"Portland, you sexy beast!"

Travel. Travel. Travel.  

After a long day of, you guessed it, traveling, we arrived in Portland ahead of schedule.  Luckily for us, Kelly had gotten out of work early so we didn’t have to improv nap in Casper.  She gave us a tour of her apartment and we set up camp.  Next, we met up with some of the other Oregonian interns and participated in a bedazzling party (yes, really) and watched chick flics while munching on yummy guacamole, beer and cupcakes.  We scoped out downtown Portland and sampled delicious Oregon-made beer at Rogue.

The next day, we headed west and checked out the gorge, Mount Hood and just a few of the beautiful waterfalls along the scenic byway.   The hiking trails made the waterfalls accessible at higher elevations, so, naturally, we climbed them, crossed architecturally astounding bridges and got soaked.  On the way back into Portland, we stopped a family-run produce stand and sampled delicious pears and Naked Winery’s wine tasting.

Upon arriving in Portland, we found a sports bar, and, to our surprise, other Michigan State Fans, where we repped MSU in our green shirts.  Beer and nachos kept us sane during the game, until Dantonio and the Spartans pulled the most amazing, ballsiest play, winning the game in overtime.  Needless to say, celebration was in order, so we headed back to Rogue and sampled more Oregonian beer and appetizers.

Waking up on cloud nine, we headed downtown to watch Kelly and the other Oregonian interns participate in a 5K run through the city as part of a Susan G. Komen event.  Post-race, we frequented the famous Waffle Window, where we sampled some of Portland’s finest gourmet waffles.  Yum!

Next stop: Cannon Beach. Incredible. Incredibly windy.  Our first view of the west coast coastline was AMAZING and we happily frolicked in the Pacific Ocean and sand. Jess was in heaven soaking up the sun and taking pictures despite getting completely drenched.  But hey, at least she got the shot.  Fascinated by a jellyfish that washed shore, Jess embarked on an excursion to find more sea creatures and managed to come across a few crabs (dead and alive) and a sand dollar (definitely dead).  Success.

Totally exhausted and disheveled, we headed into town to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant for dinner, where we shoved our faces with delicious Thai food until we couldn’t move.  Back at Kelly’s, we opened a bottle of wine (what’s new?) and Jess carved a pumpkin with a guitar-themed design to add some fall décor to the apartment.

The next morning we set out to conquer our last state of the trip, California. Until then!