It Never Rains in Autzen

Grateful for the opportunities that my work gives me, especially traveling to watch sports. Sometimes though, we get a bit of time to explore more than just a stadium.

This past weekend I traveled from Baltimore to Portland to see some of what PNW offers. It was only 56 hours in Oregon, and atleast 12 of those were in Eugene watching the Terps play in their new color shift uniforms (more info found here: Go Terps ) but here’s what I did!

• Multnomah Falls
  • If you go in summer, I think you have to reserve tickets to go, but because I went in the cold off season, it was free with plenty of parking at 10am. My GPS was going to take me past the falls (I’m assuming to park on the same side as the falls) but I pulled off into the parking lot in front of the falls and walked through the tunnel to them. Views? Stunning. Hike to the bridge? Easy and worth it. Hike to the top? A little sketchy because it was wet from the drizzly morning but also worth it and is not very long or taxing.
  • The drive was about 45 minutes from downtown Portland – so definitely rent a car. And definitely take note of your surroundings because your GPS may not kick in right away on the way home. I wish I had more time to explore all of the Columbia River Gorges but that just means I’ll have to come back!

• Columbia Gorge Outlets
  • Not a planned activity and I would not prioritize it over the outdoors, but they do have a Pendleton outlet that I could not ignore. As with any outlet stores, they had massive sales on their good ass Pendelton wool & fleece goods.

• Powell’s Bookstore
  • Portland’s largest independent bookstore with a mix of old and new books. It’s got kind of a crazy layout (multiple floors and different rooms) but many helpful employees to show you where you can find what you’re looking for. Pro tip: there is a public restroom in case you need it.
  • If you’re not a big reader, they also had a small cafe and other chachkies you can pick up there too.

• Cannon Beach
  • It was about an hour 30 each way from Portland, but the drive is honestly stunning. The whole route 26 though was lined with trees and the trees were changing. Traffic wasn’t too bad for me but similar to Hawaii, if there was an accident you were definitely going to feel it since most of the 2 way road was 1 lane wide.
  • If going in fall/winter – dress warmly. It can get breezy and chilly once the sun starts to go down, and you definitely want to be there when sunset hits if you can.

• Football Game at Autzen Stadium

• The stadium looks large but feels quaint. The vibes are super good. And the people were very kind. Almost every single one said that they hoped we left Autzen with a positive experience and hoped that nobody was mean to us. The vitriol of SEC fans is not alive in Autzen, which was refreshing. Also any stadium that values Mat Kearney (see below) the way that I do is a place I want to be.
• Parking – can get a little nuts, but you can park at the U of O campus across the river walk to avoid major congestion around the stadium and easy exit. Plus the walk isn’t very long and its beautiful to walk over the river.

• White Stag Sign
  • Just an iconic stop in Portland – make sure you go at night!

Tips:

• Make sure to rent a car if you’re planning on exploring outside of Portland.
  • Portland is very accessible when downtown but any additional exploring is a good 30mins+ outside of the city.
  • Pay attention to parking – honestly it was easiest to pay and park in a lot otherwise you’d be circling the block for a hot minute looking for street parking. But street parking could either be for 2 hours but a lot were for 10 minutes.
• VooDoo Donuts is not the only option.
  • Pips for specialty donuts. Coco & Blue Star for standard donuts in different ways (ie glazed).
• Pay attention when driving somewhere
  • Make sure you have some landmarks you can remember in case your GPS doesn’t work 100% of the time like mine didn’t.
• Prepare for all the weather.
  • It can be cloudy and overcast with some drizzle and morph into a beautiful sunny 60deg day. Don’t get stuck on the beach without sunscreen, even if it’s cold out.

Loved my quick trip to Oregon. Cannot wait to go back to explore more!