Tag Archives: travel

Since moving to Portland 6 months ago, Daniel and I have been having fun eating and seeing what the city has to offer.  Thanks to Instagram and Portland hashtags, I discovered a street called Peacock Lane during this past holiday season.

Located in Southeast between Stark and Belmont, this cute little street is transformed during Christmas time with a spectacle of lights.  Since the 1920s, every house is decorated from mid-December through New Year’s Eve.  I was really excited when I learned about Peacock Lane, because I never got to visit Candy Cane Lane when I lived in Los Angeles, which is very similar (but on a much bigger scale).

Here are some of my favorite houses and decorations from 2013!

I loved seeing how creative some people got and their use of beloved Christmas characters.  Can you spot them all?

These last few displays were my favorite… I guess you can say I’m a little nerdy!

Don’t blink!  The lights were off at this house, so it was hard to get a good picture, but I can’t resist sharing this Doctor Who display!

The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Christmas movies, so I was pretty happy when I saw this!

Daniel and I tried going before Christmas, but the crowds and traffic were pretty nuts!  We did go on a Sunday at around 6pm, so that may have had something to do with it.  We ended up leaving because we weren’t really in the mood to deal with crowds.  We returned after Christmas and practically had the whole street to ourselves!  If you want to go before Christmas, which is understandable, I would suggest trying to go during the week and later at night (when all the kiddos are asleep).

While the homes of Peacock Lane have taken down their lights for this season, be sure to add it to your Christmas to do list for next year!

I am so excited to finally say that Daniel and I have our Christmas tree up, and our house is all decorated for the holiday!  It finally feels like Christmas time!  We usually get our trees from a lot near our house, but this year we decided to go to a Christmas tree farm.  I mean, we are in Oregon after all!  I did some quick research and found three farms, all about 20-30 minutes outside of Portland.

One I found was the Sauvie Island Farms, which we decided not to go to because we went to a pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island durin the fall.  We figured it would be fun to go somewhere we haven’t been before.  Our other two options were Quail Creek Ranch and Plumber Pumpkin Patch and Tree Farm.

We chose to go to Quail Creek Ranch because it looked beautiful.  Take a look!

Unlike Plumber Farms, basically everything was free at Quail Creek Ranch (except the trees, of course)!  They provide saws if you want to cut your own tree, but they will also cut them down for you free of charge too.  They also shake, bail, twine, and help tie your tree to your car for free as well!  That was all I really needed to hear to make my decision.  I guess I’m a sucker for the word free!

They also serve complimentary hot chocolate and cider by a big, warm bonfire!

We decided to cut our own tree, since I had never done that before, and Daniel hadn’t in a really long time (ok, maybe Daniel did the cutting).  Plus, now that we’re Oregonians, we wanted to do it the lumberjack way!  There was even some snow on the ground, so it really felt legit!

Quail Creek Ranch has a variety of trees – Douglas Firs ranging from $15-$25, Grand Firs ranging from $20-$35, and Nobles ranging from $50-$100.  We found our tree after searching the farm for about 30 minutes, and we chose a douglas fir this year.  Ours was over 4 feet tall, so it was $25 – not too shabby!  Way better than the $80 we always had to spend in Hollywood!

Everyone at the farm was very friendly and helpful.  All the little complimentary touches really added in making our experience wonderful.  If you haven’t gotten your tree yet, I highly recommend visiting Quail Creek Ranch!  And don’t forget to grab a candy cane on your way out!

Tip:  They don’t really have much of a selection of tree stands, so you will want to pick one up before you go.  We got ours at our local Fred Meyer!

Here’s our tree all decorated!

We have a tradition of buying a new ornament each year, and this year it was a donut!  What are some of your traditions?

Ok, so if you read my Halloweentime at Disneyland travel post, you know that it’s my absolute favorite time to visit.  But a VERY close second is during Christmas Time at Disneyland!  Seriously, if you love the Christmas season, this is the perfect time to plan your Disneyland trip.  Disney goes all out with their decorations, festive food, and entertainment.

The entire park is adorned with holiday touches, aromas of gingerbread waft from cafes, shops have a variety of Christmas gifts and ornaments – but don’t take my word for it, check out some of my photos and tips below!

As you walk into the park, you’ll see Main Street is all decked out!

Make sure to get your picture taken in front of the HUGE Christmas tree!

Sleeping Beauty’s castle gets a Christmas makeover as well.  Another great photo opportunity!

I love how they decorate New Orleans Square within the theme.

I’m sure you can guess that Disneyland’s bakeries would have a plethora of Christmas treats, well, you’re right!  My favorite treat that I had to get every year was the hot chocolate!  I was sort of expecting it to just be a packaged Swiss Miss-like drink, but was pleasantly surprised at the richness and quality of the chocolate.  So good!  Plus, it will help to keep you warm as the sun goes down!

Tip:  While some of you from colder states may think:  “how cold can LA possibly get?”  You’d be surprised!  I’m originally from Maine, and I was often taken aback at the how cold it got, especially at night.  Certainly not that face burning, nose hair freezing frigidness, but it still manages to chill you to the bone!  We would always see tourists looking pretty miserable, because they were unprepared for the cold.  I suggest dressing in layers, wearing warm shoes, and having a stash of gloves, hats, and scarves.  Take advantage of the lockers at the entrance of the park, so you don’t have to carry everything all day long! Read more »

If you read my romantic getaway post about Rockaway Beach, you know I had searched long and hard to find things to do in the area.  Since we went in the off-season, beach activities (which is the main attraction in the summer) were kind of limited.  While we loved enjoying the awesome vacation home we were staying in, I still thought it would be nice to have some outside activities during our stay.  We had already stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory on our way there, so that didn’t leave much more to do unless we wanted to drive up to Seaside.

Luckily, I came across an article about the Rockaway Beach Old-Growth Cedar Wetlands Preserve.  It is a 45-acre home to some of the remaining giant red cedar trees in Oregon – how lucky that it’s right in town!  It is somewhat of a hidden gem, mostly only known by the locals.

Makes sense, as it was pretty hard to find any information about it, even just how to get to there!  The article I found was written in 2009, and unfortunately it seems the trail has changed a lot since then.  By following the directions from the article, we ended up entering a trailhead that you really don’t want to go through.

Very overgrown and fallen trees everywhere, it would be very easy to get turned around, as the trail is no longer a clear path.

One upside of going the wrong way was that we got to see this humongous trunk and all of its roots!

After taking pictures, we were about to give up since we really weren’t sure where the actual trail was.  Fortunately, we heard a couple coming towards us!  They told us how to stay on the path and where the real trailhead was!  The trail you want to take is on Washington and Island.  Directions:  Take Washington St., which is right off the 101 freeway.  You want to take Washington away from the ocean and towards Island St.  Turn left on Island, and there you will find the trailhead.

It’s a very easy and beautiful hike, and it’s only about 1-mile.  Tip:  There are some flat stones on the path that, what I believe, are meant to be stepping-stones.  Be very careful if you step on them, as they are incredibly slippery.  I would also advise dressing in layers, and in shoes you don’t mind getting muddy.

When you get to end of the trail, you will find one of the biggest trees in Oregon, with a circumference of 49 feet!  Take a look at these photos!

So hard to get the scale of this tree in pictures, it really needs to be seen in person.  As you can see from some of the photos, there is a boardwalk surrounding the tree for viewing, and there are benches on the boardwalk as well (not shown).  It was such a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful spot – it would make a great place to eat lunch.  We are definitely going to pack some sandwiches next time we go!  This tree, as well as others in the Wetland Preserve, were truly amazing to see.  If you are in Rockaway Beach, I hope you get the chance to visit this spot.  It is worth it!

If you’re visiting the Oregon Coast, a main attraction besides the ocean is the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  Daniel had been to the factory once before, so he already knew how awesome it was.  But I had never been, and it just so happened to be on the way to Rockaway Beach.  Clearly we had to make a stop!

Tillamook Cheese has a long history in Oregon, and the factory is the perfect place to learn more.  They have historical facts and videos all over the place, and you can also learn more about the cheese industry itself with a self-guided tour.  Plus, you can see how it’s made and packaged as there are multiple viewing areas.  Tip:  If you really want to see the full production in action, don’t go on a Sunday.  That’s when we went, and although it was nice that it was less busy, the production line was all but shut down.

Tillamook used to only be accessible by water, and this is the original ship that brought their cheese to Portland.

While the history is incredibly fascinating, the real attraction is the cheese!  Here you can see Tillamook provides a bunch of cheese samples.

This, of course, leads you into where the cheese for purchase is!  Here is just one small case of what they have to offer.

But they don’t stop with just cheese.  They also have fudge!  We came home with far too much cheese and a slice of pumpkin fudge.  So good!

And don’t forget to get a scoop (or two) of ice cream!

We saw a couple of fun photo opportunities throughout the factory, and this one was the best (we thought).  Be sure to get a picture in the Tillamook Van!

This is dairy heaven, I tell you!  The Tillamook Cheese Factory is definitely worth a stop!

While we later found out that the cheese factory also serves food, we didn’t know that at the time, so we stopped for lunch in the main part of town.

We ate at a really small, but really amazing place called Fat Dog Pizza.  If you’re looking to explore more of the town, there are a variety of restaurants in the area.  If you’re in the mood for pizza, check this place out!

If you already read my Rockaway Beach post, then you know if you’re staying in town, there aren’t that many food and activity options there.  Luckily, Tillamook is only about a 20-minute drive from Rockaway, and can easily add variety to your getaway if you’re looking for more restaurants and excursions.