A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to take a trip to the Pacific Northwest. I had been to Portland previously, but was unable to explore and enjoy the city due to work. This time I made sure to take the full weekend to fully explore the city.
When traveling to the Pacific Northwest I always try to build in a stopover in either Dallas of Phoenix on American Airlines to earn a few extra miles along the journey. Upon landing in Portland I was surprised to see the old “famous” carpet had been replaced with an equally eclectic carpet. You can learn a little about the Portland airport carpet here, but like everything in Portland, its quite a “hipster” sensation.
The drive from Portland International Airport into the city it mostly easy, but locals well tell you that traffic continues to get worse as people continue to flock to Portland. I arrived late Friday night and wasn’t able to see many of the sites that Portland has to offer, but was able to see the beautiful views of Portland as you drive over the Highway 5 bridge.
The next morning set up for a day of adventure. We packed up the car and headed to Mt. Hood. The views of the mountain along the drive a beautiful and alone worth the drive. Once outside of the city, the drive is mostly on two lane highways through somewhat “urban” farmland. There are various starting points for several hikes as you drive along the mountain roads. We were hoping to make take the Trillium Lake Hike, but when we arrived at the start of the hike we found that snowshoes and other gear would be required to complete the 4 mile hike. We had not prepared for the hike at all! We moved on and decided to drive the long way around the Mountain and head back into Portland.
The drive was fantastic and highly recommended. Since we had several hours to spare, we decided to head to the Pittock Mansion. The mansion sits on top of Portland’s Hillside and offers fantastic views of the city.
That night we went to various bars in Portland’s Pearl District. The area has a ton of lively bar offerings and plenty of microbrew beer to go around.
After a short weekend it was back to the airport, back to Dallas, and finally back home! I describe the flight home in a prior post. I highly recommend visiting Portland, OR. It is a city filled with friendly people and amazing beer.
Safe Travels!
