Categories
Afternoon Adventures

Hiking Multnomah Falls in Portland, OR

Vacation always tests my willpower on eating healthy and keeping up with a semi-regular exercise routine. Actually, deep fried snacks, dark beers, endless sweets, and melted cheese always win. Portland in particular is like a direct assault on my waistline. If I’m not out trolling all of the delicious food trucks or taking home a hefty sampling of Voodoo Doughnuts, I’m partying myself into oblivion while chowing down on beer and cheese dip. Though this time was slightly more tame in the partying sense (hey, I’m getting older), I vowed to be a bit more active to cancel out the gluttonous amounts of food I was consuming.

My friend Jessie and I took her pup Maya for a walk up Multnomah Falls. Greatly unfamiliar with the Pacific Northwest, I’d actually never heard of the falls but I jumped at the chance to do something outdoors that didn’t involve concrete, skyscrapers, or Times Square.

Maya. How could I say no to this cute puppy face?

We settled in the car for a 40 minute drive East along the Columbia River. With the serene views and wide-open spaces, I found myself deep in thought wondering why I haven’t been able to break free from my love-hate relationship with city life on the East Coast. Then Maya farted. And it stunk, bad.

From some angles the two drops don’t look like much, but I’ve heard it’s the second highest year-round waterfall in the US at a total height of about 620 feet. I forgot my tape measurer so I can’t really back that up, nor have I seen any other falls in person. Nope, not even Niagara Falls. I’m slacking.

Standing at the base of Multnomah Falls

We thought twice about hoofing it the entire way to the top and just going up to the bridge instead. That was until I heard some severely overweight—okay obese—mother tell her four-year-old daughter they’re not going on the trail. “You can see it from here” she scolded from the coffee stand near the parking lot. Then she explained to the barista how they’d just finished an exhausting hour of mall walking, and ordered what seemed like one of every pastry on the menu for lunch. I looked at my thighs, acknowledged the feeling of my jeans pressing into my gut, looked at Jessie, and we headed for the trail.

 

Looks like a fun ride
The wannabe photographer in me trying to snap a decent shot

The path was narrow but paved and it wasn’t overly crowded. That meant we were able to maintain a leisurely pace without disgruntled assholes passing us by every ten seconds. So much different than the streets of NYC. It’s just over one mile of back and forth zigging and zagging, surrounded by moss-covered  trees and other green stuff. There were a few crazies running past us at full speed in their running gear, but those people are just insane. And by insane I mean insanely in shape and I am totally jealous.

Along the winding path
Bad place for mold allergies
Everything was covered in vibrant green moss

For that mile we were accompanied by the welcome scent of crisp air and wet pine, and only a few of Maya’s rotten egg tainted farts. The sounds of the cars below were replaced with sounds of the falls at every turn. And there were plenty of views of the Columbia River and the snow-capped mountains of Washington peeking through the trees.

Two states, one picture
The water streaming towards the falls

At the top there was a small, circular gated-in deck for people to take pictures on. But the only thing I wanted to do was jump in and ride the falls back down to the bottom. Unfortunately this wasn’t a safe option, so we just snapped a few pics and made our way back down.

Looking down from the top

As soon as we returned home from our hike we negated any calories burned with a delicious Mexican fiesta. All in all, another perfect day in Portland.

There are few things I love more than a DIY taco station
First plate. Homemade pork and bean tacos with guac and green sauce. OHMYGODgood.
“Yo dog, who invited this guy?”

Categories
All You Can Jet

30 Things I Learned During 30 Days of Travel

Since my All You Can Jet journey has come to an end, I thought I’d share some of the things I learned during those 30 days of travel.

1. Tommy Lee doesn’t like having his picture taken. Unless he’s on a boat. Naked.

2. In the Pacific Northwest, it’s believed that Portland has the most strip clubs per capita over any US city. The city has just over a half million residents, and more than 50 strip clubs throughout the city. I’ve read online that Springfield, Oregon passed Portland as the most clubs per capita in 2009, but either way, Portland is still up there. More than Vegas. Apparently these strip clubs also serve up some excellent food.

3. I love eating Handi Snacks Breadsticks ‘n Cheez, but I hate eating them in public. See, I’m kind of a “no cheese left behind” kinda gal, and I fully support licking the plate (or plastic container) clean. It’s pretty embarrassing to do while sitting on an airplane or in an airport. But with a little creativity, it can be done discreetly.

4. The Travel Channel may have played a part in making Voodoo Doughnuts famous, but their end of day deal should be a must for any doughnut lover on a budget in Portland (if you’re willing to gain a few pounds). They sell 5 gallon buckets of day old doughnuts for $5. That’s fresher than packaged doughnuts from the grocery store; and more unique flavors too!

5. The iPhone 4 doesn’t just suck in New York. It sucks all over America. I don’t know if it’s AT&T or the iPhone itself, but mine didn’t work in about 60% of the places I visited- big and small cities alike. Mostly dropped calls, and no internet/data service (even though it had full bars and a 3G signal). Oh, and the “extremely tough gorilla glass” on the LCD screen is not so durable either. The prong side of my power cord hit the screen from 2ft in the air and shattered it. Of course, AppleCare doesn’t cover cosmetic damage. They actually told me to call my renters insurance and file a claim, or go in to Apple and pay $200 to have the screen fixed (on a phone I paid $300 for). I’ve had this phone just under 3 months and it has already cracked twice. Pretty bad considering I had my 3G for two years and it never saw a single scratch.

6. I will no longer take New York tap water for granted. Of the 12 cities I visited, none of their tap water comes close to New York’s. I think it tastes better than most bottled water. San Diego was probably the worst I tasted over the 37 days. I heard Chicago’s is great, but I didn’t try it.

7. Seattle’s Sound Transit Link Light Rail is only a little over 1 year old, and cleaner than my apartment.

8. Los Angeles has a subway system. Who knew? I’ve always heard about how bad their traffic is, but I’ve never once heard anything about a subway system. It doesn’t look like it connects much of LA, but when I took it four stops it was much quicker than driving or taking a bus. Their public buses are a joke. Yes they have televisions on board for maximum [looping] entertainment, but you’d better leave four hours early. Or plan on being late.

9. When they say don’t travel to the Caribbean during hurricane season, they mean it. Unless you plan on spending your entire Caribbean vacation indoors.

10. This one may seem like a no brainer, but if you plan on visiting another country, check out the conversion rate BEFORE you get there. I figured since Jamaica accepts US dollars and I was staying in a prepaid all-inclusive hotel, I’d be okay with a $20 bill and my ATM card. Well the cab to the hotel was $30, so I immediately had to stop at a Jamaican ATM. I didn’t have cell phone service to check the conversion rate, so I had to trust what the cab driver told me to withdrawal (which was a pretty scary feeling, especially since I didn’t have more than a few hundred dollars in the bank to begin with). The Jamaican conversion rate is 86.855 Jamaican dollars for every 1 USD. $30 USD ended up being something like 2600 Jamaican dollars. I’ve never in my life felt more uncomfortable than when I stepped into the private locked ATM machine, and typed in a $2600 withdrawal with a line of people standing behind me.

11. Never make a phone call from a foreign country without a calling card. And make sure you’re using a designated hotel phone that will not charge you a connection fee, or a per minute fee on top of the calling card fee. Even though the credit card rate advertised may only be 50 cents a minute, they have all kinds of hidden connection fees. You’re better off just not making any phone calls. This isn’t the first time I was wrongly informed of how much a phone call to the US would cost.

12. Cool Runnings fans (there’s still some out there, right?) should check out the Jamaican Bobsled Cafe on the Hip Strip in Montego Bay. I didn’t get to see it, thanks to Tropical Storm Nicole, but they have the original Jamaican bobsled from the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

13. Despite how clean the city looked, I’m pretty sure one of the most disease-infested alleys in America is in Seattle. The saliva-filled “bubblegum alley” in Seattle’s Pike Place Market is fairly similar to the Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California. Is it weird that I had a strong urge to lick the walls?

14. Sunset is a great time to go up in the Seattle Space Needle. You can see the city in the daylight, sunset, and dark all within about an hour.

15. The 60th floor Sky Lobby at the JP Morgan Chase building in Houston provides a panoramic view of the city for free. It is the tallest building in Houston, and the 50th tallest in the world at 1002ft high. It is also the tallest 5-sided building in the entire world.

16. I-90 ends in Seattle. I’ve taken I-90 from my hometown in Toledo, West to Chicago and East to New York more times than I can count. I had no idea that had I missed the Chicago exit, I would have ended up in Seattle a few days later.

17. A man named Carl Fisher invented the car headlight, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Miami Beach in the early 1900s. He also began developing Montauk in Long Island New York as a “Miami of the north” tourist attraction before being cut short by the Great Depression.

18. The San Diego Zoo is expensive, and definitely not on a budget traveler’s agenda. It’s supposed to be worth every penny, but at $37 for the cheapest 1 day pass, I couldn’t afford to see for myself.

19. If your car breaks down on the Pacific Coast Highway, don’t count on your cell phone to call someone. Well over half of the drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco I was without service.

20. If you’re riding shotgun and hoping to take pictures along the Pacific Coast Highway, drive south. It’s easier to be on the outside than trying to take pictures past the driver’s head. And if you can, make time for a few stops along the way. Just make sure you take better pictures than I do.

21. Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is the 2nd busiest airport in the world.

22. The show Most Extreme Airports on the History Channel ranks San Diego’s airport as the 10th most dangerous airport in the world due to its proximity to the mountains and downtown. In order to keep the noise down in the surrounding area, planes are allowed to take off between 630a and 1130p, or else face a fine. Arrivals are allowed 24 hours a day.

23. Apparently it does get hot in San Francisco. And there’s no air conditioning so you just have to suffer.

24. I stayed on Grant street, which was the first constructed street in San Francisco. It was originally named Calle De La Fundacion.

25. Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills trumps any cupcake I’ve ever had in NYC (yes, even the dry, overrated cupcakes at Magnolia). And they’re opening their first NYC store in Feb 2011, on Lexington between 60th & 61st.

26. Willamette Valley in Oregon produces some of the best and most inexpensive Pinot Noir in the world. I chose one based on the cool label, called The Four Graces, and it was by far the best low price wine I’ve ever had. Willamette Valley also appears as the end destination in The Oregon Trail.

27. Recycling bins on the streets of New York make me happy. But an abundance of compost bins out on the west coast? Incredible.

28. Nineteen of the world’s 25 largest hotels (by room count) are on the Las Vegas Strip.

29. Hostels are a perfectly cheap place to sleep in a new city. I stayed at my first hostel in Seattle, and although it was a huge difference from the hotel rooms I’m used to, a girl on a budget can’t complain. It was only $35, and since I only needed a place to rest from 9p-5a, I couldn’t justify spending much more for a hotel.

30. Traveling is a lot more fun when you don’t have to go back to work afterwards.

Categories
All You Can Jet

Day 5: Just Call Me David Lee Roth

After our walking tour of Portland, we went back to the apartment to rest up a bit, where I consumed the second half of my Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. We had dinner at the 5th Quadrant where I ordered more local beer along with a beer and cheese dip. It was a little more spicy than I’d expected, but delicious.

The night proceeded onward to a place called Alibi, where I got Shane to do karaoke for the first time in his life. Of course I did a Van Halen song— Ain’t Talkin Bout Love. The bar hated us. We were not good. At all. I jumped around and just yelled the lyrics, because at that point I was aT LEAST  15 drinks in for the evening. As if I weren’t sufficiently humiliated the first time, we decided to go back up a second time and sing “California Love.” Turns out, the only words both of us knew were “California loooove” at the very beginning. Full-length video to come!

We went back to the apartment with a case of PBR and finished the night New York style. Meaning we stayed up until about 5am. Probably not the smartest idea the day before a miniature road trip up to Seattle.

Categories
All You Can Jet

Day 5: A Cheap Walking Tour of Portland

After eating what seemed like pounds of gooey, melted cheese, we went on a walk downtown to work off some of the fatty goodness we had just consumed. One of my “must-see” places was the Wieden + Kennedy headquarters, because I’m a dork like that. For those of you who aren’t aware, Wieden + Kennedy is an independently owned global ad agency based in Portland, Oregon. One of their founders, Dan Wieden, wrote the “Just Do It” line for Nike. More recently they’re responsible for all of those Old Spice ads with Isaiah Mustafa (I’m on a horse for those of you living under a rock). A guy standing out front of the agency told me that they were shooting a tv show all day, so I could at least peek my head in and see what the lobby looked like.

Then we walked over some bridges, and I took about 8347 pictures of the city. One of my favorite, cheapest ways to explore any city is by foot. You’l discover so many new places, and every step provides a new perspective for taking photos.

Finally, for the most beautiful view of the trip, we drove up to Joseph Wood Hill Park at Rocky Butte. The view of the city was gorgeous, but the views of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens were absolutely breathtaking.

Categories
All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 5: So Much More Than Your Average Grilled Cheese

Saturday we started off the day in the most perfect way possible: enjoying the sunny skies while devouring some absurdly delicious grilled cheese. We went to The Grilled Cheese Grill which is yet another food truck in Portland. Except this one is way cooler. They have optional “indoor” seating inside of a school bus, and Trivial Pursuit cards to pass the time at each picnic table. For those of you in Portland, it’s located at 1027 NE Alberta Ave, at the corner of Alberta & 11th. I ordered the Gabby- four cheeses: cheddar, swiss, colby, jack, and mozzarella on white bread, and a cup of tomato soup.

Jessie & Shane both got the Jalapeno Popper with roasted jalapenos, colby jack, cream cheese, and tortilla chips on grilled white bread.

Jalapeno grilled cheese

Ruben got the Cheesus Burger, which was essentially a cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches on each side as the bun. I’m sure it’s been featured on thisiswhyyourefat.com. But if not, it will soon.

Categories
All You Can Jet People

Portland People

So let me introduce you to the fine people who let me crash with them in Portland:

Jessie. I thoroughly annoyed her in 6th grade until she became my friend. Unfortunately I haven’t seen or spoken to her much since I moved to New York over four years ago, until this trip.

Jessie’s boyfriend, Ruben. I met him for the first time this weekend, and found out that he’s on track to becoming the next dog whisperer. And he likes AC in the car when he’s hungover.

Ruben’s brother and their roommate, Shane. I introduced Shane to the wonderful world of karaoke via Van Halen. Poor guy had never done it before in his life, and we certainly weren’t the crowd’s favorite.

Maya. The cutest little dog in Portland who can’t go more than four steps without someone stopping to pet her.

Categories
All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 4: A Full Day of Food Under $10

Today I got a driving tour of Portland, along with a ton of awesome food. We took a walk through Washington Park, mainly through the International Rose Test Garden. I’m not really a fan of roses. I actually think they look extremely generic and boring. But it was free, and the air smelled ridiculously fresh so I had a good time.

We got lunch at a taco truck called Taqueria Los Gorditos at 4918 SE Division St (at SE 50th Ave). I got a gigantic burrito filled with beans, cheese, scallions, sour cream, and cilantro for $4.

Then we went and got some of the famous Voodoo doughnuts, where I couldn’t settle for just one doughnut. I had to get two. I got the Portland creme, which was basically an evil-looking boston creme, and the Dirt donut, topped with white frosting and Oreo crumbs. Jessie got the Voodoo donut, and we brought back a Bacon Maple Bar for her boyfriend Ruben. Yeah that’s right bacon lovers. It had strips of bacon on top, and I hear it was quite delicious. All four donuts were $7.50, and worth every penny.

We stopped by Pearl Specialty Market & Spirits for a bottle of wine and vodka, where I discovered Oregon has a huge selection of local beer and wine. Reviews on those to come! Right now I have to go change into some comfy clothes, because after a day of fatty eating like today, I’m about to pop the buttons on my dress.

Me & Jessie enjoying some Pinot Noir.
Me & Jessie enjoying some Pinot Noir.