On vacations, we have settled upon buying magnets as the souvenir, usually purchased on the way out of the park after it has closed.
Last summer, I initially settled on a nice, mid-mod, metal and enamel Disneyland magnet, only to find this quartet of Munchlings at the next store over. So the Mouse got us twice.
We also got a 5-pack of Mickey Mouse lollipops to ostensibly alleviate the boy's motion sickness. It did not prevent a couple of incidents on the winding road up to Big Bear.
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I can't believe our Disney + Big Bear1 trip was almost a year ago. As the years tick by, I'm becoming more aware of how few of these trips we will have together. That said, counting down futures vacations is a very nice problem to have.
This year's summer trip was a family reunion out in Portland. With the advice of a friend and my sister we hit up a bunch of cool places over five action packed days.
The falls. As advertised, this is the must visit. Take the Historic Columbia River Highway and hit up the falls along the way. We went on a weekday, but I suspect it's impossible to find parking on Summer weekends. Visit the Gateway to the Gorge Visitor Center for a possible free parking permit at the famous Multnomah Falls.
Mount Hood Fruit Loop. We drove around and got some nice scenery, but it was late in the day so we didn't get to see much farmy stuff. We had already eaten by the time we got to the "Gorge White House", but this place had a great vibe.
Bonneville Fish Hatchery. A free must visit to say hello to Herman the Sturgeon. The kids had a blast feeding trout for a quarter.
Farmer's Market at PSU. Epic vibe on a lovely Saturday morning.
Peninsula Park and Rose Garden. Late one evening, we ended up wandering around the Rose Garden with my sister. The warm weather and the late summer sun made for a magical moment. It was nice to offload the kids for fifteen minutes with their aunt.
International Rose Test Garden. Lovely as well, but nowhere as intimate or charming as the garden at Peninsula Park.
OMSI Museum. What you might expect from your local kid's science museum. The highlight was a chemistry lab which the Vegas Discovery Museum does not have.
Portland Japanese Garden. Gorgeous garden. Not cheap, but we easily spent a good four or five hours there before heading out to the airport.
Even though public transit in Portland is better than most suburban metropolises, I'm certain that it is vastly preferable to have a car. And if you have a car, the "Parking Kitty" phone app makes it super easy to pay at the meter. Aside from that, I guess one's visit is at the whim of the weather gods. We hit record highs, but for folks from Vegas, that wasn't a deal breaker.
In all, a great visit. When we go back, I'm guessing we'll check out some other places to mix things up, but we’ll return to the Falls, Bonneville, Farmer's Market, and Peninsula Park.
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Next time you go to Portland, checkout Powell's Bookstore downtown. Huge place, a rabbit warren of books on everything. Your visit to Multnumah Falls reminded me of our visit there and how difficult it is to get a photo of the entire falls in one shot. Beautiful and stunning. And the Fruit Loop was fun, although like you, we didn't have time for the whole adventure. That's a special day trip, I think. We were also on our way back home to Truckee by car. Whew!