Portland Ho!

Our day started bright and sunny, as we roused ourselves to “Eye of the Tiger” and snagged some PopTarts for a quick breakfast. I grabbed some coffee inside Love’s and we hit the road. With plenty of spare time to work with, we didn’t leave the Love’s until around 9 AM. We pulled onto the westward highway once again, this time headed straight for Portland.

Fueled by caffeine and PopTarts, the lads hit the road.

As we drove along the Columbia River, the scenery gradually morphed from mountainous desert ranges to green, hilly landscapes lush with trees. The change was sudden and pleasant, and the towering Mount Hood rose proudly in the distance. As we arrived in Portland around 11 AM, we were once more reminded of home; the winding highways and dipping exits were very reminiscent of St. Louis.

A distant view of downtown Portland.

Downtown, however, the city was practically deserted. It was sad to see the boarded up and graffitied storefronts, and the complete lack of activity in a normally-busy metropolis. After perusing an outdoor shop to pass the time, we decided to head to our hotel and check in. At the Marriott, we parked and unloaded the van before heading up to our room.

When we got up to the room, we were pleasantly surprised by how spacious and nice our room was. Even more shocking was the price per night: $39! For reference, our site at Yellowstone was more expensive. We settled in to have lunch, planning to hit the beach a little later.

Our hotel in Beaverton.

The beach was a long drive, but ultimately worth it. We laid out our towels on the flat, sandy shore and basked in the sea breeze. Sam immediately wanted to leap into the water, while Reed and I were more hesitant. After he dunked himself under and returned, he reassured us that it wasn’t that cold, and to give it a shot. Reed and I stood near the edge of the water, almost like we were about to start a cross country race. I counted us down, and we sprinted into the water. It was super cold, but almost refreshing in a way.

Sam channels his inner Baywatch while walking on the beach near Seaside.

Afterward, we all jumped in together. Then, we strolled down the beach a ways before heading back to the van. We knew it would be a late dinner for us, but felt the journey out there had been worth it. When we finally got to our room and got our dinner supplies out, we realized our meal would be much later than initially thought.

To streamline the process, each of us handled a different part of the meal: Sam would grill the chicken, Reed would prepare the potatoes, and I would sauté some peppers and onion. We worked seamlessly, like a professional kitchen (okay, not quite, but we did our best), to create a decent home cooked dinner. We enjoyed it by a gas fire in front of the hotel, and finished our night by loading the dishwasher (a beautiful luxury we hadn’t seen in weeks!). Overall, our first day in Portland was low key, but highly successful. 

Dinner is served.