Our Oregon Trip

(Braving the cold at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach.)

Last week, we flew out to Portland, Oregon to visit the city and get a feel for things. It was the boys’ first flight and they did really great. I tried hard to fall in love with the city, but it just didn’t happen. I’m not sure if you know this, but it rains a lot in Portland, and it was especially cold and rainy when we arrived. Our hotel was by the airport, literally next door to IKEA, so things felt more like Round Rock than “Portlandia.”

We spent one day driving around the city to see the different neighborhoods, and as embarrassed as I am to admit this, my favorite place, the one where I could see us living, was Beaverton. I know, I know. It’s basically a suburb of Portland, a lot like where we live now. I actually came to this realization as we ate breakfast in a McDonald’s there, so that’s telling, too. (We did have one awesome breakfast at the Cameo Café on Sandy Boulevard, which I highly recommend!)

In many ways, I feel like we missed the best time to move to Portland, which was probably ten years ago; and judging from the housing bubble, both there and here in Austin, it’s a terrible time to relocate, financially, at least.

(Astoria, Oregon. That’s another state in the distance!)

But we still had fun exploring, and on our last day, we drove up the coast to Astoria, the small fishing town made famous by Goonies. We were able to visit an historic home there that’s currently on the market, and the boys had a blast running through the empty halls while we chatted with the realtor. I wanted to fall in love with Astoria, too, and that didn’t happen, either. I loved the house we toured and the history of the town, but it just didn’t feel like home. Astoria is two hours north of Portland, through a pine forest, and while there’s a small airport with chartered flights available, it’s incredibly remote.

Oregon is a beautiful state and there’s so much geography and scenery to take in at once. In Astoria, there are pine trees, mountains, and the mouth of the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. You can also look across the water and see Washington State, which blows my mind as a native Texan. I think it would be uplifting and inspiring to wake up to that view every morning, but the timing just isn’t right at the moment. We’re hoping to visit Oregon again, maybe next spring or summer, when we have more time to really explore the region. For now, our moving plans are on hold, and we’re just sitting tight.