Portland Trip

I spent last weekend in Portland with Becca! It was indescribably awesome to have a sister trip. I will, however, do my best to try and describe it to you. I had never been to Portland before, and was excited to see a new part of the U.S., and see where Becca served her mission. 


Friday morning we hiked Multnomah (Mult-NO-ma) Falls. Becca had to correct my non-Oregonian pronunciation a few times on this trip. The falls were gorgeous. 

 

There were several artists there painting the falls. 




For lunch we went to the Grilled Cheese Grill, a bus converted to gourmet grilled cheese shop. It was too hot to eat inside the bus, we ate outside, but it made for some cool pics. 

After that we headed to the mall. We went to H&M, one of my favorite stores. It did not disappoint. We also got pedicures, because a sister trip is not complete without them. 

For dinner we went to Burgerville, a popular Oregon-only burger chain, which Becca told me rivaled In-N-Out Burger. Sorry, Becca, I will remain true to my In-N-Out, it is still my favorite burger. Below is a picture at The Grotto, a famous Catholic church. It was very peaceful and pretty. They had an interesting path with several of these monuments. We saw the sister missionaries street contacting someone right outside, which made Becca very happy. 

Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market, which is right on the waterfront downtown, along the Willamette (wil-LAMM-met) River. Also very cool. I had the best pupusa and bought a cool ring made from a spoon. We also saw some interesting folks. Becca told me some peeps in Portland tried to pass an ordinance that within certain city limits, one could not wear any product that was scented- no lotion, deodorant, even shampoo! We saw (and smelled, unfortunately), some people who seem to be practicing this ordinance, even though it didn't pass. 




I look like I'm ready to sock Becca in the stomach in this picture. Probably because she just bought the cutest little blue clutch and I'm jealous! 

Then we went to Powell's City of Books....a bookstore spanning a whole city block and several stories high...it was mind-blowing. After about an hour in the store I found my favorite section, and about an hour after that we managed to escape without too much damage to our bank accounts.


We also went to the International Rose Gardens, where they have every kind of rose you can imagine. After this, we were beat. We drove to the temple, and then Becca showed me some places she served and we went to a lookout point for Mt. Hood. 

Sunday I played the piano and Becca sang a solo in church and then I came home. I really liked Oregon. I was amazed at all the greenery, considering I still think of Utah as such a green place, when many consider it the desert. Portland reminded me of Salt Lake in some ways; parts of Salt Lake have that hipster/granola/have-dreadlocks-even-though-you're-white kind of feel. It was such a good trip. And my good husband cleaned the house and my car while I was gone, making it even more fantastic!