw the unspoiled beauty of Crater Lake. T has said this was his favorite national park besides Glacier. He literally could not stop taking photos while we were there.

Mt. Rainer National Park

A big highlight of the trip was finally visiting the Pacific Northwest for the first time. This was actually something on my 30 for 30 list which is a list of goals to accomplish by my 40th birthday. My introduction to this region would be through Washington state. We drove in through the eastern side of the state with the city of Spokane as my greeter to the state. After days out in the sparsely populated states of Wyoming and Montana, getting off the highway and going into a Walmart to replenish supplies was a welcome change of pace for me. While I enjoy getting into nature for a few days out of the city one of the things I came to realize is that I definitely prefer living in a city.

We met T's uncle, who is retired and travels across the country visiting national parks, in Packwood just outside of the park. Packwood is a small town that you pass through on your way into Mt. Rainier. We found an independent coffee shop that made the best white chocolate frappe I've ever had  in my life. If you are ever in Packwood check out Butter Butte Coffee Company.


We spent 2 days camping in the nearby national forest (which are super dog friendly) and I swear my dog was in heaven with his first time camping. Compared to the campsite we had in Glacier this one was an upgrade for sure with a location right by the river. Mt. Rainer National Park is the the most glaciated park in the mainland United States. It also has an active volcano and 6 major rivers. One of the highlights of this park was hiking the Paradise trail despite it being foggy and a little chilly. This part of the park is filled with beautiful wildflowers and is just so peaceful. The Paradise area has its own visitor center that warrants a visit when you are at Mt. Rainer. This was definitely a great place to kickstart the Pacific Northwest portion of the trip. Sadly I didn't get a chance to visit Seattle on this trip, but I loved the time I spent in Washington.

Glacier National Park Montana

How does one recap a trip that you have been wanting to take forever? I have been wanting to drive cross country since I was a middle schooler watching MTV's Road Rules when it started.  I figure it will take multiple recaps with all the places we made it out to and all the photos we took. I will start with what is called one of the crown jewels of the National Parks, Glacier National Park in Montana.

One of the most memorable activities found in Glacier National Park is to drive the Going to the Sun Road which is a 50 mile road that winds through the interior of the park to showcase the raw beauty of this natural wonder. You can choose to drive this picturesque road in your own vehicle or take the Glacier Park shuttle along the road. We choose to drive it ourselves, or more specifically my husband drove it since mountain driving is something I have zero experience in. The drive is filled with breathtaking views that every American should see at least once in their lifetimes. I'll be honest with you, Montana wasn't on my travel radar until 2 summers ago when T made his first trip out there to visit his uncle and instantly fell in love with Glacier.  He came home convinced that I needed to experience this place myself and now 2 years later I got my chance.

We ended up camping for a night at the Apgar Campground inside the park. The camping aspect of this trip was a little nerve wracking for me. Before this trip the last time I attempted camping was back in high school and I ended up going home with several fire ant bites, so I was a camping newbie to put it lightly. Everything was fine until it was time to go to bed and I underestimated how cold it would get overnight in July in Northwestern Montana.  I can't imagine how harsh the winters are up there. The next day we made it out to Logan's Pass to do some day hiking. While at Logan's Pass I got to encounter wildlife first hand in of all places a parking lot. After completing the hike in Logan's Pass I walked down to the car to check on the dogs (dogs are not allowed on any Glacier trails) while the guys went to to check out the gift shop in the visitor center. I am sitting there giving water to the dogs when I hear people gasping in the parking lot that a group of rams has entered the parking lot. I look up to see tourists snapping pictures on their phones of the rams circling the parking lot. Right as my eyes become fixated on the rams my friend's dog begins to bark uncontrollably. I start to freak out not knowing if the barking will entice the rams to come explore what was the cause of all the noise. I plead Matilda to stop her barking and now my dog has started making a whine noise himself. For the next few minutes I nervously watched the rams circle through the parking lot wondering if they would stop by our car due to the dogs inside. Luckily the rams did not appear to be interested in interacting with the dogs and made their way to explore the other side of the parking lot. That would not end up being my singular wildlife encounter on the trip but it was most definitely the scariest one.