Vacation: Portland, Oregon
This is a good place to vacation if you are looking for a relaxing time of outdoor activities. Most of this city’s popular attractions are outdoors. Portland is very “green” in 2 ways: 1) it rains here about 8 months out of the year (fall, winter, and spring) so the vegetation is very lush and 2) the city is very eco-friendly. Most businesses seem to be onboard with recycling and other activities that help preserve the environment. When I visited, this was immediately apparent due to highly visible advertisement stating these practices.
Here is a sampling of the activities you can do while in Portland:
- Oregon Zoo – More zoos should be built like this. They took advantage of the natural landscape and built the zoo within it. It is the perfect size for an afternoon visit.
- Gardens – lots of gardens all over the place. Check out the International Rose Test Garden. They have hundreds of species of roses and continuously test new varieties. You will probably never see this many roses in one place anywhere else. Other gardens include the Classical Chinese Garden, Japanese Garden, and Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden.
- Powell’s City of Books – a huge bookstore covering a city block.
- Voodoo Donuts – featured on the Travel Channel, they take donuts to a new level with creations you can’t find anywhere else like the Triple Chocolate Threat (chocolate center, chocolate icing, and dipped in Cocoa Puffs) and the Mango Tango (mango center and icing, dipped in Tang powder). They even have a maple donut with bacon on top!
- Parks – lots of parks everywhere with miles of trails, including Washington Park, Oneonta Gorge, Ainsworth State Park, Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge, Forest Park, and more.
- Columbia River Scenic Highway – lots of impressive waterfalls and mountain landscape. This highway has Multnomah Falls, which is the second highest waterfall in the nation and the largest in Oregon (620 foot drop). There is a lookout point along this trail where you can see all 5 major mountains on a clear day – Mount St. Helens, Rainier, Adams, Hood and Jefferson.
The only major downside of Portland is also its advantage. Since it rains here all the time, it limits what you can do outside. I found it strange that this city has a majority of its attractions outdoors. I guess if you don’t mind doing things in the rain, then you are all set 
It is also cloudy here a lot – cloudy more so even than rainy. The summer months are the best because the rain subsides and the sun comes out more often. Portland is also close to the ocean and lots of other rivers (i.e. Columbia, Willamette) for fun activities in the water.
So, if you are into biking, hiking, walking, and other outdoorsy activities, then you have got to check out Portland.
