Number 15 - Mt St. Helen's Visitor Center

Mt. St. Helen's is awesome. Mainly because I love science and learning about the volcanic eruption that occurred in 1980... After the visitor center, we went to Johnston Ridge Observatory and went on a ~6 mile walk. Make note that the JRO is an hour away from the visitor center. Will be going back.

Number 14 - Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach

After our visit to Seaside, we drove about 9 miles south to Cannon Beach where the weather was a lot sunnier and warmer (not sure how). Haystack Rock is the 3rd largest monolith in the world at 235 feet and is featured in the opening scene of Goonies. Apparently you can walk out to the rock at low tide, but we were there closer to high tide... will have to save exploring the ecology at Haystack Rock next time.

Number 13 - Seaside, OR Volleyball - August 8th

This tournament was awesome because we got so much free stuff: Monster drinks, 2 12-packs of Coke Zero (had to do 20 push ups for them), Vitamin water. At Seaside, we also got $0.75 ice cream cones and visited an awesome arcade. I love Seaside and will be going back. Also, watching the volleyball was kind of cool too, especially when there was a huge debate on the main stage about whether the ball was in or out.

Number 12 - Bite of Oregon - August 7-9

Bite of Oregon is a three day, food, beer and wine extravaganza with proceeds benefiting Special Olympics. I actually volunteered on Friday and Sunday night, but Brent came on Friday night after I was done. As a volunteer, I was able to get a few freebies which was nice.

Number 11 - Oxbow Park - July 26th

Oxbow Park is pretty cool.  Great family type of place.  We did a little hiking around, but wish we had brought tubes to float down the Sandy River with.   One additional cool thing... we saw a pretty big craw fish in the river.   

Number 10 - Oregon Brewer's Festival - July 23rd and 25th

The Oregon Brewer's Festival is an experience.  We went two nights, Thursday and Saturday.  Thursday was pretty crowded, but easy to get a beer and talk to friends... not too much rowdiness.  Saturday night was a different story.  It was like a sauna and a frat party rolled into one.    To get a beer, you had to wait 5 to 10 minutes in line.  It's definitely worth going and a good time, but go either Thursday night or earlier on on Friday or Saturday.

Number 9 - Pittock Mansion - July 12, 2009

Originally owned  by Henry and Georgianna Pittock, the Pittock Mansion is located in NW, Portland.  I didn't realize this before we came here, but Henry Pittock was the founder of the Oregonian.  The Pittock Mansion was pretty cool... I'm not into architecture and design history, but there's loads of that kind of stuff there.  I preferred the grounds surrounding the mansion where you have a great view of the city and walking trails.  

Number 8 (kind of 7.5) - Rose Gardens

In Washington Park are the beautiful Rose Gardens. Loads of different types of roses, all gorgeous... The Rose Gardens are free, unlike the Japanese Gardens. Because we were on our bikes and were just passing through the area, we didn't go into the Japanese Gardens ($6.50 admission). Think it's something we'll do when we have guests. On a nice day, definitely worth the trip up to see the Rose Gardens.

Number 7 - Portland Saturday Market (7/5/09)

We actually stumbled on the Portland Saturday market... Brent and I biked to the Blues festival and were heading north to check out neighborhoods (we're looking for a place to buy). Just north of the Tom McCall park was the Saturday market. Now, it was Sunday, so hopefully this still constitutes as attending the Saturday market :-). Neat little market with a lot of hand made goods and food. Didn't buy anything though (got a sample of some cajun chicken)... maybe next time we'll purchase something! Looking forward to attending again.

Number 6 - Oregon beach (Oceanside, OR beach)

I know I said there isn't that much to do near Tilamook and there's not. BUT, if you drive about 9 miles down Netarts Highway off of 101, you get to the beachy area. Although it was over 90 degrees in Portland, it felt about 50/60 and windy in Tilamook and Oceanside. We took a walk along the beach... there were lots of people throwing frisbees, cooking out, and having a good time. Oregon coast is beautiful. I'd like to go when it's a little warmer though!

Number 5 - Blues Festival (7/5/09)

Having traveled both Friday and Saturday, we decided to stay local. We took our bikes down to Tom McCall Waterfront park (we live in John's Landing so about a 3 to 4 miles) to the Blues Festival. Admittance required two canned goods and a suggested $10 donation. Donations go to the Oregon Food Bank! We had fun at this event... listened to some music for a while (we are not huge blues fans, but enjoy listening for 30-45 minutes). The highlight of the event (for Brent at least) was the $1 steak-on-a-stick. GREAT steak too!

Fun event to go to. Good vibe. May or may not go next year.

Number 4 - Silver Falls (7/4/09) AWESOME!!

By far, Silver Falls has been my favorite place outside Portland to visit. The place is gorgeous... We did a full 7.5 mile walk on a beautiful 80 degree day. You loop through 10 (I think it was 10) different waterfalls, some more majestic than others. The hike/walk is not too strenuous and if you had kids over 6/7, I think they'd be fine. We didn't do it because I didn't have my bathing suit, but there were plenty of places to swim along the way.

Definitely go! I am sure to go back.

Number 3 - Tilamook Cheese Factor (7/3/09)

Tilamook cheese factor had some pros and cons. Lets start with the good...

Pros:

1) You get to see how the cheese is manufactured. You kind of feel bad for the assembly line workers though because it looks awfully boring. Kind of fun to watch though.

2) Good ice cream

Cons:

1) Not much else to do in the area and it takes 1.5 hours to get there. Definitely go to the Blue Heron cheese factory if you do head down there. More samples (they do Brie cheese), petting farm, different types of things to try (which I guess is the same as saying more samples, but they have dips, wine, cheese, mustards, and more).

2) You only get like 4 or 5 samples of cheese. AND, you have to wait in line for them... I suppose we went on a very busy day though. I was banking on unlimited samples and different things to try, but no such luck.

3) I LOVE cheese and this cheese is OK... good, not great.

I don't think we'll be visiting the Tilamook cheese factor again.

Number 2: Oregon Winery - Apollini and Purple Cow

Visiting Oregon wineries was not our first intent on the Friday before July 4th. We actually wanted to go to the coast, specifically Cannon Beach. The traffic was horrendous and we decided to turn off and make our way to Tilamook.

We visited two different wineries that were adjecent to one another, Apollini and Purple Cow. Both had some decent wines and we took home a Pinot Grigio from Apollini!

One off the List - Multnomah Falls and Crown Point, 6/28/09

Absolutely gorgeous sites along the Columbia River Scenic Highway. One down, 67 to go!

We Love a Good Contest!!!

The coordinators at OHSU have put together (and, by the name of it, for the 7th time), the 7th Annual "Sushi to Skiing" Survival Contest. To paraphrase the coordinates:
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This contest is for interns only (unfortunately this only applies to Brent and not me... but I get to be featured in the pictures as well). To the side is a list of places and events in the Pacific Northwest. The object of the contest is for you (and your absolutely gorgeous, stunning, and intelligent wife) to visit as many places and participate in as many events as possible by May 14th, 2010.

The winner of the grand prize will be the person who visits the highest number of places on this list. The big winner will be announced and awarded their prize next June at the Housestaff Awards Banquet. We're talking a REALLY GREAT prize (coordinators capital letters, not mine).

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Oh, it's on! Not only am I competitive, I love secret prizes.

Marianne and Brent