Portland - voted by the Wearins as the coolest city so far - maybe ever

Massive 10 hour drive from Boise, Idaho to Mount Hood, Oregon (highest peak in state and only place in the US with year round skiing) which is just out of Portland (couldn't quite make it there in one day in Sheila!). Woke up and had a quick hike before heading into town and discovered this vista!

Grant practising a bear encounter with his Bear Spray

Mount Hut... And some fella with very orange hair and jacket to match!

 

Arrived in Portland to their typical overcast and chilly day but that didn't stop us getting out and exploring for the afternoon. First stop was Pittock Mansion within Forest Park (5100 acres of temperate forest full of hikes right in town) which was built by Henry Pittock in 1914 who ran the local paper, the Oregonian. Henry and his wife only moved in in their 70's and then it was inhabited by two more generations of Pittocks. I guess the money must have run dry because it was abandoned and in disrepair when the City of Portland bought it and handed it over to the people. Nice pad though.

I think it suits me - yes?

 

Then of course it was time for some brewpubs. Portland has about 30 brewpubs within its borders - more than any other city on earth. And this is where i have to handover to the expert - off you go GW.

First stop was Bridgeport for some award winning ales (ales all the rage here, much to my delight). Happy hours of $2.50 pints of delectable grainy affair coupled with US staples like chilli buffalo wings with blue cheese dip. Heaven. They had a seasonal pilsner of a whopping 9% ABV which was my favourite and had me feeling as though Portland was my beer oyster.

 

So back on the bikes for another microbrewery... ( the city is the most bike friendly city I've ever ridden in: separate bike lanes on all roads and bridges, bike parking everywhere and a driving attitude that is far more pleasant towards cyclists than the one I practice at home but I digress).

Zoom into the wharf. Is it what I want it to be or not?

My 2 favourite microwbreweries were

1. Amnesia: garage / car park with picnic benches with the best beers in the whole city as voted by me. The French connection was my favourite, a Kolsch with more hopps and oomph than a typical Kolsch style beer. This was also the place where I saw the first human half clone. He was 50% my mate Ring (he knows who he is) and 50% my father in law. Freakily funny. Only a grainy picture as he got a bit uneasy after the 3rd photo.

Half n Half

2. Hair of the Dog: aptly named garage style "tasting cellar" which also aged some of their beers as you would wine using various oaks and whiskey barrels. Heavy beers but different and extremely tasty. My favourite was the mid strength ale called, simply, Greg. Back to you Yacker.

Grant sharing with the hairy dog

 

Before I finish on our final day in Portland, I have to share with you the nightmare night every RV-ER dreads. First night in Portland we are in a lovely suburb called the Pearl District. If I ever move here - this is where I would reside - great loft apartments, funky eateries, breweries and bars and of course good shopping. But being the Captain Safety GW is we needed to trek 15 miles out of the city into the back blocks of Portland because Walmart is the only place GW will stay in unless he is in a campsite. I did quietly mention that I am sure we would be very safe on the streets of the Pearl District than the rather dodgy outskirts of Portland, but alas there we were at 12am in a pretty shady Walmart. Sleep for no more than one hour before we hear a knock at the door. Its a security guard asking us to move on very persistently. Bugger. Grant has a mini tantrum from sleep deprivation and too many hops. We then realise we have no petrol. Manage to roll into a 24 hour petrol station. Homy G,s everywhere. Very shady with all kinds of deals going on. Including One G convincing the petrol agent to put just $1 in the tank (you can't put your own petrol in the car in Oregon) so we high tail it our of there and trek back to... Yes where we were originally. Sleep for no longer than 4 hours before a business owner decided to gurney his front pavement - right out the front of our van. EXCUSE ME don't you realise we are trying to sleep on the street here!! Another move into the North Western district and we finally get some sleep. Actually end up sleeping three nights here on the street and Grant is now comfortable with street dwelling. We are getting there with Captain Safety... Anyway back to Portland.

After an awesome two days bike riding around we spend the last day on a great hike through the Forest Park which lead us to Portland Rose Gardens. Must be a great climate for roses because I have never seen such perfection!

Green green everywhere

Hiking through Green Park which is right in town - not that you would know it

Picnic in the Shakespeare's Garden

 

Then it was back along 23rd Street where alas - there was shopping - not planned at all. Managed to drag Grant around two where I got some sneaky snaps. A great street of many.

Residential block on 23rd St

Preparing for Halloween

Oh hello

 

Finished off our Portland stay with a cheeky Mexican - you can't judge a city until you have had their Mexican! Now we head to Oregon's wine district, Willamette Valley. Oh our poor livers - I need a detox already!

Sorry GW not the most flattering - but good Mexican!

 

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The Land of the Potato - Idaho!

After a night of line dancing in Jackson (Grant quite the pro!) we dusted off our dusty bones and brains and headed for a bike ride before we jumped in Sheila and headed to Idaho. Stumbled on the Wildlife Museum from the road which was quite amazing.  

Great architecture - hidden in the mountains

Hello - what do we have here?

As we leave Wyoming over to Idaho we notice a lot of the trees changing colour - really beautiful! Arrive at a great campsite where we have a roaring fire and a roaring red!

Can see over yonder the trees turning

Just as I snapped this picture Grant was disturbed by a chipmunk rustling. Glad to know I have a warrior. Look at the fear in that face!

Glad the ranger didn't catch us with this fire. All the dont's. Grant still looking out for those chipmunks!

Food preparation campfire style.

Next morning we head off in search of the Sawtooth Scenic highway. And we found. On the way we came across the Craters of The Moon NP. Very cool. Lava flows and big caves. Last eruption only 2000 years ago so relatively 'new'.

Cinder Cone

Collapsed Lava Tube

Hot Magma... Hmmmm

Lava cave climbing

Grant is in there somewhere

And then it was up through Sawtooth Highway. Passing Sun Valley (USA first ski slope and where Hemingway shot himself). Close by was Ketchum where Grant wouldn't let me stop due to potential credit card damage - great place for those people that don't want to ski all the time and appreciate good shopping and eating/drinking. Quite a few Hollywooders appear here apparently. Beautiful drive and a magic camp spot at Redfish Lake. Maybe the best one we have come across so far. It's quite the feat to find the perfect spot we have realised.

A pass on Sawtooth Highway

Imagine having a ranch here!

What a spot hey...

Beer with a view

Then it was off to the capital of ID, Boise. A cool forward thinking city with an awesome food and grog scene best exemplified by our experience at the Red Feather. Awesome food. Awesome beer with over 50 beers on tap. We had the pork belly and a bacon and Hollumi pizza. Tick. We followed on to a place called Reef nightclub where Jas hooked into about 4 cocktails too many and had to be led home smiling and laughing that "she felt a little drunks". A memorable night regardless. Boise is a cool town not far from the middle of no where.

 

Mai Thai at Reef

 

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Golfing - septic tank style

Note - this has been in the blogs drafts for a while now so you will have to excuse if it is a little out of date - but well worth sharing!

I have been playing some amazing courses both in Canada and the US. They take golf course architecture and the whole golfing experience to another level. From dropping your bag off with a golf club bellboy as you arrive to having your clubs and shoes cleaned before your round to the drinks cart which drops you off another cold corona every third hole should you require it. Even the course marshals jump into the bushes for you to search for your lost ball (I don't lose them but I saw plenty of other blokes holler for the marshal). Many of the courses ive played to date are cross country ski tracks for 6 months of the year so the greenkeepers do one hell of a job. I am yet to see a single patch of brown grass.

Quite simply, golf paradise with turbo charged hospitality.

Greywolf, Panorama Mountain Village, Invermere, BC, Canada: The best course I've ever played. A resort style course carved into a mountainside and only open 5-6 months of the year. A long and narrow track that has one numerous golf design awards as well as being voted Canada's #2 golf course in 2011. For a few hundred bucks we stayed in the resort accommodation for a night and had unlimited and relatively uncrowded golf (though the two fatties in front of me were quite possibly the worst and most over geared golfers I've ever seen, yep Rez, you included).

Jas asked me to include these next two pics - incredible log homes over here.

The signature hole a 200 yard par 3 monster over a canyon and onto one of those island greens I've always dreamt of playing. Hit the green, thank you, but a small mistake with my putter cost me par, so a 4 it was. Awesome hole. The fatties lost 3 balls each.

 

Long Beach, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada: enjoyable and narrow 9 holes in pristine condition. Is a local Bear rule as the black bears pinch your balls. Makes the crows back home seem a welcome pest.

Whitefish Lake Golf Club, Montana, USA: 36 hole monster, initially constructed under FDR's "new deal" funding arrangement by a bunch of enterprising locals who loved golf and reasoned that they'd get a golf course built for nothing from government money if they said it was an emergency airstrip. And so the North Course was born. Solid and long (6898 yards) country club style course without a blade of grass out of place and circling the pristine whitefish lake at the base of a ski resort aptly named Big Mountain. Jas and I enjoyed the best meal of our trip so far in the clubhouse after an impressive 88 from yours truly. A bottle of Wilamette Valley Pinot and a few ribs and steak later, we left enchanted for another night in our trusty Sheila.

 

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