We journeyed west this time.
From the east coast to the west coast.
Landed ourselves in the State of Oregon. We have seen and read about many iconic scenes, landscapes and other places to explore in Oregon in the past few months, so…
We were ready and excited to begin this adventure. Flying in, the top of Mt Hood greeted us through the clouds on our descent!
As always, our agenda was planned out for the most part, with room to change things up a little.
And this trip was no different.
Part of our plan were a few definite explorations that we really wanted to experience and then we had some days that we didn’t have a clear plan. However, we knew that it would all come together.
And it did.
So come explore with us as we share how our trip unfolded.
Heading to Crater Lake
Thankfully, our flight went smoothly.
During this time of getting back from a pandemic and the uncertainty flights, we hit the jackpot of on time flights, and great weather ensuring a smooth flight. This included our layover in Chicago.
Now this being said, once we landed in Portland we did have a small glitch. With one of our bags. It ended up in L.A. Immediately we knew, this was going to be a problem. We were headed to Crater Lake which was a 5 hour drive from the airport.
In the long run, 2 days later and close to a dozen phone calls, our bag made it to our place in Crater Lake. While we were sleeping, they left it on the porch of the house we were staying at. At around 4:30am. Please note, the delivery actually came a day later, despite noting that it still anticipates delivery to be yesterday.
Back to the drive.
Once we got our rental car, we were on our way to the lake. We had scheduled for an early flight arrival so that we could find a Winery for a wine tasting and for some food shopping.
We knew that as we got south of Eugene, Oregon the restaurants, stores and any other necessities were going to be far and few in between. And since preparing and cooking meals were not on our list of things to do, we needed to make sure we had everything in place.
Our First Winery in OR
As you will discover more, later in our journey, finding a winery is not always as easy as it sounds in a post pandemic world. Reservations are required in many establishments. (And in the state of Oregon, a mask as well). As we got into our car, our first stop would be in Willamette Valley for a wine tasting and wine purchases for our Crater Lake adventure. We were able to secure a reservation at Willamette Valley Vineyards from our vehicle on the computer before we headed out of the car rental parking lot. Yay!!!
They not only had great wine, but they also served awesome food. We will share more of this Vineyard in a future article.
Between the leftovers and ordering a couple more food items, we were on our way to securing our food supply.
Now that we had food in our stomach, we were ready for the 1 hour drive to Eugene, where we were going to do some food shopping. Then head for another 3 hour drive to our Crater Lake accommodations.
From landing at the airport at 11:30am PCT, to the winery, to the food store and finally arriving at our final destination at 6:30pm PCT (9:30pm EST), we were totally exhausted and most certainly ready for bed so that we could hit the road running in the morning.
Crater Lake
Crater Lake did not disappoint!
It is as awesome as it is described. From the spectacular clear blue water, the mountain views and the miscellaneous levels of hiking trails, there is a lot to do. To describe it properly though, we posted separate Crater Lake, and Crater Lake – Cleetwood Cove Trail pages.
The one thing worth mentioning independently, is timing. We went just after the season, but, just before the bad weather. It was admittedly a roll of the dice and we rolled perfectly. The crowds were fewer, and no snow storm hit – while we were there. However, a small snow storm hit the week before and a larger snow storm did hit a week later. The larger storms in usually close off the North part of the Crater.
We spent a couple of days here exploring the crater and then ventured a little beyond Crater Lake to Klamath Falls to explore a little local shopping and a dinner out. Interestingly enough Klamath Falls does not have a waterfall. So if you are looking for one there, you won’t find one.
After Crater Lake, our goal was to land back in Willamette Valley to stay for a couple of days there. The question was, by what route? We could go a little out of the way and drive up the coast or drive directly to Willamette Valley and begin the wine tasting part of our trip.
We didn’t ponder too long.
Having heard that the coast was gorgeous and that it should be experienced, we headed in that direction. And that is what we love to do, explore and journey into life experiences. And at times take a chance into the unexpected to see what we can discover and share with others.
Up The Coast?
We were now headed up for a 3 hour drive to Eugene on the way to the coast. But the night before, we decided to go to Crater Lake for sunrise. It was cold (23°F/-5°C), but wow was it worth the experience!
After Crater Lake at sunrise, we figured we would hit a breakfast place along the way. But there were not many to choose from that were open. Therefore, we decided that maybe in Eugene we could locate on a place.
This is where my pickiness can be a source of debate.
Needless to say, while it tasted good, not sure spending $75 for breakfast sandwiches/meals, coffee, tea and parking was the best investment. And, by the way, we had to eat outside in the park because there was a 2 hour wait for a table at the restaurant.
Up The Coast
Driving up the coast was a wonderful decision. Driving through little coastal towns, stopping at different lookouts to view the ocean and seeing some of the natural beauty that the west coast has to offer that differs from what the east coast has.
Deciding what lookouts to stop is always a challenge.
Sometimes you have other vehicles (RVs and folks towing trailers) to contend with at these various spots. Or maybe it is timing and that there is only so much time. Doesn’t everyone want to find great parking at the special locations? For us, timing was certainly one of our issues.
One thing we did know is that we wanted to get to our next accommodations before it was too late. So we selected a few spots to enjoy and were well rewarded.
One location was a lookout near Sea lion Cave. As we stepped out of the car, another viewer excitedly told us that there were sea lions below on a rock. As we peered down we could see quite a few and could quite clearly hear them barking at each other.
Another memorable stop was at Otter Rock. Here one will find the Devil’s Punch Bowl, tide pools which offer habitat for the birds and seals. However, this time we did not see any seals, but heard from another person that they did.
Where to Eat
While driving up the coast (and again being “post COVID” with continued COVID restrictions), we were trying to figure out where we were going to eat. We had found a place that had great reviews and was situated with a water view. The problem was that this restaurant was towards the end of coastal drive and we were not sure if they required reservations or even open. We tried calling several times, but no one answered.
So do we just pick a restaurant along our drive or risk the possibility that the restaurant that we were looking at would was even an option?
Well, the answer started to become obvious as we drove through the little coastal towns and began to discover the quaint little places to eat. These little places were not necessarily showing up on my searches for places to dine. They all looked very inviting and had great ocean views.
As we heading out of one town I saw a place, Tidal Raves. I mentioned to to Gary that the place we just passed looked like a great place. He pulled over and I looked them up on my phone. They had great reviews. I called them up and asked if reservations were required. The answer was no.
Yay, however, there was a wait.
We took the chance and turned round.
Eating Dinner
As we walked in, we discovered that there was a 2 hour wait. (good restaurants often have a wait)
Ugh.
But we found the secret…
If we wanted to sit at the bar (which there were no people were sitting there) we could do so and enjoy our food there. We jumped at the opportunity. Sitting at the bar can offer some great things, better service for one. You can also sometimes strike up conversations with either the bartender or other patrons. We often find some awesome people to talk to whenever we’ve taken this approach.
As we sat down, the view was to the back of us. However, since we were sitting higher than the people eating in the restaurant, we could easily swivel our chairs and get an awesome view. We got to watch the sunset over the water as we ate.
The food was awesome and fresh. The staff was very nice. The atmosphere was great. And so, we highly recommend Tidal Raves Seafood Grill.
Finishing Out The Day
Now we could comfortably head to our accommodations in Newberg, OR, and start focusing on our next chapter, wine Journey in Willamette Valley. For those wondering (or not), “it’s pronounced Willamette dammit”. And it’s supposed to rhyme.
When choosing locations to stay at, whether it is a hotel, Airbnb or other venues, there are always unique things about each place. So that is always a discovery that can be fun. Our place in Newberg, Red Hills Cottage, was definitely one of those places. It had a Western theme that was very interesting, and cute. There was a bottle of wine waiting for us along with a notebook of things to do and a list of their favorite places to eat and wineries.
Willamette Valley
Since were meeting up with our son Jeremy, and Tris the next day, my first thought was to begin searching for wineries to visit.
Not easy when reservations are required.
So, I enjoyed knowing that right in front of me was a list of recommended wineries provided by our accommodations (nice touch). Taking the list, I went on line and began the process of trying to secure reservations. I was able to find 2 places to begin our journey the following day. Our first stop was Cliff Creek Cellars in Downtown Newberg. This is actually a tasting room, with their Vineyards near Crater Lake.
Afterwards, we headed to Elk Cove Vineyards to meet up with Jeremy and Tris and to enjoy another wine tasting adventure. We enjoyed both wineries and loved the view at Elk Cove.
The next day we started with an awesome breakfast at a place recommended by Red Hill Cottages, red hills market. They have great reviews by the local community and serves food from 8-8. We could see that this place was a local favorite as most people there appeared to be locals.
From there, we headed for our reservations at Natalie’s Estate Winery. This is a very quaint winery which you can read up more about in another one of our articles.
Yet Another “Accidental Finding”
If you all know Gary and I personally, you will know that we love to talk to other people (well, Gary mostly, but I do too!). We are not shy to ask questions about places locally and things to do.
While we were at Natalie’s our host told us about a location up in Hillsboro that offers a fantastic view and was only a short distance from where we were at. It sounded nice, so we decided to head there before our next winery. It wasn’t as clear of a day as we had hope, however we still took advantage of a great view.
To top it all off we met another couple and starting talking, go figure. In the course of our short conversation and once they learned we going up to Portland, they suggested two other places to try to visit, “Stonehenge” in Washington and Maryhill Winery, less than a 5 minute drive from Stonehenge.
At this point we were definitely intrigued as you will soon discover why (if you haven’t already clicked the above link).
More Wine Tasting
Now off to our other reservation at Adelsheim Winery.
Unfortunately, when we showed up, they told us our reservation somehow never made it into their system. The place was beautiful too.
Fortunately…while not a real wine tasting, they graciously allowed us to taste a couple of wines that they already had opened.
But, now we have more time on our schedule!
We called Dobbes Tasting Room and found that they had an opening that allowed us to discover another winery. Their wines were very good, and their tasting room was pretty large with lots of outdoor seating and, heaters.
Our host at Dobbes was able to suggest a local restaurant, Trellis. Parking was tricky, but only because the road was under construction. It was obviously a very popular place for the local community. Once again, we were able to secure a seat at the bar. The food was awesome and definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. And it is always nice to end this chapter with a positive experience.
Off to Portland
Now the final segment of our journey is to Portland. We are beginning this portion with no set agenda, except to see Jeremy and Tris. We knew that with both of them working we would have our days to explore and our evenings filled with whatever experience that Jeremy and Tris could show us in the night life on Portland.
On our way up to Portland, we decided to take the scenic route and drive around the base of Mount Hood. When you fly into Portland the plane goes around Mt. Hood. Which is an awesome view to see the top of Mount Hood. Since Mt. Hood is only about an hour from Portland it makes sense to go visit it.
As we were headed there, we saw a Ranger’s Station so we decided to stop in to see if they had any suggestions. Well, I came up with the idea we should stop, and Gary agreed.
And of course, they did have suggestions.
The Ranger suggested stopping at Trillium Lake as there was a spectacular view of Mt. Hood from there. We were not disappointed. Because of timing and my knees we didn’t have any hiking ventures for this trip. But stopping at different viewpoints helped us to enjoy the splendor of Mount Hood.
We did go pretty far up the mountain before deciding our rental car may not be happy if we proceeded further…
Along the way, under the suggestion of Jeremy, we stopped at Mount Hood Winery. We were able to secure reservations on our way there when we had a little clearer idea of what time we would be arriving.
Of course they have an awesome view of the mountains and Mt. Hood. So we got to enjoy both their wines and a view of Mt. Hood.
Once we were finished, we headed into Portland to the Hilton Hotel.
Portland
We got to settle in for just a hot minute before Jeremy and Tris came to pick us up for our first taste of Portland. We went to the Central Eastside of Portland to experience Hawthorne Asylum Food Carts.
It is basically a city block of food carts. Where the old Hawthorne Asylum used to be. If you can’t find something here to enjoy, it would be surprising. Each cart offered their own specialty.
You can find Burmese, South African, Egyptian (Vegan), Korean, or even just American style food. This was just a few that we listed. There were so many choices it was hard to decide. Fortunately we were with a group of Jeremy and Tris’s friends that we got to taste quite a collection from the various food carts.
Sightseeing
In the morning, after eating breakfast with Jeremy, we made our way to see some waterfalls. There are some pretty incredible waterfalls to see and plenty of them in Oregon. Along the Historic Columbia River Highway is where we went to see two of the waterfalls, Wahkenna Falls and Multnomah Falls.
Multnomah Falls lays claim to be the USA’s second highest year-round waterfall.
From there, we decided to go the location we learned about at Bald Peak State Park, The Stonehenge of Washington State. It was a couple of hours drive, however, we were very curious about this historic landmark. And the Waterfalls that we just visited were along the way. We were not disappointed. If you are ever in the area check it out. In the meantime, check out our article and learn more about it.
Maryhill Winery was right next door and since it was also recommended, we stopped in. It is fairly large, the wine and the food we ordered was worth our stop. We had a spectacular view of the Columbia River and Oregon. We were on the Washington State side. Our wine tasting as Maryhill seemed to end too quickly, as we had to travel back to Portland for our evening excursion with the guys.
Jeremy and Tris picked us at the hotel and we went to Montesacro Pinseria for dinner where we got to meet more of the boy’s friends along some of their friends we met the night before. A great evening of fun with delicious pizza and appetizers.
The WORLD’s Smallest State Park
There was another Landmark that we wanted to experience while in Portland, Mill Ends Park. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Mills Ends Park is the world’s smallest park.
This was the start of our next day’s journey and we had our awesome tour guide, Jeremy, with us to show us the way. We did notice that the website did say it was “temporarily closed” and we were a bit confused as to how this tiny park could be closed since it was in the middle of the road. Well, we found out. Apparently they are doing road construction and the small tree in the park was nowhere to be seen.
We did “manage” to get a few pictures of the World’s Smallest Park “under construction”, since we were there.
Then we went across the street to the Waterfront Park to capture a few more scenic views of the nearby mountains, Mt. Saint Helens to the north and Mt. Hood to the east.
Back to Wine Tasting
Gary and I had one more winery, Stave & Stone Vineyards, that we wanted to experience. We had noticed it when we took a drive around Mt. Hood and thought that the view would be spectacular as it was at the base of the mountain. And it was amazing. They have indoor and outdoor seating. However, with such a great view of Mt Adams, we knew we wanted to be outside. We were happy to find that they did offer food. And the wine was great. And the next time we go to Portland, I am sure this will be a venue that we visit again.
Mt Adams in the background, almost completely covered in clouds.
After Stave and Stone we went back to our hotel for our last night in Portland. The guys took us to a wonderful restaurant, 23Hoyt. Unfortunately (for you), we did not capture any pictures as we wanted to enjoy our time our time with family.
We did get to enjoy a few stops in Portland before we headed to the airport. We got to enjoy a little French Café with Jeremy and David.
Then had our final wine tasting at Erath Tasting Room. A very elegant wine tasting experience with Jeremy, Tris and a couple of their friends.
The Takeaway
That is the snap shot of how our Journey unfolded in Oregon. We enjoyed all the experiences that we came upon and we learned from them. We discovered the unexpected can hold special gems. And we are happy to share them with you.
Even though we had a couple of weeks, by no means did we see all of Oregon. Like our other trips, the basics of the trip were planned before we left. Flight, transportation and accommodations were figured out beforehand. From there, we filled in concepts of activities, leaving plenty of space for flexibility.
Discovering new and unusual things and places is always an exciting part of our journey!