Six Things to Do in Portland, Oregon

I first came to Portland about 15 years ago, and for the last ten years, I have been to Portland on average about once a year. It has been so fun to explore the city and the more times I come, the better the visits get, as they are very low key and I can spend my time doing what I love doing best, walking around and looking at stuff! Besides just doing that, here are six things that I would suggest to someone who was going to visit Portland. 

(1) Drink beer / go to breweries! I had to lead with this one, because if you are a beer drinker, you will love this town. There are so many options and I could name about a million of them but some of my favorites so far (and I am still testing this out) are Hopworks, Breakside, and Upright (I went to this one when it was basically just a cave in a basement). 

(2) Explore the neighborhoods: I had to say this, as this is one of my favorite things to do. There are so many little neighborhoods, each with their own flare or charm. Portland is set up in quadrants, and I like to check out a bit of each, but I have predominately stayed in the NE when I have come. Some fun ones are Alberta, which is known for its art scene, Hawthorne, which has tons of good food and shops and Laurelhurst, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Portland and one of the first planned neighborhoods ever. You can find more specific info about the 95 neighborhoods here. 

Rose City Park neighborhood during Halloween

(3) Forest Park: This park is right in the middle of the city. It is beautiful and it is easy to do loops of any distance and you don't even feel like you are near a city, even though when you are done, it is close enough to go and get a multitude of different foods (and beers!) within a few miles. 

Forest Park in winter

(4) Columbia Gorge: Although technically not in Portland, it is worth a trip out to see this. Whether you drive it or hike it or camp it, there is so much to do in the gorge. It is so green and lush and if you are feeling frisky, you can get up high for a wonderful view. Not only that, but you can fish, drink beer, eat great food and see tons of waterfalls, rivers and creeks. I suggest the Eagle Creek trail, where I once saw salmon spawning, and then lunch in Hood River at either Bette's Place or Mugen Noodle, and then an after lunch beer at pFriem Brewery. 

(5) Powell's: Books, books, books! This is the best bookstore and if you like books, you have to go here. If you don't like books, well, maybe go and get a coffee while your friends look at books. It is three floors of every book you can possibly imagine, plus they even have used books. Pro tip: go to the flagship store on Burnside!! 

Powell's

(6) Eating! There is so much good food! I personally love a good breakfast place, and for that I would suggest Screen Door, Tin Shed or Pine State Biscuits. For lunch/dinner, I like Otto's Pizzeria (best GF crust I have had so far), Matt's BBQ...and so many more! 

Matt's BBQ

The above list is just a taste of all of the fun things there are to do! I still have a lot more exploring to do and I am sure I will find many more things that I love to do in Portland before long.

Have you ever been to Portland? If so, what is your favorite thing to do there? If not, what is your favorite city/place to wander around? 

Gorge Waterfall 100k

A couple of weekends ago, a group of us traveled up to Portland for the Gorge Waterfall race. This race had two distances: 50k and 100k. The 100k is an out and back with about 12,000 feet of climbing. Some of my friends and I ran the 100k on Saturday and Broski ran the 50k on Sunday. We flew up on Thursday night after work and spent Friday drinking beer at FatHeads Brewery (carb loading), shopping at Powells and wandering around the city. We got an apartment in the Hawthorne district, which was a walkable area with lots of restaurants and things to do. We had dinner very early (around 5) on Friday at Thanh Thao restaurant (Vietnamese/Thai) because our race started at 4 a.m. on Saturday and we wanted to get to bed early.

Race morning we got up at 2 a.m., had breakfast, and drove the the start line at Benson State Park. We got there so early that we had time to see the early start at 3 a.m. and to use the bathroom a few times. It was pretty chilly, maybe around the high 40s, so we huddled next to the bathroom for a while trying to stay warm before the race started. Before we knew it, it was nearly 4 and it was time to get going.

The race started off with a tiny flat portion and then it was an immediate long uphill slog. I think the first climb was about 1500 feet over 2 miles or something like that. It was partly paved at first and then was dirt/rocks for the last mile or so. Then we started to go downhill, and it was a beast. The trail was rocky, full of roots and some of the rocks were not separate smaller rocks, but one big multi pointed chunk which covered the entire trail. It was wet and it slippery and it was very slow going, especially since it was dark. The other thing was that on one side of us was a drop off, but we could not tell how much of one since it was dark. Finally the rock gave way to a downhill paved path and we could finally speed up the pace a bit. I passed quite a few people on this section.

Once we got to the bottom of this hill, we got to the first aid station (No Name - 6 miles in), which was pretty bare bones. Then we started doing a lot of rolling hills on a single track trail for maybe 5 more miles. The next section was about 3 miles of pavement! I was not really happy about this part, as (1) it hurts and (2) I knew I would have to come back this way since it was an out and back course! The only good part about this section was that it was starting to get light. At mile 13, we got to the Yeon aid station, where I gobbled down a banana and hit the road again.

It was finally light and the next 10 miles or so had a bunch of waterfalls and things to look at. However, the trail was often rocky, causing more slow running and/or walking than I would have liked. I even had to walk some on flat sections, as the footing was very shaky. Somewhere in this section, I felt one of my toes starting to have a hot spot and I knew this was going to be an issue. I got to the Cascade Locks aid station at mile 22, which was where my drop bag was, and I took off my shoes to have a look. Sure enough, I had a blister. I lubed up my feet, taped up the blister, put my socks back on and hit the road again.

Rocky Road -- Photo Credit: Broski

From here, the trail had a pretty long uphill climb before heading back down to the turnaround point at mile 31. As I was slogging up the uphill portion, I saw all of the elite guys heading back down. It's funny because normally in local races, I am familiar with most of the lead runners. However, this time there were several unfamiliar faces. However, I did see a couple of local guys and it was fun to be able to do so! This race was a big deal because it was a Montrail Cup Race, which means the top two men and the top two women get a qualifying spot in Western States.

Mossy Fairy Bridge -- Photo Credit: Broski

At the turnaround, I refilled my water (for the first time, which probably means I wasn't drinking enough) and ate some trail butter and hit the road again. On the way back, I ran into all of my friends, who were going the opposite way. The first didn't even see me, as she was so intent on the trail. The second asked "how much farther to the turnaround?" and I knew exactly how he felt. The third said that she was going to drop at the turnaround.

On the way back, my toe started bugging me again, so I stopped a couple of times to put more lube on my toes. Once as I was stopped there, a guy who had been leapfrogging me offered me some tape for it and I gladly took him up on the offer. After taping it again, it felt a bit better, but it still was bugging me. I definitely always go out too fast and end up slowing down a lot of the second half because I always get passed a lot on the latter half. In fact, I hit the 15 mile mark (1/4 way done) in about 3 hours. I got to the halfway mark in about 6.5 hours. If I would have kept the same pace, I could have finished in about 11 hours. But I didn't.

I can't really remember the middle part of the way back. I slogged along, going up and going down and going back over the rocky sections. My legs felt fine but the bottoms of my feet hurt. People passed me. I stopped to take some photos. I ate a lot of squeeze applesauce and bananas. Finally I got to the Yeon aid station again at mile 49. From here it was 3 miles of dreaded pavement, of which I ran the whole way (and passed 4 people -- yes!) and then it was some rolling trails and then No Name aid station, which meant only one huge hill and 6 miles to go.

It was the longest 6 miles of my life. 1500 feet of climbing, a lot (A LOT) of tourist dodging and a lot of either pavement (ouch) or pointy technical rocks (ouch). Finally I reached the top and headed back down. The downhill was way better than I thought it would be. However, I forgot that after the downhill you have to go back up again before heading down the last flat mile to the finish. On the last hill, my blister broke and I limped/ran along. Then I got to the last mile of flat and it seemed so long. You have to run around this lake and you can see the finish line, but it's on the other side of the lake and you can hear the band and you know you are almost there, but it seems to take forever!

I finally got to the finish and Broski and his lady were there, photographing me in all my finest glory. I crossed the line, got a high five from the race director (his hand must be sore by the end of the weekend!) and hobbled over to the beer tent. I ended up finishing in 14:38:xx. I have only run one 100k before and my time was 15:10, so that was a 100k PR.

The verdict? Would I do this race again? I might. However, there are a few logistical things the RD needs to work on. Firstly, the aid stations were poorly run. The people were friendly, but maybe they were inexperienced. I had to get my own water, which is not normal in a big race like this. In addition, at the turn around, there were tortillas and nut butter, but you had to make your own roll-up. Usually these are pre-made and laid out for you to save your time. Also, the food choices were not great. In a longer race, there should be some real and/or hot food choices. Generally there is soup or burritos/quesadillas or at the very least potatoes with salt. They had none of that. At Yeon they did have grilled cheese, which was good, but I really felt that there should have been more.

On the other hand, the after party was great, although they did run out of beer by the time my brother crossed the finish line on Sunday. That's not really fair to the runners who are in the middle/back of the pack. Back of the packers are people too!

All in all, it was a fun weekend and a difficult but beautiful race.

Have you ever been to Portland or the Pacific Northwest? What is your favorite beer?

Looking Back: June

June started with my Dad's birthday and ended with Western States, and the in between was like a suitcase that you pack so full that you have to sit on it to make it all fit. I wish that I was current with this space, because there have been so many things that I want to report on (and remember). However, it's just not meant to be right now, so the stories will have to wait. Unfortunately, if we don't get things right down on paper, we tend to forget the small details, which are often the ones that make the event/day/story special.

North Matthieu Lake, OR

Study: (50 - 60 hours) Once again, studying ruled the roost this month, which is not surprising, as my exam is scheduled for July 7th. I am not that great at studying, however, after talking to some of the other new people in the office who are also studying, I feel pretty good about my progress. I got through all of the material and then took an overall practice test, which allowed me to go back and focus on some of the areas where I need more work. Since then, I have taken a few more practice finals and have been passing them. So...fingers crossed that I do as well on the exam as I have been doing on the practice exams. Having said that, I will be SO GLAD to not have to get up early every day to study and to come home every night and study.

Reading: (2 books) I actually read this month! Once I started to take more practice exams, I found that I really needed a break from the computer, so I would fit in a half an hour of reading here and there. Also, I did take one flight and had a few days of rest, so I crammed in a bit of reading here and there. I read The Sense of an Ending, which was only so-so, and A Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire, #1) which was actually quite entertaining. Actually, it was just what I needed for study break material, which was something not too deep or meaningful.

Tahoe Rim Trail, NV

Running: (206 miles) Okay, so this month was not ALL about study. What can I say; running is my release. I am also training for the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 mile run, which is on July 19th. The race is done at an elevation of 6500 - 9000 ft, so I went up to the area one weekend and did two long runs in order to get some kind of preparation for the altitude. Also, I spent some time in Oregon and I love running and exploring the trails up in the Cascades. However, since they are also pretty high up (6000 ft), I ran into snow a few times and could not get past it. Finally, I went up to Auburn and watched a bunch of my friends run the Western States Endurance Run (more on this later) and of course ran around a bit that weekend as well.

Rob Krar, #1 overall at WSER

Travel: Although I have not gone out of the country, this year has been a great one for local travels. In June, I went to South Lake Tahoe, Auburn and central Oregon. Each trip was a great time with friends and I got in a lot of hiking, walking, running and outdoors activities, which to me is the perfect vacation! The trip to Oregon was especially fun because it was with my good friend and her two girls, one of them who is 4, the other is 2 months old. It was great to spend time with them all and it always amazes me how fast they are growing!

Metoulious River, OR

Other than that, I have been tending the garden, running a bit with the dog (Emi -- her mileage is probably about 12 for the month of June) and working!

How was your June? What outdoor activities have you been doing? When was the last time you had to study for something?

**Also, last but not least, I want to wish a very Happy Birthday to my mom and her twin sister!**

Oregon Recap

Better late than never, I guess. I had a great time in Oregon a few weeks ago with the ladies. It's nice to travel with people who are easy to get along with, give you space when you need it and company when you don't! Also, as I mentioned before, we were all on the same page when it came to diet and exercise, so we spent a lot of time walking, hiking, running and eating great summer salads! It was pretty cool when we were there; the lowest was about 30 degrees while the high was maybe in the low 70s. 

On the drive up, we stopped in Redding to visit the sundial bridge, which spans the Sacramento River. We also passed Mt. Shasta and stopped to eat lunch in Weed. I love Weed! :)

Sundial Bridge -- Redding, CA

Quite a brood!

Mt. Shasta

While in Oregon, we went hiking up the Black Butte mountain, which is 2 miles each way and about a 1,600 ft elevation gain. We also went for an ice cream at Camp Sherman and went over the McKenzie Pass, where we saw snow. Other fun things we did there were to take walks to the Head of the Matolius, to walk around the towns of Bend and Sisters and to hike to the Sahalie Falls.

Black Butte Hike

Camp Sherman

Bend

View from the house

Head of the Metolius

A's first snow!

Fun in the summer snow!

McKenzie River

The Stitchin' Post -- Sisters

Sisters is famous for it's quilting show, which is in July. In fact, when I told my grandma I was going to Oregon, she mentioned that she would love to go to the show in Sisters! So although she couldn't go, I sent her some of the fun brochures about the activities they have there for the weekend. After walking around the Stitchin' Post, I almost want to start sewing something myself!


Have you been to Oregon? Do you sew? Do you remember the first time you saw snow?

Oregon in a Nutshell

Today as you read this, I will be flying back from Oregon. I did not have internet the entire time, so I will spend tomorrow catching up on things, blogs, news etc! Until then, here is a list of what we did in Oregon -- in a nutshell.

- Running: I had a great time exploring the running trails and roads, including a nice loop around the neighborhood as well as running in the Peterson Ridge Trail System. More on this later.

- Eating: We went to Costco and Trader Joes and Rays and Food For Less and bought SO MUCH food. I traveled with my friend and her daughter and her mom. You wouldn't think 4 ladies could eat so much, but our fridge was stocked! The good thing about being with ladies? The items mostly included vegetables, fruit, fish and SNACKS! It was my kind of party. 

- Hiking: Every day we took a walk around the neighborhood, and some days we hiked to the tops of small mountains in order to see the surrounding mountains. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and the mountains were hiding some days, but we had a few days of clear views and they were spectacular.

- Mountains: As you may know, the Cascade Range was formed by volcanoes, and it is beautiful! We spent lots of time enjoying the view! (not this one; we were closer to the ground)

source

- Relaxing: Many a book was read, many a magazine was perused. Many a movie was watched. Many a conversation was had. It was good times.

- Biking: It was about 8 miles RT to town and I had a great time biking along the highway (eeek) to get to town for some fun. "Town" is one main street and 2000 people and reminds me a lot of the "town" I grew up in.

I hope everyone else also had a great week and that you all have a great weekend as well! I can't wait to hear all about what everyone has been up to!! Good luck if you are racing this weekend!

What is your favorite relaxing activity? If you are with a group of ladies only, what does the menu look like?

Active Vacation

Next week, I will be in Oregon, spending some time at a friend's house near Bend. I am really looking forward to this, as it will not only be spent with friends and family, but from the house, within walking distance, there are several running and hiking trails. So this will not be a rest and relaxation vacation, although I am sure there will be plenty of time in the evenings for reading and other relaxing pursuits. This will be an active vacation, with lots of fun and physical stuff going on!

As you know, where I grew up is in a National Forest, so I am kind of assuming the part of Oregon we are in will look similar. Here is a photo of where I grew up.

Bald Eagle Mountain

Here is a photo I found online about the area we will be in.

The Three Sisters (source)

Okay, so maybe it's a little different. But there are mountains, and trees and water!

Where we will be staying is not actually in Bend, but in a cute little town (Population: 2,000, Elevation: 3,100) nearby. Besides hiking, the 15 Must Do Activities list says that I should also do these things:

- Eat an ice cream (I think I can handle that!)
- Go fly fishing (I LOVE fly fishing)
- See some live music
- Enjoy a coffee drink (naturally!)
- Bike around the area
- Paddle on one of the local lakes

I want to do all of those things! Also, I looked around a bit and I may also see many animals, including Elk and an animal called the Water Ouzel, which is a bird that flies underwater. I think I am going to have lots of fun and I won't be short of things to see and do! 

I have been to Oregon before and I loved it. I had a great time in Portland, eating my way around the neighborhoods (and I found some GREAT food!) I did some hiking in the Columbia River Gorge, which is beautiful. I also went to the coast and ate cheese and stared at water and fog and houses and rocks. I loved my trip last time and so I have high hopes for this one as well!



Have you ever been to Oregon? Do you normally stay active or try to relax on your vacations? 

*Don't forget to stop by Jills for some more Fitness Friday posts!*

Ore-GONE

We took a few days off a couple of weeks ago and went to Oregon...Portland, to be exact. It was 4 days of go, go, go...not much of a "relaxing" vacation, but very fun!!
The first few days we rented a car and pretty much covered the whole of north-western Oregon (and some of WA as well!!) The first day we went to the Columbia River Gorge and did some hiking. It was a little muddy, as it had just snowed the weekend before and had not totally thawed, but MAN was it nice to get outside, walk into the mountains and trees and to take a deep breath of fresh mountain air.
The next day we did a super-duper tour of Washington and Oregon... We started at Mt. St Helens, which was covered by fog, but was still a beautiful drive through the snowy mountains. I found my dream piece of land -- a plot up on the mountain overlooking the lake...only problem is that you could get a little eruption! Then we drove south and went through Warm Springs and Sisters, which are cute little mountain towns.
The next day, I re-introduced Mr L to the wonderful West Coast...we drove to the coast, went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which was pretty cool...Then to the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale, which has been stranded on the beach of Fort Stevens since 1906. We went house shopping in Cannon Beach (where the movie The Goonies was shot!!), just becuase it is so fun to dream of living in one of those beautiful homes on the beach...then we went to Tillamook, where there is a cheese factory. We ate free cheese and got out of there becuase it was packed (rainy Saturday, what did we expect).
We spent the next day exploring Portland, which is a very walker friendly town and has lots of fun places to eat and fun neighborhoods to explore. Tristan's recommendation of the Tin Shed for breakfast was probably our favorite place of all.

Now it is back to the old grindstone...and the flat plains of Iowa.