OREGON VACATION | PART ONE

So far you’ve seen a lot of my session posts, but I wanted to give a little more insight into my life and the places I’ve been. I am more of a storyteller through pictures, but here it goes anyway!

This past Christmas, Robert and I went to Oregon. It was such an amazing and sweet little vacation I definitely did not expect. I was home sitting on our oversized, grey couch and Robert came in and said he had a surprise for me. Of course, I’m thinking it was a dinner date to get buffalo wings or Whataburger, my two favorites. He brought me his computer with a list on it. At first I was a little confused, but my heart melted as I read a list of locations with a title of “Pick One.”

           

Marfa, TX

New Mexico

Colorado

New York

Portland, OR

Chicago

Pacific Coast Highway

Harry Potter World

Now look, I know you’re thinking, “how could you pass up Harry Potter World?” but we’ve both been thinking of Portland and the Pacific coast for a while so it was time.  Robert and I decided to visit family and friends before the holiday and take a trip on our own. We found a cute Airbnb tiny home that was close to the heart of downtown. We left on Christmas Eve and arrived to a snowy Portland, OR. It was a perfect white Christmas for us Texans.

The first two days we were snowed in. We ordered pizza and opened our gifts Christmas morning. We drank coffee and watched Netflix’s Chef’s Table. We bundled up and walked around the quaint neighborhood that looked nothing like the brick and mortar we were used to. There was a cute "Giving Tree" for any passerby who wanted to say what they were thankful for. After the snow turned to ice and ice into mucky water, we were finally able to eat all the local food we could get our hands on. Doing it the true Portland way, we used public transportation to get everywhere. We’d get out at a bus stop near Hawthorne or Division Street and walk until we found a good place to eat or shop then walk more and then eat more. We tried Blue Star Donuts, some fancy sushi, ice cream and a few others. We found a taco restaurant, Stella Taco’s, that we had to try just for fun because we had no idea Portland had Mexican food. Turns out the owners were Texans! Our favorite was Olympia Provisions, which specializes in charcuterie. The Spanish board was mouthwatering. We also visited Powell’s bookstore and found Nordic food. Everything in Portand was very relaxed and charming. I didn’t see nearly as many “weird” Porlandia characters as I thought I would, but maybe that was because of the cold weather. We’ll have to go back in the summer eventually!

Again, the trip mostly revolved around food, but this was the first part of the trip! We stayed in Portland for 5 days and 4 nights then drove to Depoe Bay to stay for another 2 nights so you’ll have to wait for Part Two to see the rest of the pictures!

Enjoy!