This weekend Polly, Bryan and I road tripped to Northern Oregon for a little getaway and retreat from Seattle.  Spending two nights in Polly’s hometown of The Dalles, Oregon, and then our final day in Portland, we had a blast.  Here is our road trip itinerary:

Friday

Leave for Oregon around 6:30 after work.

Stop in Centralia, OR (1.5 hrs south of Seattle) for Polly’s favorite, Burgerville.  Have a very healthy dinner.

Arrive at her parent’s home in The Dalles at exactly midnight.

 

Saturday

Wake up to a hot breakfast of eggs, bacon, and potato pancakes by her parents.

Pick cherries for less than an hour and in the end have about 25 lbs of cherries.

Bring cherries back to the house to rinse and cool them in cooler.

Ride around on Gator on the orchards, eat several fresh apricots right off the tree.

Get soft serve at Polly’s other favorite, Big Jims Restaurant.

Take the Dalles Dam Tour of the Dalles Dam and fish ladder.

Watch Cutting Edge movie for the first time to relax a bit.

Loved it! Drive 20 minutes to Hood River, OR, with Polly’s parents and friend from home to have dinner and brewskis at Full Sail Brewery.

Sunday

Breakfast and then pack up the car.

Stop at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery to see some very large Rainbow Trout and Sturgeon.

Arrive in Portland. Eat at my pick, Nicholas Lebanese Restaurant.  OMG!!!  I was in heaven.  As good or better than my favorites in Michigan.  Bryan says he has seen me happiest when I water ski and when I eat Lebanese food.

Go to Powell’s Bookstore, which Portlanders absolutely love.

A full city block bookstore with multiple stories and even a Rare Books room with signed first editions of books that go for up to $25k.

Drive up to Pottick Mansion for  pretty good view of Portland.

Head home.  Traffic more than sucks.  Take 5 hours to get to Seattle from Portland.  Polly and I have gone insane by this point and are singing at the top of our lungs, dancing, and basically crying from laughter and delirium.  Bryan is not humored and wants out of the car as quickly as possible. I actually had to take a walk to “cool down” from the energy I had in the car.

 

I had a really great weekend even though I really hate riding in cars and don’t like getting stuck in traffic.  Polly and I made the best of it and had so much fun.  It was nice getting back to Seattle.  As cool as Portland is I much, much prefer Seattle!!

Chelsea