Our Favorite Fun Things to Do 1. Take in the Columbia Gorge and Multnomah Falls 2. Visit the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) 3. Buy gifts at the Portland Saturday Market 4. Visit the Pearson Air Museum 5. Ski Mt. Hood 6. Go to the Oregon or Washington Coast 7. Take the kids (or the kid in you) to the Oregon Zoo 8. Stroll the Chinese, Japanese or Korean Gardens 9. Learn history at the General O. O. Howard House in Vancouver 10. Eat, drink, be merry, watch parades and listen to
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9 Tips about the Portland/Vancouver Metro Area 1. Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington are on opposite sites of the Columbia River, which flows 1200 miles from the base of the Canadian Rockies to the Pacific Ocean. 2. The dividing line between East and West Portland is the Willamette River (pronounced Will-AM-it, not Will-uh-METTE like the city in Illinois!) 3. Portland is called the Rose City because its mild misty winters produce a gorgeous abundance of flowers in the spring. Summers are usually dry and sunny. 4. Urban growth boundary restrictions have contained suburban sprawl in Portland. It is still possible to drive for 20 miles and find yourself in wilderness and rolling farmlands. 5. The Portland Metro Area is committed to providing a convenient and relatively inexpensive mass transit system. Downtown Portland offers free bus service in its "fareless square." 6. Oregon has no state sales tax. Washington has no state income tax. 7. You can get a traffic ticket in Washington and Oregon for driving with a hand-held cell phone. Drive safely! 8. Littering the highway from a car window can result in costly fines in both Washington and Oregon. 9. Only an attendant is allowed to pump gas in Oregon (an environmental precaution). Many Washington State gas stations expect you to pump your own.
Peppers TaqueriaThis is a low key, great food Mexican restaurant. The owner cares so much about his employees, when a fire at the store next door burned his restaurant down, he paid all his workers their wages for months until his storefront was rebuilt and they could come back to work. What a good guy!By Angele |
Portland ~ Rated one of Affordable and accessible, this city straddling the banks of the Willamette River has long made sustainable living a priority. More than 30 years ago, with other cities in a freeway-building frenzy, Portland broke ranks and tore down a six-lane expressway to make room for a waterfront park. Since then the city has set an urban growth boundary to protect 25 million acres of forest and farmland, started a solid-waste program that recycles more than half of the city’s trash and erected more than 50 public buildings that meet tough standards set by the United States Green Building Council. One of the most bike-friendly cities in the US, Portland’s public transportation systems boast a high rate of ridership. Add in one of the nation’s largest city parks – the aptly named Forest Park has 74 miles of running, biking and hiking trails – and Portland’s reputation as the nation’s greenest city makes sense. By Nicki Kipen, Homestore.com
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