OREGON: Bandon | Part 1

Bandon is a very small town off of the Oregon Coast, which has some impressive rock structures along the beach. We had come here in search of the Wizard's hat - a rock quite popular on flickr but apparently not very known by the locals. If you have seen the image of the "Wizard's hat" in images it actually appears a lot more defined and larger than what it actually is. So as a tip don't look for a huge structure jutting out of the ground..

The weather was quite grey, but we spent some time there taking photos along the beach. It was a nice spot to stop and stretch our legs before we continued our long trip to north California.

Check out Part Two here.

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PORTLAND: International Rose Test Garden

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OREGON: Portland | Part 2

Continuing our travels around Portland (view part 1 here), we wandered through the city for some time, checking out some shops and spots that we had heard about. We found some modestly priced parking (most cities are horrendous when it comes to parking costs), and took on the city by foot.

One of our favorite spots was certainly Powell's Books. This is a book nerd's paradise. Powell's is located in a very popular and walking friendly area called the Pearl District. There are several floors full endless shelves of used and new books. We spent quite some time in there exploring all of the available titles, and we even came back the next day.

We also made a quick stop to the Freaky but True Peculiarium, a fun little shop full of cheesy, novelty items and some interesting art. For the most part, Portland is an easy city to traverse even with some driving.

For some more natural areas, we had a little hike through Forest Park - a gorgeous little park just near the city that has some great trails. We love to get a balance of nature and city in our travels.

And of course we couldn't miss the International Rose Test Garden. Portland is called Rose City for a reason. This garden was incredibly beautiful - we have never seen so many varieties of roses in one place! While we missed the Japanese Garden, this spot was 100% worth a stop for a couple hours. There were so many photos, we will save some for a separate post. All of these attractions are located in Washington Park. There is also an arborteum, children's museum, memorials and the zoo. It is definitely a worthwhile spot for tourists to check out and everything is conveniently located in a small easy to walk around area.

After a long day of exploring as many corners of the city as we could muster, it was time for some good food & beer (Portland is FULL of interesting bars).

We enjoyed some sushi at Mio Sushi. A nice healthy lunch after our breakfast of donuts & coffee.

Yes, the were playing Cannibal! The Musical on the TVs

In the evening, we enjoyed some food & drink at the Rogue Pub (which carries some of our favorite beers) & then hopped over to Ground Kontrol to play some retro arcade games and try some local beer. Definitely worthwhile spots to check out if you enjoy some good drinks.

Overall, Portland was possibly our favorite city of our Pacific North West road trip. It had so much to offer in terms of food, fun, and nature.

View Part One of this entry here
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OREGON: Portland | Part 1

After seeing some beautiful sites on the coast we made our way inland to the city of Portland. This was one of those cities that both of us were very much looking forward to seeing. Art, interesting young community, BEER, and good food were all at the top of our list! We drove through Oregon at night in a brutal rainstorm through winding roads with soaring pine trees all around us and made it into the area safe and sound.

Arriving rather late, we made a couple stops for some food and beer before retiring to our hotel room.

We had dinner at the Hungry Tiger, which had some great vegan options. Great food, and a great way to start the night. Next, we headed over to the Lovecraft Bar. It definitely seemed like the kind of place that we would spend more time as locals. Good music and good atmosphere.

Early the next morning, we started our day with a trip to The National Sanctuary of Our Sorrowful Mother (The Grotto) 

The grotto is a gorgeous outdoors church site, which is a very peaceful and beautiful way to start the morning. We explored the grounds, but we did not take the elevator to the top. Regardless, this is a beautiful place to start the day.

For breakfast, we had to check out the famous VooDoo Doughnut. The doughnuts were quite delicious, and it was a great start to a full day of exploring the city.

The rest of our day was packed with adventure, and we will continue that in Part 2!

You can read our other entries about Oregon here.

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