Blogs from Portland, Oregon, United States, North America - page 3

Susan and Pam meet me at SAS and we load up Susan’s van with my stuff and head off to the airport. I tell Susan and Pam I actually was driving out of my neighborhood this morning and realized, I didn’t have my phone. I was lucky I didn’t have to drive back too far. Well, I did forget the maps. Oh well, we will find some along our route as we know we will be in areas where we won’t have reception. I guess I was stuck on stupid this morning. We park at the extended lot and lugged our luggage to the shuttle. The airport was non-eventful, but our flight took off a bit late. No big deal, we made time up in the air. Susan and Pam told me about their adventures driving ... read more

There are some compromises to be made when you're travelling. You have plenty of time but money is very limited; the sooner you burn through it the sooner you have to come home. Sticking to a budget is challenging and this is why we ended up taking a flight from Salt Lake City to Bozeman that went via Seattle. If, like me, your knowledge of US geography is a little limited, you may not realise how crazy this route was, but a quick look on google maps and you will understand. Unlike our last big travel day, the day we went from Salt Lake City to Bozeman and then onto Big Sky was almost a complete disaster! Our first flight left at 7.30am so we had a 5am start which was a little painful off the ... read more

With the heat wave this year, and a newborn in tow, we spent most of the summer cooped up indoors... can you say "cabin fever?" We desperately needed to get away for a change of pace, a change of climate, and a change of scenery. Although we had talked about visiting Portland for what seemed like forever, it took me by surprise when Victor booked our flights to go, because it was so spontaneous and last minute! Even though this was our first time in the Pacific northwest region of our country, we instinctively knew we would love Portland. And with it's location being only a short 3 hour flight away, it was a perfect first time trip to make with our little baby girl. Portland, in my opinion, is a very impressive place. Where many ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Je précise Portland Oregon, car il existe un autre Portland, dans le Maine, sur le bord de l'Océan Atlantique. où j'ai eu l'occasion de faire étape l'an dernier, au jour 1. La surprise du jour, est, où Pier à réservé. En plein centre ville, très bien situé. Totalement atypique. Pas auberge de jeunesse, pas YMCA, je n'ai pas de mot pour le décrire, en tout cas un hôtel pour une clientèle jeune où les couloirs sont plus près de sentir l'herbe, que la savonette. Pas pour des vieux "prostateux" car les toilettes sont communes dans le couloir, ainsi que les douches. L'histoire d'après Pier, ce serait une ancienne école, destinée à la démolition, qui aurait été rachetée et transformée en hôtel. Chaque chambre est unique, chacune d'elles ayant été décorées par un artiste ... read more

Geo: 45.5118, -122.676West of Downtown Portland is the Washington Park within which lies Portland Japanese Garden. It is reputed to be the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. It occupied 5.5 acres and took four years to build. It was superb. Every turn presented a different view, each one equally breath-taking. When we got there, it was pouring but it was in fact a blessing in disguise, as all the trees with rain drops on the branches were glistening when the sun eventually emerged from behind the black clouds. There were lots of places to sit down in a tranquil setting, fellow visitors' noises notwithstanding, and contemplate nature, life, the meaning of the universe etc. Alas, all the benches were wet from the rain so we didn't find out what it was like to meditate ... read more