August 14, 2013
THE RUGGED OREGON COAST is no stranger to foul weather, and un-like every single other day on the trip thus far, it's been raining. I pull off the 101 and throw on a rain jacket to greet Boiler Point. A place I remember waking up to back in 2006 to find my first views of the windy foggy cold coast. This time though, it wasn't a de-shoveled looking Nathan Nettleton next to me, but a Rachel, and that already makes this shitty rainy day better. Shortly after a quick run back to the car to get my binoculars just in case we see the incredibly shy puffin, I see what appears to be a whale clearing out its blowhole.
I call Rachel over and with the binoculars determine it is a few Humpback whales!
These majestic, slow-moving giants were absolutely incredible to see, especially so close to the shore. Only 4-500 of these guys are hanging out in these waters so I felt an honour watching them, even if it was a rainy shitty day. I enjoyed Rachel's reaction to this as well, in fact she's still out in the rain trying to catch a look at its massive tail smacking the water through the binoculars (which I saw twice).
YESTERDAY IN HOOD RIVER Rachel and I fell in love with a town that just so happens to have the most micro-breweries per capita in the United States. This is of course due to its Okanagan-esq region called the "fruit loop" where they get many of their ingredients.
One of the many breweries I have been a firm believer in is Full Sail, and they gave us a free tour while their 'Session' dark lager was being bottled.
Hood River is full of coffee shops with excellent espressos, bagels, and a bunch of really artsy places that all seem to support their local brands.
In addition to being the kite surfing capital of the world (or something like that), they are just minutes away from Oregon's beautiful gorges. Multmnomah Falls is the second highest in the country, and certainly most romantic. Quite possibly the most romantic looking falls I have happened upon, with a curved bridge eloquently built over the middle as a viewpoint.
We would hike a few miles around Horsetail Falls, and be awarded with even more gorgeous falls.
GORGEous! Ha.
PORTLAND IS ONE OF THOSE CITIES everyone seems to love, especially it seems, the homeless. As a tourist you see a very apparent bunch of ghetto looking places with ghetto looking people. I think I counted two men in business suits in two days. No matter, the city has a great vibe, too chill for men in business suits anyway.
We were feeling so great after our hike that we decided to reward ourselves with some extremely popular VooDoo Doughnuts. Rachel thought this was a great idea, to add a bunch of deep fried cake to our menu of garlic butter fries and beer for the day.
Please don't go here because they are gross, over-priced, and incredibly ghetto. DO however look for a wonderfully budget-friendly NY style pizza place on 23rd and Hoyt, featuring the ever amazing Session lager on tap for $3.50.
KINGS HOOKAH was where I managed to persuade Rachel to spend most of the evening, chilling out with a strawberry-vanilla hookah. The thing lasted over an hour, and made Rachel feel pretty bad.
After driving in the one way-every-way traffic nightmare of Portland we rest our heads at around 2,200 ft. elevation in the ever welcoming comfort of the woods somewhere off hwy. 26.
- Previs
