Road Trip - June 2025 - Portland, Oregon

We had a couple extra days to spare so decided to stop in Portland and visit the Oregon Zoo and Japanese Garden. En route, we googled for "winery with restaurant" and found Andante Vineyard which was really nice and both the wine and food were excellent!  Our server, Abby, provided so much information about the wines, was able to answer all our questions about the winery, and did so in a "not rehearsed" or memorized way that many others at wineries do. Highly recommend! 

The egret is the "symbol" for the vineyard and is on the main door, the wine bottles, and in several photos throughout the restaurant. 

Part of the vineyard flower garden. 

From there, we headed into Portland and had just enough time left in the afternoon to visit the Japanese Garden. 

We stayed overnight at the Hyatt House Hotel in Beaverton. We picked it somewhat randomly as we didn't want to go into downtown Portland but still wanted to be fairly close to the zoo. After dealing with major traffic trying to get to the Japanese Garden the day before, we were extremely happy to see that there was a light rail station right beside the hotel. It was just three stops to get to the zoo and we came up from underground immediately across the street from the zoo entrance. Perfect! 

We got there just before it opened at 9 am and started off in the opposite direction of all the other early birds. It was pleasantly quiet for the first hour but by the time we left, just after noon, it was crazy busy with kids and families. 

The Oregon Zoo is definitely one of the nicer and biggest ones we've visited and has very large enclosures for the bigger animals such as the elephants, giraffes, and polar bears. 

Mouse trap!

I liked this unique design on a building across from our hotel. 

Portland - Favourite Places

Portland, Oregon, has always been one of our favourite cities. It’s changed a bit in the five years since we were last here. Known for leading the way in environmental and social initiatives, it’s definitely a walking, biking and transit-friendly place. Unfortunately the free transit zone in the downtown area is no longer in effect and, despite the social programs, homelessness seems much more prevalent.

The morning bike and walking commute and rapid transit train crossing the bridge.

I don’t think we’ve ever been to Portland without visiting the Oregon Zoo located in beautiful Washington Park. There is great use of the natural features of the landscape and, while there are many animals the enclosures are very large and spread out so it doesn’t feel like the animals are so “trapped.” There’s lots of construction going on in the area and I find it amazing that “In 2008, voters supported a $125 million zoo bond to advance animal welfare, increase sustainability and create opportunities for people to take action for wildlife.” * The first facility to be built was a new veterinary medical center equipped to meet the needs of all zoo animals and is a LEED Gold-certified building.

One of the zoo trails.

We did lots of walking along the Willamette River and had coffee and drinks/early supper at places with great views along the river. 

The following evening, although it was a Monday night, we were glad we made reservations for our favourite restaurant, the Veritable Quandary. The brie and squash ravioli was so delicious! Not to mention the chocolate soufflé.  :-) 

In the morning before we headed out again we made a quick trip to Powell's book store (largest book store ever!!) and the beautiful Chinese Gardens.

Mahjong tiles at the Chinese Gardens. They had people there that could teach you how to play.

The rapid transit stop was right beside our hotel and, at the other end, about a block from Union Station so, when leaving Portland, we decided to forego trying to fit all our bags in a taxi.

Too many bags! Will we ever learn not to do two gear-intensive sports in one trip???

* From a sign on the zoo grounds.

The View From The Train

Off on another adventure, we left Saskatoon late Thursday night on the westbound train. Well, early Friday morning to be more exact because the train was two hours late. We are so fortunate that Via Rail runs through Saskatoon. Other than known for often being late (freight trains take priority) they provide great customer service.

The fall scenery along the way was quite beautiful despite the cloudy skies. The larches are bright yellow amongst the green pines, with various other trees providing splashes of red and orange.

Beautiful fall colours.

The train was a long and busy one due to the Thanksgiving weekend.

Just west of Jasper.

Rain drops on the dome car. Fraser River.

Mist on the Fraser River

From the train's dome car, looking at the #1 Highway bridge between Surrey and Burnaby.

Last bridge before Pacific Central Station in Vancouver.

During our half day in Vancouver we dodged rain showers, had lunch at the Sylvia Hotel overlooking English Bay and went to the Aquarium. Which was extremely busy between holiday weekend, Saturday afternoon, a rainy day and member appreciation week!

Very early the next morning we left via Amtrak and followed the scenic coastline southbound to Portland, one of our favourite US cities. There were so many birds! Cormorants, seagulls, blue herons, a bald eagle and many more.

Inside King Street Station, Seattle

The clock tower on King Street Station, Seattle

By mid afternoon we were in Portland and spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the Willamette River trails. It's not as peaceful as Saskatoon's trails but still great to stretch the legs after a long train journey. The skies finally cleared enough that we got a view of Mount Hood -- which we summitted many years ago and in 2010 we did a hiking circumnavigation of this beautiful peak.

Mount Hood from downtown Portland.

Andrew did a blog post from the hike and took lots of photos. This was before I had my own blog.