We spent time in Portland Oregon to visit a son I hadn’t seen for six years. Been married for five years and we’d never met his wife!
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After a very good, very early flight from San Francisco on Alaska Air. We arrived to find the ground covered in a mixture of snow and very treacherous ice. It looked enchanting but there was a very cold wind. We had thought that San Francisco was cold but this was in a different league.
It had stopped snowing but the ground was treacherous with ice and a sprinkling of snow. It had started raining so it was very easy to make the decision on the first day to “hunker down”.
We spent 3 days in Fairview Oregon a little town just east of Portland. Located at the end of the funnel of the Columbia River Valley icy strong winds channel through the area.
Sightseeing Time in Portland Oregon
On a cold, rainy, windy day we went out sightseeing. It was an entertaining experience (but not one I’d like to do regularly!). Our visits at each stop were short but we managed to take a few tourist photographs at:
- Multnomah Falls,
- Dabney State Park,
- Historical Columbia River Highway,
- Lookout point where the following day there were wind gusts of up to 160km (100mph)!
The other days created an illusion of good weather. The rain was gone, the sky was blue in patches but there was this vicious, cold wind.
Despite the horrible weather we decided to walk to Walmart. We wanted to see the famous, or should that be infamous, Walmart shoppers. It was a quiet, ordinary day and much less than we expected. But we could relate to the comment made to us that it’s a great place to go to “feel thinner and more intelligent”. Getting there into the wind was tough going but with the wind behind us we flew home.
A visit to this area wouldn’t be complete without a trip to downtown Portland. Fun pubs, many restaurants spacious parks. Along the river, blighted by the plastic and tarp shelters and uncollected garbage around the homeless refuges.
We had a delightful time in the Portland area. Catching up with family and experiencing a completely different lifestyle and weather conditions!