Blasts Of Color Amidst Grey – Portland, OR
It’s been grey days here in Portland, OR not just because my honey is gone (awwww….see how I snuck that in there?), but also because it’s been overcast and moist. Neither of the latter are surprising. This is the Pacific Northwest after all, and it’s beautifully GREEN for a reason, much of which has to do with the abundance of water in the air.
It’s been a welcome change from the many months of intense dry we’ve spent in the desert. My skin, which previously resembled rattlesnake scales (mostly for camouflage you know) is now plump and almost…well…normal. My hair, which previously hung straight as an arrow is now curly and bouncy as a field of spring bunny rabbits. It’s so invigorating I almost feel like I should be running over the mountains in a long flowy dress singing “The Hills Are Alive”…aaalmost.
But the grey has been hanging low, and for that reason the broad vistas that we so enjoyed in the desert have mostly been hidden behind a dense layer of clouds and fog. Surprisingly enough that doesn’t mean the color’s been gone from my life. Quite the opposite in fact. When the sky’s overcast, the greens and wildflowers pop with blasts of color that seem thrice as intense against the grey. So, all you really need to do is look below and you’re rewarded with a feast of color art for the eyes.
My grey days have been brightened even further by good friends. We’ve reunited with the Wandertopia boys and they’ve graciously entertained me, and accompanied doggie and I on various hikes. The great thing is there are plenty of these around Portland.
Despite this being a large city of over 600,000 people it prides itself as being one of the greenest and most active in the country. Portland has over 10,000 acres (4,000 ha) of public parks including one of the largest municipal parks in the United States (Forest Park), and that’s not including the 292,500 acres of green that make up the Natural Scenic Area of the Columbia River Gorge just east of the city.
The latter is an area that we explored in depth several years ago in “the beast” and I was eager to return. So, yesterday the boys, two doggies and I took an extended trip into the Gorge for a hike up to Angel’s Rest, followed by a visit to the fabulous 620-foot high Multnomah Falls and finally a gawk at the view from Vista House.
The outing was just as good as I hoped. It was a heavily moist day (which is really the norm in the Gorge) that only intensified as we ascended the mountain and walked into the dripping clouds. Along the trail, slick from moisture, we were constantly distracted by pretty flowers and running waterfalls, and occasionally teased by fleeting views of the Gorge during the rare moments that the fog lifted. At the peak we were completely socked in which made for a totally eerie experience as the edges of the mountain dropped steeply away and disappeared into grey-white infinity with only ghosts of floating pine trees for view. Amidst all the grey we found bursts of green and color, making the hike a rather radiant endeavor despite the weather.
And that really wraps up most of my first week here. I’ve had more adventures (and even attended a few breweries), all of which will make a future post, but for the time being grey, color and the smaller things in life have taken the lead. As Winnie the Pooh so delightfully put it “sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart”…and sometimes that can be mighty fine thing indeed.
Related Posts:
For those interested in more on the Columbia River Gorge I highly recommend my 2-part series:
- Columbia River Gorge Part I -> Wildflowers, Lost Lakes & Fruity Loops
- Columbia River Gorge Part II – Biking, Breweries & Waterfalls!
Hi All. Pretty pictures as usual. I did not know that RV park was there. It looks much more convenient than Fairview, which is further east. I imagine there is a lot of plane noise, but it must be tolerable or there would not be so many RVs there per the current satellite picture. Funny – You are showing me places I did not know about and I live here…. Take care.
Totally! We stay at this park every time we’re in town (I have a review on the blog if you search “Columbia River RV Park”). It’s a pretty typical packed-in park, and you do get noise from the overhead airplanes, but otherwise it’s quiet (mostly permanents here, so very little partying goes on), the location is awesome, the price is excellent (only $25 for FHU on the weekly rate), and it’s clean and well-kept.
Nina
Hmm, I’ll have to check out that park! We’re at Crater Lake this weekend, Bend next week, then Portland. I’d been looking into Champoeg State Park (sold out every weekend for the next month), Ainsworth State Park (kinda far from Portland and only one site left right now), and Barton County Park (sold out until 6/6). A friend suggested Fairview, but this might work better. Just need to see if we can deal with the very small dog area with our big old dog (he can’t walk far any more). Glad to hear Portland has lots of dog-friendly things to do!
Mike
Champoeg State Park is FABULOUS, but unfortunately (like you’ve found) it’s sold out almost all the time. If you want to stay “in town” Columbia River RV is really the best deal we know. They recently fenced-in the dog area so it’s actually quite decent now, although it’s still small. There are several viable dog-walking areas not far from here if you’re willing to take the car. Kelly Point Park is only ~15 mins away (has beach and forest). Also, there is a small “hidden” park (Columbia Children’s Aboretum) just over a mile from here which is an excellent place to take doggie for a quiet hike in the greenery. I just discovered it recently and have been walking over there daily with doggie, but you could drive it in a few mins.
Nina
Nice departure from your regular posts…I love looking down on those kind of walks…I have not been disappointed this year either…lots (and still) of wildflowers everywhere…even some of the cacti are still blooming…and the Gorge area just love it…also Portland..it is one of the cities we are looking at to settle in (when the time comes)
I’d actually love to spend some extended time here. It would be in a rental apartment though (not the RV) so that we could be walking distance to a downtown area. As a walking (and biking) city Portland ranks very high up there for me.
Nina
I’m loving our east coast travels but I am already mentally planning our return to Oregon! I have a new little niece that lives there so I think we’ll be there for awhile next year. 🙂 Are you going back to Memaloose?
Maybe. We are headed east to the Wallowas from here so we’ll pass through the Gorge. Haven’t really decided where we’ll stay yet. I might like to see some of the WA side too. We’ll see…
Nina
Fabulous photos Nina! And you are so right, in spite of our being deluged with rain lately, the grass and leaves are a vibrant green–no flowers in our neck of the woods yet. 🙁
Yeah I’m very thankful for the flowers down here. They are blooming just about everywhere which does add some wonderful color. Of course I wouldn’t complain if we got a bit of sunshine either 🙂 should be some in the forecast next week.
Nina
I know what you mean by the humidity affecting our skin. Whenever I leave our home in the Mojave Desert and visit in the South, I feel like I have shaved years off my age by soaking in the moisture in the air. The Fountain of Youth!
Yeah I feel like I age 20 years when I stay 5 months in the desert, and then it all comes back when I go north. The moisture changes sure are hard on skin.
Nina
We’ve been following your wonderful blog for a few years now and really enjoy it. Keep it up. On a side note, we were told that when the gorge was formed during the Massoula floods eons ago that the water was actually as high as the Vista house. Still a beautiful view up there whatever the conditions are. We ride our Harley sidecar rig up there a few times a year as we live only about 50 miles away, a nice ride. Take care.
That makes total sense. The Gorge looks like it was formed from glacial action. I love that it has so much variety, from the thick, heavy moist section in the west to the almost desert-dry environment in the east. A superb drive. I can totally understand why people never leave.
Nina
What a beautiful area. Portland is on my list of places to visit.
It is such an awesome city! So much to do, both city wise and nature wise.
Nina
Your pictures are intense, both the photos and those you’ve painted in words. Thank you so much for sharing them here. Glad the boys are back to keep you out of trouble while Paul is away, and I bet Polly is thrilled to reunite with Frances 🙂 I do believe if you were to find your way to those floating pines you would find yourself among the fae……….
Polly is BEYOND happy to be back with Frances. Those two are just ridiculously cute together. I love the fae reference, by the way….right up my alley.
Nina
Beautiful post, Nina:) Your photos and words really flowed so well. I love that you quoted Winnie the Pooh! I’ve always been one fo his biggest fans:) The photos are gorgeous:)
Glad you are enjoying your time back in Oregon and it sounds like you have great company while Paul is away:) Your moisture comes in a little nicer way than our grey days here. Our grey has consisted of heavy downpours, hail, lightning, and lakes in the park. We are looking forward to couple sunny days in a row here in Colorado!
I remember reading Winnie The Pooh as a kid, and then much later the books “The Tao of Pooh” and the “Tee of Piglet”, both of which just cemented my love for the characters. They just don’t write em like that anymore!
Hope you get some sunshine out there in CO soon. All my RV buddies in that area are reporting on the heavy rains.
Nina
LOL. I laugh at the coincidence. The Tao of Poo and the Te of Piglett were written by a local (Portland) Author.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Hoff
For people that want a “downtown” experience wo the parking issues you might take a look at the S.E. Hawthorne area.
HA! And I didn’t even know that!! I’ve always loved the books, but never knew the Author was from Portland. Very cool coincidence.
Nina
Awwww, your post takes me back to our maiden voyage in our land yacht exploring that area three years ago. Beautiful.
I would much rather be experiencing your moisture than what we have had the past few days. Your photography never ceases to amaze me Nina…stunning!
When we left the desert I was totally ready for moisture too! I’m sure I’ll be looking the other way in about 5 months or so and dreaming of the desert again, but for now I’m not complaining at all.
Nina
Great post and pics. I am always amazed at the beautiful topographic and geographic differences in our good d US of A.
So true…and sometimes those differences are mere miles apart. It’s one of the many, many reasons I love RVing here!
Nina
Great photos. I really like the shot with the pine trees in the foreground and the Columbia River below. And the Columbine. Portland is a beautiful city and we have been there many many times. The Rose garden is one of the nicest in the USA as is the Japanese garden. I have to say though that down south in San Diego we are back to our usual May grey and plus we have had over 2 1/2 inches of rain so far this month. So my columbines are doing very well and the pine trees on top of Mt Laguna very perky too. The whole of the west coast of the USA is one of the best regions in the World for beautiful spots.
Columbines always make me think of Colorado. When we travelled our first year through there, it was the very first time I noticed that flower. I just loved those blue Columbines, especially when they covered fields of green.
Always remember “May grey” and “June gloom” too. It’s a good thing I love the fog. Neither of those ever bothered me. I do miss San Diego!
Nina
Lovely, lovely words and images (as usual). Welcome back to the PNW! A bit gray up here off and on. We drove by Bullards yesterday and it was packed! Made me think of the first time we met. As for desert-leather skin, I remember living in Utah where my hands were forever cracking and bleeding and I’d have to slather vaseline on my lips to keep some moisture. I actually enjoy these moist and gray spells so much. Not looking forward to the months of sunny and dry all that much. We’re talking about heading up to Vancouver Island for some exploring. Still in the planning stages, though. If the Myrtle Point house sells, we’ll be caught up in moving to Gold Beach… yay!
Sounds like a terrific plan! If you decide to swing by the coastal route we’d love to see you both at Cape D. We’ll be there all of July/Aug.
Nina
MUST keep in mind when you’ll be at Cape D just in case we head up that way at the right time.
Some of my fondest memories when spending summers at my grandparents home in N.E. Portland, were trips to Vista House, and swimming in the Columbia at Rooster Rock Park down below. The views of the Columbia River Gorge are pretty spectacular on a good weather day. I’m sure you will be having such weather soon.
What lovely memories! Luckily I’ve seen the Gorge on a fine day, and she is certainly stunning. I’m hoping we get sun for our trip to the Wallowas in a week.
Nina
Lovely photos as always, thank you for sharing them with us. I’m glad you are able to enjoy the grey. 🙂
remember it is never grey and foggy in all those wonderful breweries found in Portland…
True, very true 🙂
Nina
Thanks to your posting about Cape Blanco State Park, we have enjoyed being hosts at the Port Orford Lifeboat Museum this month. Rather than the gray and rain that northern Oregon is experiencing (we live in northeastern Oregon) we are basking in sunshine and ocean views. I hope the gray and rain will clear up at the end of the month when we need to return home. The Columbia Gorge is beautiful this time of year. I hope you enjoy your stay there.
Awesome!! I’m so glad you get to enjoy one of our favorite places on earth. Aaaand that the weather has been good. When the sun is out, the southern OR coast is just amazing. I miss it terribly!
Nina
I’m in Portland now, too, in marvelous NE section, but gotta drive back to mMt Shasta tomorrow! If you venture near here, there’s a great rotary sushi at NE Weidler and 14th, called, oddly, Marine polis sushi or some such…cheap and good and fun! Glad you saw the gorgeous Multinomah Falls! Cheers, Kathi
Good tip, especially since I LOVE sushi. Thank you!
Nina
Will you be identifying which RV park you stayed in? We may have time to kill late June, and I’m thinking Portland might be good for a few days.
For sure! In fact we always stay at the exact same place, Columbia River RV Park. It’s not fancy and it’s a typical side-by-side private park but it’s in a great location (and at the right price) to explore the city.
Nina
Welcome to the PNW! I have lived here since 1971 and now have my web toes (GRIN!). If you stick around till the end of the last week of May the forecasters are saying (!) it is supposed to be sunny and low 80s. However, this being Oregon it could change…
Yup, I’ve been watching that forecast closely. Looks like we’re getting a heat wave! The sun came out this afternoon so I’m hopeful we’re going to see more of it.
Nina
Not sure you guys are aware of this or not. But your location and timing is very close to the 30th anniversary celebration of the Goonies in Astoria on June 7th.
Gooooooonies! We were actually there for the celebration last year. This year we’ll be much further east (out by the Wallowas on the OR/ID border) so we won’t be anywhere close. It’s fun though!
Nina
Hiking in the mist in the Gorge is truly magical! I agree, it feels great to be back in the verdant and moisture rich Pacific Northwest after many months in the desert. Your photos are lovely.
Hi Nina:
This is a bit off topic but I have been following your wonderful blog off and on now for awhile and would like some information what is the best way to stay internet connected, i.e. the best plans and anything that boosts connections in remote places like using cradle point and/or Wilson antenna. Also, what is best hot spot, Mifi or a cell? The only thing stopping me from FT RVing is not being able to take my job with me via internet as I travel. As many people do work and travel, I would like to do that as well. You seem to offer very up to date information on just about anything RV so I am hoping you can shed some light on this for me. Perhaps you know of people who set these hot spots up for RVers. Also, what kind of monthly costs are involved? Thank you for the wealth of information you share with your readers. It is much appreciated.
I’m actually due to update our internet set-up since what I have on the blog is rather outdated.
We have a main data plan with Verizon (on a 6620L MiFi) and 2 phones on ATT with some additional data (which we can hotspot as needed). The combo of Verizon/ATT has us covered just about everywhere and costs around $180/mo. For boosting we use a Wilson Sleek (the company is now called weBoost I believe) which has worked incredibly well for us as-is. We also carry a paddle antenna (which I wrote about HERE) for boosting in more marginal areas, but we’ve honestly not had to use it much.
That’s our current set-up. I actually recommend checking out this book which was written by our buddies Technomadia and covers all mobile internet options in detail: Mobile Internet Handbook
They also run a Facebook group (click HERE) & a website/forum (click HERE) where they regularly review all the latest gear and info.
Hope that helps!
Nina
Hi Nina,
If you’re still around on the weekend, Vancouver has a very nice farmers market at Esther Short Park, just across the I5 bridge. Portland has Saturday Market too, but I prefer Vancouver’s more homey market. We don’t actually live there now, but Vancouver was home…lots of friends and family there. It’s nice to read about your time in the area.
That’s good to know actually since it’s much closer to where we’re staying. I think I’ll go check it out!
Nina
Looks beautiful as all your shots do, can’t wait till we leave TX for good. At the rate it is raining here in East TX (not as bad as Dallas, Austin, Houston or San Antonio) we are used to the wet state. Only 30 months till GO time. Keep blogging and us in your beautiful loop. Enjoy all your pics and stories.
Good post. I just finished hauling our 30 foot Toy Hauler from Yakima Canyon (Big Pines BLM campground), down 97 to 84, Through the Columbia Gorge and then down 5 to Santa Monica. 3 day trip, motel Walmart overnights. The gorge was beautiful but very windy and trailer was rocking and rolling. My partner had a family emergency in S.M. and had to fly out of Seattle. So, unfortunately, we did not get much hiking or exploring in. Additionally, we had to cancel our Alaska trip. C’est la vie!. Travel on!
Oh gosh. I’m so sorry. We’ve had our fair share of family stuff on the road so I totally commiserate. Sounds like you had a gorgeous drive, even though it was cut short.
Nina