KatelynMay 26, 2022 – May 31, 2022
Where We Stayed:
Hyatt Place Portland Airport/Cascade Station
Trip Highlights:
- Seeing the Mall of America
- Guardian Games in Portland
- Exploring Powell Books
- Exploring the Columbia River Gorge
Favorite Restaurants:
This trip had two distinct parts. While originally planned as a long weekend in Portland, we added on a last minute pit stop in Minneapolis before our trek to the west coast to complete a few errands in the twin cities.
One Day in Minneapolis
After a very early morning flight, we arrived in Minneapolis with one day to complete a few errands and explore the city. Our hotel was right by the airport and right by the Mall of America. We completed our errands (an appointment to get new shoes fitted before our larger travels began later in the year) and spent the remainder of the day exploring the Mall of America, including the Nickelodeon theme park within the Mall. We went to bed early before our very early morning flight to Portland.
A Rainy Afternoon in Portland
We arrived in rainy Portland and settled in to our hotel. We were staying a bit outside of central Portland near the airport, but right next to a train station that would easily bring us into the city. We decided to brave the rain and catch a train into the city, though we ended up a bit wet as we waited for the streetcar.
We spent most of that afternoon exploring one of our new favorite game stores, Guardian Games. They had an amazing board game selection, and an even better selection of Dungeons & Dragons items and dice.
Downtown Portland
Our second day was spent exploring downtown Portland. We enjoyed a craft and food market, and several small local shops. One of the highlights was Powell’s City of Books, a bookstore that took over a literal city block. Each room housed a different topic of books, spread across three floors. Walking through was like a maze, and it was fascinating to explore.
We then ventured out to the Oregon Rail Heritage Center to check out several of the historic steam trains they house and maintain. We had originally planned to take a ride on one of the trains, but the rain had yet again picked up, and we decided instead to pick up some dinner and make our way back to the hotel for the evening.
Columbia River Gorge
The following day we rented a car and ventured out of the city toward Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge. We began with a stop at Vista House, which had sweeping views of the Columbia River Gorge ahead of us. We continued into the waterfall corridor, stopping to see the massive Multnomah Falls, before continuing on to the city of Bonneville.
In Bonneville we saw the Bonneville Dam, Bonneville Locks, and Fish Hatchery. The dam in particular was impressive, and there was a small museum about the area nearby. We grabbed lunch and drove a winding road to a viewpoint called Panorama Point, hoping to get a view of Mount Hood. Despite the fact that we drove around the entirety of Mount Hood this day, we never actually saw it. We continued on, watching as our sunny skies eventually turned into a snowstorm as we increased in elevation. It was really interesting to see how the elevation of Mt. Hood impacted our weather. We continued back to Portland, dropped off our rental car, and returned to the hotel for the evening.
Vista House 
Bonneville Dam 
Vista House 
Multnomah Falls 
Panorama Point
Museums & Gardens
Our final day in Portland, and our only sunny day, was spent at the various museums and gardens throughout Portland. We started at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I’m going to be honest – this place was a bust. Barely anything was open, everything looked run down, and other than a few kids play areas, everything just looked so old. Definitely not worth the price of admission for two adults, unlike other science museums we’ve been to.
We then ventured out to Portland’s Japanese Garden. These gardens were really interesting to wander through, and beautiful, however very crowded. While we enjoyed it, I’m not sure we’d pay the price of admission to visit that again. Next to the Japanese Garden was the Rose Garden, which was nice, except that most of the roses were not in bloom at the time we were there.
Japanese Garden 
Japanese Garden 
Japanese Garden
Portland was a really interesting city, though I’m not sure it’s a place we’ll need to return to anytime soon. I loved Powell’s City of Books, the waterfalls, and the amazing game store we visited. If we were passing through the area again, those are the top sites we’d stop by again.
