In July 2013, we took a girl’s vacation to Portland Oregon (Abby, Melissa, Lorey). We had such an amazing time and Portland and the surrounding area is so beautiful. Tall (I mean super tall) trees, amazing waterfalls, a beautiful beach, and a crazy city. We enjoyed getting away and spending time with Aunt Melissa.

I was a little worried and anxious on how Abbygale was going to do on the airplanes. I didn’t need to worry about that. Abby did so very well on all flights. She slept, played, watched the iPad, played games, had a tea party with water, colored, looked out the window, and everything else you can imagine. We kept her busy playing with tape, post-its, stretchy gook, and everything in between. I was so very proud of Abbygale on the airplane ride. The plane ride was almost 4 hours so she did amazing for this time.

On the trip, overall Abby did well. She is almost two so needless to say she had her 2-year old fits numerous times a day. She screamed, hit, and cried because gosh knows why. Abby was on capacity overload I am sure. We got up fairly early and went all day exploring outside and just enjoying each other’s company and the beautiful sites. I think after a few days she was simply exhausted. I do think she had an amazing time, as did I. We just hope Aunt Melissa enjoyed us in between the fits, screams, and hollers.

Abbygale still talks about Oregon. She talks about “hobble falls” (aka –waterfalls), pushing the elevator buttons at the hotel, unlocking the hotel door with the card, and how simply amazing the weather was. Upper 50s sound wonderful when in July we are use to 100+ degrees. Abby says “cold. Brrrr.”

Day 1
*After checking in the hotel and getting settled, we went to eat some yummy pizza at a Rachael Ray’s top pizza pick in Portland. We then started exploring the city of Portland. We were amazed at the amount of homeless individuals and “Keep Portland Weird” people walking the streets. We later determined that, for the most part, it was just the area we were walking as other parts of Portland appeared much nicer. For the most part.

Day 2
*Day two was the waterfall day. We did a Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls tour with a loop around Mount Hood, Oregon’s tallest mountain.
Stop 1: A local fruit stand to sample locally grown raspberries and blueberries. Yum!
Stop 2: Chanticleer Point: a point 700 feet above the mighty Columbia River, looking at the Columbia River, Washington State, and the Oregon side of the gorge.
Stop 3: Vista House: a scenic stop that has a spectacular thirty-mile view of the river and a rest stop with beautiful native wildflowers.
Stop 4: Latourell Falls – amazing!
Stop 5: Multnomah Falls, Oregon’s most famous and tallest waterfall at 620 feet. A breath-taking site!
Stop 6: Horsetail Falls- so beautiful and peaceful!
Stop 7: A winery. Abby slept.
Stop 8: Lunch at Hood River at a cool, little brewery.
Stop 9: Another winery. Abby and I walked around on the beautiful grounds outside.
Stop 10: Timberline Lodge which is at 6,000 feet. Mount Hood still had snow on it and Abby and I were able to throw a ball of snow. Correction: Abby didn’t want to touch the snow.

*We got back to the hotel rested, walked some more of Portland, came back to the hotel and ordered room-service. We tried to catch the tram to the waterfront park but ended up taking the wrong tram across town by the convention center. Needless to say we had an experience and such a good laugh. We were ready for the hotel by the time we got back across the water to the side of Portland we were staying on. Room service it was per Abby’s orders.

Day 3
*Day three was the west coast beach day. We went to Cannon Beach and did a little shopping on their main street area. The town was such a cute and cozy town. Abbygale enjoyed going in the candy store and shopping. It was the coldest day yet for us (in the 50s and didn’t get much warmer). We thought it was going to be in the 90s so I dressed myself and Abbygale in summer clothes. I thankfully had some leggings for Abby to put on. I was a little chilly at first but so enjoyed the cooler weather. It felt amazing. We shopped and then had lunch at a local seafood hangout. We then went down to the beach and saw the Haystack Rock, one of the world’s tallest monoliths. This was amazing. So pretty and such a cool site. Abbygale and I wanted to get up close and personal so we went across the water to touch the rock and see all the sea-life. The water was freezing. I mean painfully cold water. However, the huge starfish and other creatures were just amazing to see and touch. It was such an enjoyable experience I know I will remember forever.

Abbygale didn’t want to get down on the sand but once I talked her into it she did okay. She walked on her tippy-toes (with shoes on). She wanted me to hold her though. Carrying a 30 pound little girl everywhere (in sand, up stairs, across water, on a mountain, etc) is such a work out. I was exhausted just from the exercise Abbygale gave me throughout the trip. I have to say she loves her Mommy (which I love)!!

We then drove to another beach town, Seaside and then headed back to Portland. We rested up at the hotel and then went to Mother’s for dinner. Mother’s was like a home-cooking type restaurant. We sat outside (to help entertain Abbygale). We got to see a little more of Portland and then went swimming in the hotel’s salt water pool before calling it a night.

Day 4
*This was Abbygale’s day. We rode the tram to Washington Park and went to the Portland Zoo. Since the weather was cooler, most of the animals were moving around and roaming. We saw polar bears, giraffes, elephants, cheetahs, and so many more cool animals. After the zoo, we rode the train to the International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park. We walked the 5+ acres of beautiful roses and flowers. Abbygale enjoyed throwing money in the water fountains. We then walked to the playground and Abby played before riding the train and tram back to Portland. We rested up and then made our way across Portland to try a Mexican restaurant. Northern states Mexican food is not like Texas’ Mexican food. Abby had a slight melt-down at the restaurant so we went to the car and waiting on Aunt Melissa. We ended up eating our dinner in the hotel. It was an experience since fajitas aren’t really fajitas, chicken enchiladas aren’t really chicken enchiladas, etc. However, the chips were tasty! Next time we will only eat the food they are known for and leave the Mexican food to the South.

Day 5
*We woke up super early (3am) and headed to the airport. We made a stop in California to have brunch and switch planes then we were off to Austin. Daddy picked us up and back to our routine and life we went.

We were glad to be home but do miss Melissa already and the end of a vacation is always a little sad. It was a fun, beautiful, amazing, peaceful, stressful trip. We are so glad we got to go and we will always have wonderful memories of our July 2013 Portland, Oregon trip.