Mount Hood and Timberline Lodge

We visited Mount Hood and the historic Timberline Lodge, three times during our year of living in Portland. The drive was a little less than two hours from our apartment in the city.

The first trip was on a cloudy and chilly, June 10th. We set out in the late morning. Here are a few pictures from the drive: lush and green, mostly farms and forests.

There was a lot of snow on Mount Hood. I'm not sure if this is true, but we were told that Mount Hood is the only place in the United States where you can ski year-round. After I took Dan's picture, a bird landed on the very top of the tree.

Not only was there snow on the mountain, but it started to snow as soon as we arrived. Snow in June!

And we saw hikers starting off on a trail. People have died on the Mount Hood trails.

No extreme hiking for us, just a photo.

Recognize the historic Timberline Lodge? The exterior of the lodge was used as a stand-in for The Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, The Shining. It has been used in many other films, including the recent adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir, Wild.

Timberline Lodge was build during the Great Depression as part of the Works Progress Administration ( renamed the Works Project Administration). Its lobby is filled with antiques from the era.

We headed up to the Ram's Head Bar, located on the upper level of the lodge, to warm up with the most decadent hot chocolate, that included a shot of Bailey's. Look at all of the whipped cream and toffee. Yummy!

We feasted on a cheese plate and homemade bread.

Our view of the snow storm outside.

Less than three weeks later, we visited Timberline Lodge with the kids. It was a sunny Forth of July and we were all in shorts. Much of the snow had melted, but there were still skiers on the slopes!

And three weeks later, on July 30th, we brought Dan's mom. Snow was still on Mount Hood, but the areas close to Timberline Lodge were blanketed with wildflowers.

If you're planning a trip to Oregon, Timberline Lodge and Mount Hood should be on your itinerary. If I were to visit again, I'd definitely make an effort to spend the night at Timberline Lodge. It's an incredible historic landmark. Obviously this is a wonderful place to ski, but if you're not a skier, there are other nearby activities, like The Ski Bowl, which is a family friendly center with activities like Horseback Riding and an enormous alpine sled. If you drive a little, you're near the "Fruit Loop," a scenic drive that takes you by local farms selling fresh produce. Fishing is also nearby. The whole area is beautiful and not to be missed.

Oregon Wine Tasting

During our year in Portland, we were lucky to have our friends from California (Valerie, Bryan, Susan, & Greg), visit and include us in their trip to Salem. After spending an afternoon showing them around Portland, we drove to Oregon's capital, where we spent two nights.

The next morning, we woke up bright and early, to begin our day of visiting wineries. We met up with their other friends (Larry & Judy), who had arrange a whole day of vineyard sightseeing in the Willamette Valley.

First stop, Domaine Drouhin, a winery that has been in Oregon since the 80's. The same family who owns it, also has vineyards in France and has been in the business for over a century. Judy and Gary arranged for us to have a private tasting, prior to Domaine Drouhin's business hours.

I know very little about wine and I do not have a sophisticated palate. I'll drink just about anything. To that end, we drank a lot on that day and I have zero memory of what I enjoyed the most. I left it completely up to Dan to make the decisions as to which bottles to purchase. I was far more interested in the places we visited, than I was in the wine that we were drinking. I'm left with a clear memory of what I saw, rather than what I tasted. I do remember that I was fairly tipsy after leaving Domaine Drouhin. Drinking in the morning on an empty stomach is rough.

Domaine Drouhin is a beautiful property.

They have vineyard dogs!

The tasting room was very grand and the private experience definitely gave it a personal touch. A great way to kick off our morning.

Next stop, was the Stoller Family Estate. This was my favorite, because it was the most casual. We took in the gorgeous views, while sitting in a heated tent and enjoying nibbles.

For lunch, we headed to the Hotel Oregon in McMinnville. The Hotel Oregon is a McMenamin's property. McMenamins is a PNW chain of quirky hotels and restaurants. For example, a few of their properties are old schools that have been turned into hotels. Each McMenamins has its own theme and charm. In addition to the main restaurant, The Hotel Oregon has four bars, including a roof top bar and a basement speak-easy. It's the type of hotel with a surprise around every corner. It reminded me of The Magic Castle in Hollywood. Lunch was great and we snuck down to the basement for a quick cocktail. If you visit a McMenamin's ( and you should) make sure to get a passport to collect special stamps from all of the properties.

To further solidify the quirkiness of McMenamins, they host an annual UFO Festival.

Our final winery was Willamette Valley Vineyards. This was the grandest of the three and it had a country club vibe. The weather was starting to get cool and rainy. It was wonderful to be in a cozy environment with warm fireplaces, while enjoying wine and majestic views.

We had a wonderful day spending time with friends, enjoying great wine, and being tourists. Here is our haul from the wineries. It has been over a year and we still have a few bottles left!

Astoria

If there was one movie from my childhood that reigned supreme over all others, it was The Goonies. My mom took me to see it at The Alex theater in Glendale on its opening night in 1985. I remember the trailers and the anticipation. My expectations were exceeded. I watch it at least once a year and I own two copies on DVD.. The second copy came way of my husband buying a surprise copy while out shopping on our 2016 Orlando vacation. He saw the DVD on sale at Target and we introduced the kids to my favorite childhood movie, during a much needed "stay inside and enjoy the air-conditioning" afternoon. They became fans.

Although I grew up in Los Angeles and spent many years working at Universal Studios, I never get tired of movie magic. As soon as I learned that we were moving to the PNW, I started planning our day trip to Astoria: home of The Goonies!!!

We set out on the two-hour drive from Portland to Astoria on a cool day last May. Our first stop was lunch at the Elderberry Inn Restaurant.

The Elderberry Inn Restaurant is a greasy spoon with good burgers and great pies. It also has some fun decor on the exterior of the building, which is the real reason we stopped. If you see Bigfoot and an enormous frying pan, you have to stop.

The mighty Columbia River provided amazing views during our drive. We had to pull over to take pictures.

Finally, we reached Astoria and I was super excited. SO EXCITED!!! Look, it's the bowling alley where we first meet Chunk!

Obviously the Walsh house would be the ultimate place to visit. However, after reading up on the filming sites, it seems that the woman who owns the home has gotten fed up with fans stopping by and has taken action to alter the front of the home to make it less appealing. I'm a fan, but I'm also not a jerk. I can respect her right to privacy, so we didn't even attempt to stop by the house.

Instead, we went to the Oregon Film Museum.

Which happens to be inside of the former Clatsop County Jail, which you may recognize from the opening scene of The Goonies, with the Fratelli jail break!

and also used in the film..."O.R.V.- Bullet holes!"

Admission was six dollars for adults and at a leisurely pace, it took us about thirty minutes to enjoy the museum. It's small. A majority of the exhibits involve The Goonies, however there are also nods to other famous movies filmed in Oregon: The Shining, Kindergarten Cop, Short Circuit, Animal House, One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest, and more... They have movie props and interactive exhibits, where you can film yourself reenacting scenes on a set or in a prop car.

But before we could enjoy the museum, we had to get booked.

Inside the jail cell where Jake faked his suicide, were props from The Goonies: Data's jacket and his little sister's bike that Brand borrows.

The mailbox from the Walsh house, the skeleton key, and Chester Copperpot's wallet were in a glass case. They even had one of the David statues with Mom's favorite piece intact.

We wrote a note for The Goonies and left it on the wall. I wonder if anyone involved with the movie ever actually visits the museum?

Unfortuantely, The Goonies arcade machine was either broken or turned off. I must seek this out and play it!

Hey you guys, I'm Reenacting the Fratelli car chase scene. It was kind of awkward with one person, but I used my drama school training to play all of the parts.

And that was all there was to see. There is a small gift shop, where I bought a magnet and a few stickers.

The Flavel House Museum, located across the street from the Oregon Film Museum, served as the exterior for "The Astoria Historical Museum", where Mr. Walsh was the curator in The Goonies.

On a different trip, we visited Cannon Beach, where the last scene of The Goonies was filmed. More on that in a future trip report.

After sightseeing in Astoria, we drove across the Astoria-Megler Bridge to cross into Washington State.

Just across the state border, we took in a short History lesson, learning about Clark's Dismal Nitch.

The sun was starting to set, so we hit the road for our two-hour journey back home to Portland. Astoria is absolutely worth the visit for fans of The Goonies. It's a quaint, pretty town for those who are not fans of the film. I'd love to go back, perhaps even stay at a bed and breakfast.