These boots are made for walking...

Portland and its various districts are uniquely situated to make it more convenient to walk than drive your car and park.  Every path we have taken over the last couple of weeks reveals another eatery, happy hour or farmer's market or pastry shop we want to try.

Last Saturday we went to a totally awesome farmer's market near the PSU campus downtown. There were incredible fruits, vegetables, meats (smoked and fresh), cheese and prepared foods.  I could not pass up another pint of fresh marionberries that were heavenly. I made them into jam and we have slathered it over toast and drizzled over a chocolate flourless cake for dessert.

 As luck would have it, one of the food trucks I had on my radar, Pine State Biscuits, was sporting a 20 person line for their breakfast sandwiches.  I had my eye on "The Reggie", fried chicken, bacon & cheese topped with gravy all tucked between a delicious homemade biscuit.  I know you are saying to yourself, "That is a heart-attack on a  plate!"  Well, maybe, but I am going to go out happy now I can assure you.  It was delicious and met all the hype I had bestowed on it.  

Mike was a little more of a traditionalist with an biscuit, egg and cheese, but he seemed happy as well. A serious restrictive diet is in our future, but the food is just too amazing here.

The Mike

The Reggie

To get back to my walking theme, we also explored the beautiful Columbia River Gorge National Park.  The park is filled with beautiful waterfalls and a 700 year old ancient forest.  It is so dense and massive that photos just do not do it justice.  I will share a couple of my amateur snaps just to give you some idea of its beauty.  We only ate trail mix on this day to counteract the previous days intake. :-)

   Another day took us to Mt. Hood.  The height assigned to its peak is 11,249 feet.  It is home to 12 named glaciers and snowfields and is the highest point in Oregon.    The drive there was breathtakingly beautiful as we caught glimpses of the still snow covered mountain as we curved up toward its base.  We drove to Timberline Lodge, on the south side of the mountain.  In the summer months you can take a ski lift ride to approximately 7000 feet and experience the incredible view. We did so and decided to hike back down on the trail provided.  There were many snow boarders and skiers still getting in reasonable summer skiing on the mountain.  It was totally amazing to see in July on an 80 degree day.  

View on our approach to Mt. Hood

The lodge was rustic and beautiful inside. The stone fireplace served two floors of the lodge, it was incredible.  An interesting tidbit, it was the lodge used for the external shots in the movie, The Shining.  REDRUM...

Timberline Lodge in summertime, beautiful, not creepy

Fireplace on main level