Oregon

I had never done much traveling in the Pacific Northwest until last summer when we went to Seattle and Vancouver for a half marathon trip.  It is very different from what I have been used to my whole life in the desert, but I really enjoyed it! This spring I chose to go attend Pacific University in Hillsboro, OR for physical therapy school (which will begin in July) so we made a couple of weekend trips to the Portland area in Northern Oregon to check out where Nicole's and my home will be for the next three years.  These first few pictures are from the first trip in February when my dad and I went up for my school interview.  

For those of us from the Southwest where water is a rarity, there is a sort of culture shock when looking across the landscape in Oregon.  The amount of trees is ridiculous and the water and moisture up there is incredible.  What would be a stream to us, is a trickle to Oregonians.  Our rivers are their creeks, and our lakes are the size of their rivers.  Above is the Columbia River that runs to the North-NorthEast of Portland.  By my standards, it is huge.  

 Multnomah Falls is an iconic feature of the area that began it's tourist stop career as a train stop in the Columbia River Gorge.  Located east of Troutdale, OR, it is separated into the Upper (542 feet high) and Lower (69 feet high) Falls as it spills into a pool near a victorian style visitors center.  A light snow began to fall as we walked up to the bridge overlooking the Upper Pool and we saw that most of the pool was frozen except for the spot where the water fell to.  The Falls were spectacular, but even in the cold and snowy weather, it was pretty crowded with other people snapping shots of the tumbling, frigid water.  

  

 Hillsboro sits in the farm country of Washington county about 25 minutes outside Portland and a little over an hours mountainous drive away from the coast.  It was another rainy, snowy, windy, cold day as we drove along the coast up to Astoria, but the views were awesome and the beaches were very unique. 

Our next trip up was in April when Nicole had a teaching seminar in Portland.  We got to spend a full day in downtown Portland before heading out to the smaller towns.  The downtown area is very nice and clean.  There is so much to do within walking distance and everything outside walking distance is easily accessible by the bus system called Max.  A few places to checkout if you make t to the area is Powell's Bookstore, a local bookstore with endless rooms of books in a remodeled warehouse building, and Rose Gardens and Portland Zoo in Forest Park which are situated on a hill above downtown offering views of the city and Mt. Hood.

 We were lucky enough to have a full morning of sunshine as we trekked around Portland (rare for that time of year) and enjoyed the riverfront walk on the Willamette River.  Portland is a very active city and many runners and cyclists were enjoying the sunshine that morning as well.

 Portland, and Oregon for that matter, is famous for it's tulips.  These planters were all over the downtown area with many vivid colors.

 Did you notice I said we were lucky enough to have a sunny morning? Sure enough, around 1:00 in the afternoon, as we were walking down the hill from the Rose Gardens, the rain came.  I learned very quickly that a good rain jacket is going to be a huge necessity living in Oregon.  Nicole was already set.  

After our day in the city, we headed west to the Beaverton/Hillsboro/Newburg area where we will be living and where I will be going to school.  The area is beautiful with vineyards, christmas tree farms and blueberry and apple orchards.  I am really looking forward to living in the semi-rural area with so much agriculture everywhere you look.  

 Nicole found these guys at a local berry farm that has a country store and some farm animals.  They have some great raspberry jam!

 Over the next three years I will be studying my life away while working to get my DPT (Doctorate in Physical Therapy) from Pacific University.  The main campus (above) is in Forest Grove, but the Health Sciences Campus, where I will be, is in Hillsboro.

 We drove out to the coast again and headed south this time, and once again, found the sun!  Still rare for this time of year, EVERYONE was out enjoying the weather.  

 So much different from the beaches I am used to, there were many waterfalls spilling right into the ocean!

 Although you can't see in this picture, the beach was pretty packed even though it was still a mere 50 degrees.  Oregonians sure do cherish their sunshine when they get it.  

Nicole and I decided we are going to be Oregon Duck fans now that we will be "locals" for a few years, so we drove down to Eugene to check out the campus and sports facilities...Nike gives them a lot of money. We are excited to catch a few games!

We will be living up North in just two short weeks.  We are hoping to do a lot of traveling around the Pacific Northwest, so keep posted for some more posts!