Astoria & Portland

Lewis and Clark's Canoe landing

On the trip from ONP to Portland we stopped in Astoria, OR which was a great decision. Pulling into town at dinner time had us driving the rig around downtown in search of a cool brewery to eat dinner. We found the Buoy Beer Company that also has delicious food. We ran through the rain and as we approached the restaurant we could hear sea lions barking which sounded like they were coming from under the building so imagine our delight when we went into the restaurant and found a glass floor that allowed you to watch the huge animals as they lounged on the beams holding the building up!

Oliver moving into Sacagawea's family room

Never one to not feel comfortable...

We camped at Fort Stevens State Park which has great access to the beautiful beaches that are the coast of Oregon and after a morning of running around the sand we headed towards the Lewis and Clark National Monument and explored their winter fort before heading out for Portland.

Portland welcomed us with sunny skies and a convenient, if basic, campground. We could be in town in 15 minutes and loved exploring the city. The kids and I got to go to Powell's Books, Washington Park, Forest Park, and a hip coffee shop that served me an iced coffee brewed with balsamic vinegar.

VooDoo

Saturday Market

Chris had a travel week so he took off for a couple of days. On Thursday when he went to ride his bike to work we discovered some rascal had stolen it along with our generator that isn't so much ours as it is my parent's. Argh! Luckily we found a decent bike replacement for not too much and we will replace the generator when we get home. Thankfully those are the only items we have had stolen in almost a year of leaving bikes and toys outside with no locks.

Portland Skyline

The entire week was spent in excitement as Jen and Matt were coming to visit on Friday night and the kids were jumping out of their skin with the anticipation. Portland welcomed them with rain and clouds, but we still got out to walk the city, eat some VooDoo donuts and brunch, rent a surrey, take in the Saturday Market, and eat outside sipping on some micro-brews and burgers for dinner.

Surrey Rides are the best

If you are going to have visitors in your camper, make sure they don't mind being smothered as there is zero personal room in our abode and as Jen is in her second trimester of pregnancy I was worried she would feel uncomfortable or want some additional rest, which was not on the boy's agenda for the weekend. Thankfully all worries were unnecessary as Matt and Jen were in Super Aunt and Uncle mode allowing the kids to climb all over them, sat and listened patiently as books were sounded out, played games of Clue, watched skateboarding tricks and baked brownies until the sun went down all to be woken up and have it start all over again!

Believe

Sunday brought pouring rains but we donned rain jackets and warmer clothes and hiked up to Multnomah Falls to get back to the bottom and grab cups of hot chocolate and apple cider. An afternoon of watching the Goonies was in store for the guys while Jen and I went out in Portland to see what the shops had to offer.

Troopers!

...and we hiked anyways

Monday was sunny and beautiful and though the morning was lost to packing the camper, we got out to Washington Park to explore the Japanese Gardens, roses, playgrounds and ended the walk at a Starbucks to sip on some drinks and delay our goodbyes. We felt sad to leave Jen and Matt on the side of the road as they still had some time in the city until their flight and it feels strange to leave house guests on some street corner as the house takes off without them, but luckily they are great sports and don't mind finding good restaurants for dinner while utilizing Uber to get back to the airport! We are really looking forward to getting back to CO and seeing them and their belly again as it won't be long before we get to meet the little person and snuggle the winter away!

Bye!! See you soon!