Exploring the City of Bridges: Portland

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”
from Bill Bryson

From my childhood, I remember the summer fondly.  Long, hot days of playing with my sisters;  riding bikes, running through the sprinkler and trips to the beach.  I also remember our family vacations.  We did a lot of camping all over British Columbia on our own and with other families.  I remember big games of kick the can, trips to water slides and mini golf.  There was always something to see or do and lots of other kids around to start your own game of whatever you felt like playing.

We also took longer trips to Eastern Canada to visit my cousins.  One of our bigger road trips was when we drove across Canada.  I remember loving the hotels on that trip across Canada.  As long as the hotel had a swimming pool, we were happy.  These are the memories that continue to stay with me long into adulthood.  The family vacations, the camping trips, the swimming pools and the places we explored as a family.  These are the same kinds of memories that I want for Jack and Sarah.  I hope they look back with fondness on our adventures and tell these stories to their own kids.  Our summer of adventures and memory making continued last weekend with a road trip to Portland.  A city we have never been to before.  We love Seattle, but we decided to stretch our wings and try somewhere new.  We traveled with our favourite party of five family and it was another successful Schwakida vacation.

We stretched our legs at a state park on the way to Portland.

We checked out the Oregon Zoo.

The kids love spending time together.

They watched a movie.

While the adults played Bananagrams.

There was plenty of pool time.

And after dinner hot tubs.

We took the train and explored downtown Portland.

Powell's books was overwhelming in size and selection, but amazing all the same.

The fountains in Portland are used as water parks.  There was a heat wave this weekend and everyone had the same idea.  This is the fountain at Jamison Square.

There was quiet time in the hotel.

And snuggles at night.

We also went on a jetboat excursion. We explored the river, saw the ships and learned about the bridges of Portland.  Did I mention we also got soaking wet?  After reading the description of the tour, we decided bringing a camera was not an option.  If you are ever in Portland, we highly recommend the Williamette Jetboat Tours.