Mountains From the Air and Salt Lake City

We had some amazing views of the mountains in the Pacific Northwest from the plane on our way back from Portland to Charlotte (via Salt Lake City).  Shortly after take off, Colin pointed out the mountain peaks we could see looking north out the window. We basically flew right over Mt. Hood, which is only 60-65 miles from Portland and we could easily see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams in Washington.

Mt. Hood in the forefront and Mt St Helens, Mt Rainier, 

and Mt Adams from left to right in the distance

Flying over Mt. Hood

The skies remained clear during the 2 hour flight from Portland to Salt Lake City, so we had more great views of the city and the lake during our arrival into and departure from the city.  Rather than sit in the airport for 4 hours, we decided to go into the city to grab some lunch and explore a bit.  Since it was a holiday (Labor Day), the free shuttles were not running from the airport to downtown, but we were able to share a cab with a traveling musician who also had some time to kill before his show.  

Our view of Salt Lake City from the plane on our way in

One of the things that surprised me was how wide the streets and city blocks were.  All of the streets lined up in perfect squares and the roads were about 6-8 lanes wide.  And, walking 5 city blocks, with a backpack filled with 2 weeks worth of gear, in the middle part of a hot summer day felt very difficult.  The other surprise was seeing the mountains pop out from the end of the roads.  The landscape reminded me of Las Vegas - but oh how different the city is!

Wide city streets and blocks and mountains in the distance

We came across some cute city plazas and parks downtown as we made our way to Temple Square.  Just before arriving there, we stopped to take a break in a very cute outdoor mall.

A plaza in downtown Salt Lake City

I had never seen any pictures or images of Temple Square before our arrival, so I didn't know what to expect.  Thankfully, there were some informational boards in the square that shared information about what we were looking at.  Coming from the south, it was hard to miss the massive, 420ft, 28 story, Church Office Building. This building towered over almost all buildings in Salt Lake City.  As we entered the square we were also surrounded by beautifully manicured lawns, flowers, fountains, and walking paths.  Once in the square, the prominent 222ft Salt Lake Temple took center stage.

The Church Office Building in Temple Square

The perfectly manicured lawn in Temple Square

Salt Lake Temple

We didn't have enough time to do a lot of exploring on the grounds or in the buildings. Being a holiday, I'm not sure if any were open. But, I later found out you can go to an observation deck on the 26th floor of the Church Office Building and see amazing views of the surrounding landscape.  I'm not sure we could have gotten much better views than from a plane though!

Instead of exploring Temple Square, we decided to get lunch. Using our trusted Yelp.com app, we made our way to The Copper Onion, a highly rated "foodie" restaurant with a NYC chef.  Colin ordered the steak salad and I ordered the portobello mushroom salad with the side of chickpeas.  As is our routine, we shared each our our plates and is difficult to say which was better. They were both delicious and well worth leaving the airport to experience.

Steak Salad at The Copper Onion in Salt Lake City

Portobello Mushroom Sandwich and Chickpeas

With an hour and a half until our plane's scheduled departure, we called a cab from the restaurant and made our way back to the airport.  I tried to get a better picture of the mountains "hugging" the city from the cab.  

Looking west at downtown Salt Lake City

We were back in the airport with plenty of time to get back through security to our gate.  In fact, we ended up waiting at the gate for over an hour because our plane left a little late.  I was so glad we didn't sit in the airport for over four hours, breathing that stuffy air and eating over-priced, crappy food.  Going into downtown, walking around (even in the heat), and getting a good meal made the long day of travel so much more bearable.

On our departure from Salt Lake City, we had more clear views of the surrounding landscape and the Great Salt Lake itself. 

 

The Great Salt Lake, Utah

The 3.5 hour flight to Charlotte was mostly smooth and relaxing and we actually arrived in Charlotte 30 minutes early.  Unfortunately, because the Democratic National Convention was getting ready to begin, the airport was crowded and the gate was not ready for us to arrive.  So, we sat on the plane for 45 minutes and ended up arriving 15 minutes late.  Between our long layover in Salt Lake City and flying to eastern standard time, it was after 11pm in Charlotte when we reached our car.  We could have stayed the night and drove back to Raleigh in the morning, but still being on Pacific Time meant we were awake and alert.  The 3 hour drive home wasn't too bad, but it was difficult to get up early for work the rest of the week.

Overall, I would say the trip was a tremendous success.  The highlights for me were Crate Lake, Mt. Rainier, and Napa Valley - all places where we had lots of sun and fairly warm weather.  I was a little disappointed in the cities - the homelessness in Portland and the dreariness of Vancouver especially. For me, Seattle was okay, but I didn't find it to be overly exciting or impressive in any way.  It was actually very funny that Colin and I listened to an NPR podcast on the drive from Charlotte to Raleigh where the discussion centered around moving to, and living in, Seattle. The main speaker shared a comparison between NYC and Seattle. She indicated that both cities contain people that are aloof and like to "do their own thing." The difference however, is that in NYC, people dress up in suits and skirts, while in Seattle, most people wear "grungy" clothes. The podcast was amusing because Colin seems to love Seattle and those that know him know how much he loves NYC. But, he would much rather wear jeans and t-shirt every day instead of having to wear a suit.  Maybe that is why he is so drawn to the city!

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our trip to the Pacific Northwest as much as I've enjoyed recalling the details about it.  Over the past two months, as I've blogged about the trip, we have had additional adventures here in North Carolina.  I can't wait to tell you about staying in the Grove Park Inn for a conference in Asheville, and camping on the beach in Wilmington.  Stay tuned for those posts.

What did we miss out on in Salt Lake City?

What amazing views have you experienced from a plane?

Ending our Trip With the Columbia River and Mt. Hood

One good thing that resulted from spending our second-to-last night in Portland was that we were able to spend our last day exploring more of the areas in and around the city.  Awaking to another beautiful day, we decided to set out west along the Columbia River on the scenic Historic Columbia River Highway.  The first stop on this route was the Vista House at Crown Point, an interpretive center set atop a cliff with some amazing views.

Looking east along the Columbia River Gorge from Vista House at Crown Point

The crowds were plentiful at the Vista House and once we started driving further east on the historic highway, we found ourselves in very slow moving traffic.  Being the Sunday before Labor Day, it seemed everyone was out enjoying the lovely Sunday afternoon on the Columbia River.  After sitting in traffic for about 30 minutes, we managed to find a parking spot not far from the famous Multnomah Falls.  Our short walk brought us to the impressive, 642-ft, two-tiered falls, which are the 2nd highest non-seasonal falls in the U.S.  We wanted to hike the 1 mile to the top, but heard from a police officer that tickets were going to be issued to people who parked on the side of the road.  Scared we would get a ticket, we quickly enjoyed the view, took a few pictures, and speed-walked back to the car.  Since we were able to see that all the cars ahead of where we parked were not moving, we turned around and re-traced our path back to the highway. There was still so much we wanted to see and sitting in traffic, even on a nice day in a pretty area, was not on our day's agenda.

The impressive Multnomah Falls outside Portland, OR

We missed out on a few additional waterfalls along the Historic Highway by taking I-84, but I am glad we did not spend our entire afternoon in traffic.  Shortly after leaving Multnomah Falls, we arrived in the town called Hood River, known for it's wind and water-loving patrons.  On the water during our visit, there must have been at least 100 people either kite- or wind-surfing.  It was fun to watch the beginners and the experts take off from shore and quickly glide through the water as they caught the wind just right.  Over the past few months, during several of our trips to the beach, we've watched kite- and wind-surfers and have thought about trying it out.  We definitely want to try sailing and surfing, and it would be fun to try other water sports too.  We just need to live closer to the water so we can go at any time!

Strolling along the Columbia River in Hood River, OR

Hundreds of kite- and wind-surfers in this outdoorsy town

Before continuing on to Mt. Hood, we enjoyed a sandwich and fresh juice at a local restaurant called Ground, but I didn't get a picture of the meal. The cozy coffee shop was a perfect place to fill up with a satisfying meal on a Sunday afternoon, even if we hadn't done any exercise all morning.  

We caught our first glimpses of Mt. Hood from Portland, but our first "up-close" view came just a short time after leaving Hood River.  The 11,240-ft mountain stood majestically in front of us for most of the scenic drive to the mountain, and we saw almost all of the sides of the summit as we drove the U-shaped road around the mountain and back to Portland. 

Driving to Mt. Hood from Hood River

Once back in Portland, we made our way to Cartlandia, one of the city's many food truck pods.  This pod, located in the southeastern outskirts of Portland, had been recommended to us by our airbnb hosts.  With about 15-20 food vendors, we expected to have a lot of options, but we were very disappointed in what was available.  There was some variety, but a few of the vendors were not open and it was difficult to find a particularly desirable dish.  The only highlight of our experience was trying Elk sausage.

The entrance to Cartlandia, a food truck pod on the outskirts of Portland

Colin's tasty Elk sausage

My sub-optimal southwestern pork sandwich

Our very expensive, and very disappointing desserts

Making our way from food truck to food truck

As we drove from Cartlandia to our last night's lodging, which was a heavily discounted Priceline hotel on the eastern side of the Willamette River, we came across another food pod called Cartopia in the very trendy Hawthorne District. Unable to pass up an opportunity to compare food pods, and really wanting a good food pod experience, we stopped and sampled some pizza and dessert.  This pod contained only 4 vendors, but the pizza and dessert we ate were so much more appetizing than either of our entrees or desserts at Cartlandia. Colin was most amused by the pizza truck, with it's large stove contained inside.

The small food truck pod, Cartopia, in the trendy Hawthorne District

Pyro Pizza, with its huge stove in the truck

That huge stove at Pyro's makes a very good pizza

The Sugar Cube food truck across the street from Cartopia

A delicious brownie topped with ice cream, fudge, and caramel from The Sugar Cube

We had great plans to go out for a walk after indulging in so much food, but once we checked into the Crowne Plaza-Downtown and realized how late it was, we made the smart choice to pack our bags for our Monday morning flight.  To lighten the burden of responsibility, we borrowed the movie, Book of Eli, from the front desk and watched as we packed our things.  

The sun setting on our last day in Portland, OR

The down-filled, comfortable king-sized bed and spaciousness of our hotel room felt luxurious after two weeks of camping and staying in airbnb rentals.  But, our two weeks in California and the Pacific Northwest would have lacked the social interactions and I would have not appreciated the luxury if not for those experiences.  Just as I would not have appreciated so many beautiful, sunny days if we had not also experienced some cold and wet ones.

Stay tuned for the last post about our trip back to North Carolina from Portland.  Some of the details will may surprise you!

If you've ever kite- or wind-surfed, tell me about your experience!

Where is the best food pod or food truck?