Pacific Northwest: Portland

After Powell’s City of Book and a great lunch with family we headed to the Saturday Market along the Willamete River. According to the family that we met in Portland, the market was smaller than it had been pre-Covid. As it was, there were still a lot of great vendors and the people watching was fantastic. We found out Butter Bell at the market, I think this is the vendor we got it from: Sloss Pottery.

The people watching in Portland is something else. We saw the naked bike ride, twice. It was odd and different but if the people of Portland want to do it then, go forth and be weird. We wondered through the Saturday market to Voodoo Donuts. We were tempted to get some but the line was long and just having had lunch decided to pass. I will have to get some the next time I visit though.

Portland is difficult to park in, no matter where you go. They do have a good public transportation system that I highly recommend using to avoid the parking issues that we encountered. If you do choose to drive be aware that there is limited or no free parking and you will need to pay.

After a wonderful visit with family and some interesting sights around Portland we said our goodbyes but Keltin and I were not ready to head back to Ashford yet. On the rainy drive from Washington to Portland I’d looked up some things to do in the area and we decided to pick one from the list: visit the Witch’s Cabin in Forest Park.

Forest Park is massive and beautiful. Full of beautiful trails, a deep ravine and a gurgling stream or two. We just saw a small part of it as we hiked down and to the Witch’s Castle. Okay, no witch actually lived there, sadly; the building was built as a ranger station and was abandoned after being severely damaged in a storm. The park is free to visit but there is not much parking at the trail head to get to the castle. We both loved Forest Park and were so glad that we took the time to visit.

Portland was a ton of fun to visit and I’d love to go back and explore more of Oregon in general. If you want to see more of our day check out Keltin’s TikTok video below!

Thank you KW Photography for allowing me to use your wonderful photos!

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