Planning My Oregon Road-Trip

If you’re ever searching for something to do in this great state of Oregon, you must visit the Travel Oregon website. They have guides upon guides of what to see & do, where to stay and how to get there. I was looking at their list of Oregon’s Seven Wonders the other day when it occurred to me that I’d only been to 3 out of 7 locations on the list, and I grew up here! Deciding it was time for that to change, I’ve begun planning a road trip that will allow me to hit the major spots around the state.

Since I’ve already been to Mt. Hood, the Oregon Coast, and the Columbia River Gorge (and even those I could explore more thoroughly), I have the Painted Hills, Smith Rock State Park, Crater Lake, and the Wallowas as the top four destinations on this road trip. Ideally I would spend 1-2 full days at each, which means with driving time this is going to be around 1-2 weeks.

Now it’s time to do research on where to stay, where to eat and what exactly do I want to do at each destination. Part of me kind of wants to camp out at each location to save some money, and I’ve really never  been camping before so it would a completely new experience.

If you’ve ever been on an Oregon road trip, what were the memorable destinations? Where did you eat? What should I be adding to this itinerary? Let me know! This is clearly still in rough planning stages but I’d love to had some input.

Wine Country Half Marathon- Here I Come!

The whole saga of moving and getting settled back in Portland definitely threw my schedule for a loop. Now that things have calmed down, I’ve been so happy to discover that I finally have a lot more free time than I was used to in New York. One of the best parts about that (besides even more time to blog and cook), is that I can finally have a normal workout schedule. It’s been so on and off over the last few years (maybe more than a few); I would say I haven’t had a normal workout schedule since I rowed my freshman year of college.

Boxer Ramen Opens New Location off 23rd

Have you been to the new Boxer Ramen location yet? Now just over a week old, the new spot on 23rd and Kearney is serving up the same favorites as its SW Stark and NE Alberta locations. While the small chain has been popular around Portland for a while, for my recently-moved-back self, my visit last week was my first!

If it weren’t for a much appreciated tip-off from my mom I might have missed their fantastic soft opening deal last Friday, free bowls of ramen from 4-7 PM! I can understand it was a great way for the cooks to get in their groove, and to lure in new customers, like me!

NYC =>>> PDX

I definitely never planned that I would be spending the last few years living in four different cities. I’ve become well adapted to the cross country move, first to college in Boston (lets just say I got really good at packing a checked bag), then to Bellevue, WA post grad, back to the east coast a year later to New York, and earlier this year (admittedly three months ago) my first move, back to my hometown of Portland, OR, involving the dreaded cross country road trip.

Cape Town Chronicles- last days

The last few days in Cape Town were slightly more relaxed than the beginning of the week. Later on Tuesday night I checked into my boutique hotel, the Rouge on Rose. After all my searching, I was very pleased with my hotel choice. The rooms were quiet and cool, with concrete floors and antique décor. My room also came with a fully stocked kitchenette, which I never used, but it was nice to have the option. The location was pretty central, located in the Bo-kaap district, so very easy to get most anywhere walking. I originally booked the Rouge with their complimentary breakfast in mind because from what I saw of the reviews, it looked delicious. The savings isn’t much- you can eat a hearty breakfast for no more than $5 at many cafes or restaurants, but the hotel breakfast was so, so good, I regretted not being able to try everything on the menu.