Portland or Bust

We spent the last day of our time in the Pacific Northwest visiting Portland. (Well, the last day until our 5pm flight home, that is.)

Portland looks like a really fun, great, hip city.

One I would love to visit for a girls' weekend, or a couples' getaway.

But with my kids in tow... um, no. Portland was a bit of a bust.

We started with Powell's Bookstore, the largest independent bookstore in the country, and a Big Sister to our local Book People.

Powell's was cool, but I didn't have a chance to really explore any of it beyond the children's section.

I had planned a walking tour of downtown Portland, but that didn't work out so well. There are homeless people everywhere, and we encountered two people in particular who put us on alert with their loud ramblings and screechings walking behind us. Carl and I soon decided the walking tour would soon end.

Next on my list, Voodoo Doughnuts, which is supposed to be world-famous, and The Best Ever.

But... we waited in this line for 20 minutes, and then some guy came out to someone at what looked like the front of the line and announced he had a 30 minute wait at that point. I'm sorry, but no donut is worth what was looking like a two hour wait.  Even one covered in m&ms (the Marshall Mathers donut).

So we tried the Saturday Farmer's Market - a market that reguarly makes the Top 10 best markets in the world, and which I had planned my PNW trip around to make sure we hit Portland on a Saturday.

And it was stunning.

With cheeses, and fruits, and lavenders.

But, alas, no bottled water or kids' drinks to be found (Ryan was "dying" of thirst at this point). The kids were not feeling the farmer's market love, and even I had to admit that it was slightly torturous seeing all these great things we couldn't buy and bring back with us since we were about to fly home.

So, next on my list - the aerial tram. A friend of mine from high school who works in transportation helped bring this tram to Portland, and she recommended it to me when I asked about things to do with kids in Portland.

I have to admit, the tram was pretty cool - it carries people up from the bottom of Portland to the top, and the boys really liked this.

We also had some great views.

Added bonus - we could finally see Mount Hood!

And, Mount Saint Helens!

And at the top of the train ride is a hospital, with some really nice outside platforms.

But truth be told, the best views of the day were on our ride home.

More about this Trip:

• Summer Vacation 2014: the Pacific Northwest
• Heading North to Willow Creek
• Redwood National and State Parks, California
• Southern Oregon's 101 Beaches
• The Beautiful Rogue River
• Riding the Oregon Dunes 
• The Rogue-Umpqua Scenic Byway
• Crater Lake National Park
• Mount Hood and Hood River
• Columbia River Gorge
• Mount Saint Helens National Mounument
• Mount Rainier National Park
• The End of the Road: Lewis and Clark, and Cannon Beach
• Portland or Bust