The US West Coast is split between three states, with California being the most southerly, Oregon in the middle and Washington bordering Canada. After California I made the natural progression and headed to Oregon, specifically Portland.
Portland was a breath of fresh air, in comparison to California and I mean that quite literally. No where in California was ever really cold, but Portland... well by gosh I could see my breath, it was that cold. I haven't been in that cold for a long time. Mornings on Margaret River's vineyards was cold, and once or twice there was a morning frost on the vines but during the day if it weren't raining it was pretty warm. Portland never warmed up, and it was most refreshing. I'd never thought I'd miss the winter so much, but Portland was so refreshing, what was best it was a crisp cold, no wind and only the odd dash of rain. However having been in Seattle for the past couple of days, I've changed my mind, I want the sun back. Winter is nice for a couple of days but when it starts raining and the wind starts blowing I really don't like it.
Portland itself is a pretty great city, it is surrounded by great park lands and woods which I spent much of my time strolling around. I also did a bit of shopping in this sales-tax free state and spent a bit of time looking into the local history. I also liked it because I felt safe. In Californian cities I didn't feel all that safe walking around after the sun went down but Portland, despite having a 1million plus population felt like a large town not a city.
My whole West Coast experience has been city after city so I thought, for a bit of a change, I'd go to a small town by the sea and so off I went to Seaside. Sadly the weather was terrible all rain and wind and no sun. The town was nice enough and the Oregon coast was impressively rugged but the weather was just lame. I also visited their neighbouring town of Astoria, where parts of The Goonies was filmed. I tried to go for a walk in Astoria's woods but Oregon was recently the scene of a particularly bad storm and much flooding, the damage stopped me at every turn by fallen trees and broken pathways. After failed walks and bad weather, but a very relaxed couple of days I left Seaside for my next US destination - Seattle.
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1 comment:
Hi Son,
Your blogs seem to be like buses recently, none for ages then they all roll up one after the other!
Was it worth the wait - most definately, the west coast sounds fantastic. Not just jealous but extremely jealous.
P.S. About time you suffered the weather the same as we are, and you're feeling at home in the wet and cold!! Anyway I thought you never liked the hot weather when you were here!!
Have a really great Christmas and New Year and we'll speak to you soon.
Lots of love
mum and dad xxxxx
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