Trek & Grub

Portland, Oregon

By Nos Étapes

September 1^st, 2016

09.02.16.

The goal of this short roadtrip was for the FOOD and OUTDOORSY stuff. On one of summer's Thursday nights, we got on the road to Portland. We left around 9ish and drove until we got to the last California rest stop at around 2ish. It was a mini camping trip! Though my car looks tiny, the back is huge with the seats down! We brought our sleeping pads & bags and slept a healthy seven hours. Our camping stove also came in handy for breakfast, and I prepared some rice the previous day to accompany our smokie sausages. We had five hours to go and when we got there it was pouring. First we stopped by our AirBnB, and met up with the hosts' son. He mentioned that there was a well-known (in the nation) bento place near by. We checked it out, and it had the best teriyaki meats I've ever had, and I don't usually care for teriyaki stuff! The weather cleared up and I wanted to checkout places Andrew Zimmern talked about.

Sooooo, our second food stop was well known for their scrapple-sausage with pig head stuff and polenta (interesting combo and I love polenta). Unfortunately, they did not serve any for that week and we proceeded to try their charcuterie house plate. They had the best pâté I had since Europe. Then we made a quick stop for an oil change...lol. Afterwards, we headed to Mississippi ;) to checkout a specialty shop called 'The Meadow', which carried chocolate by Xocolatl de Davíd (they specialized in fun collab recipes with local Delis-yes, delis.whoa.). Anyways...on our way there, we took our time and went in-and-out of other cool shops. We found an alley "Herb" Cafe and had some really good tea called 'Tulsi and Rose'. Then we tried a really yummy ice cream place that had Marion berry Ice Cream! I think the berry is exclusive to Oregon, so I got anything and everything with Marion berries. Jared got chocolate malt, and mixing them together was even better!

We finally reached THE MEADOW. It was amazing! It had a whole wall of salts (Jared's favorite...ugh, so unhealthy), bitters, and chocolates. We stayed in that small shop for more than an hour...haha. After that store, we checkout the burger joint next door, and they had the best (and cheap ;P ) truffle fries I've ever had! We finished off the day at a Sour-specialty Brewery and tasted half their menu. Omigosh, there are not much sour places in SF so this was a dream!

09.03.16.

We got up at 5AM to go to as many trails as we could before the crowds. The first planned sight was the well-known Mullotoma Falls. They were much better in person than pictures. Unfortunately we didn't do that hike cause we wanted to get to other trails. We drove on the scenic route along the Columbia River, and saw a trailhead near a tunnel. We bumped into a man along the river and he asked if we were checking out the falls at the end of the trail. We didn't know there was one so we agreed to. He mentioned the water got chest-high so we changed and grabbed our water shoes. The trail was an adventure! We had to walk in the river to get to the end. We got to a log jam so we had to maneuver through it. Behind it was a trench like finding Nemo but covered with luscious moss, rock walls with trees over the top. SO BEAUTIFUL! After the trench we had to wade through the chest-high chilly waters, and finally made it to the falls. It was quaint but the journey made it feel very magical.

After that hike, we checked out another trail that was covered with so many streams and falls! I really wanna go back and explore more trails. We headed back mid-day to continue our eating adventure. We stopped by a food park and went back to Missippi. Afterwards we hung out at the Saturday Market, and then headed to dinner. I wanted to try Le Pegion's food, especially the Fa Gois dessert. It was a two hour wait, so we had a nice stroll to the Portland sign and back.

We just realized that almost all the menu items had nuts, which Jared is deathly allergic to. It was already 10ish and we headed to whatever place was still open. We discovered our favorite resteraunt in Portland. It was a bar that served fusion steamed buns. Soooo YUMMY!!! To top it off, they were playing Princess Monoke on the ceiling! Best way to end the night! We knocked out as soon as we got back.

09.03.16.

Today was our last day in Portland. First thing we did was Kayak the Columbia River for 3 hours, getting a different perspective of Portland. We joined a really nice group, and I kept falling behind meeting some of them. We went under a few bridges, and went near the island in the middle of the river. I forgot its name but, part of it was a wildlife reservation and we got to see HUGE herons up close! We went to get hot dogs for lunch then had to figure out what was wrong with my car... Yea, the 'check engine' light went on, and we weren't going to drive all the way back to California until it got fixed. It was crazy cause we drove all around Portland meeting people who introduced us to more people trying to help us out. Eventually, we met the right guy who set all his appointments aside just for us! Omigosh, everyone was so nice! They ended up completely replacing my alternator for only $50 within 2ish hours, WOW! All we did was find and buy the part, and thankfully it was in stock. Though it sounds like a hassel, Jared and I enjoyed it so much. It felt almost like a detective movie, and we got to meet so many people all around Portland who were all willing and effortlessly helping us out.

After that, we got AMAZING Waffles from a window ;P I got mine with marion berries, cheese and whipped cream & Jared got chicken and waffles. This will be on our list every time we come back to Portland. Next, we went to super old elementary school that was converted into a hotel and brewery... it was super creepy in there! It was neat how they kept the schoolhouse presence, turned the girls bathroom to their microbrewery, one of the classrooms into a theater, and the gym into a concert-hall. The whole time me and Jared felt dizzy...PROBABLY THE SPIRITS (or some chemicals like asbestos...lol)! I ended up buying one of their canned beers, and planned to drink it somewhere. I couldn't handle it in there anymore @.@ To end the night, we tried to find a drive-in but was lead to a cute food park with fire pits, backyard lighting and a big projector theater in the middle. We watched 'The Royal Tenenbaums' under the stars with some beer and poutine. It was a really nice way to end of the trip. <3