Austin to Portland, OR

[rice97ut02]

My brother and I are driving from Austin to Portland, OR next week. Any suggestions on route, places to stop, stuff to see on the way???

We're not in a huge hurry, so to some extent, we can stop and see the sights.

I was kind of leaning against taking the 10 straight out to California and then the 5 straight north to Portland, but I could potentially be convinced otherwise.

 

[brntorng]

Don't know if you're into National Parks, but the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Mesa Verde, Sequoia, Yosemite, etc can be enroute (not necessarily all of them on the same trip) if you want them to be. Personally, I find the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Yosemite to be magnificent.

 

[West Coast Horn]

Stop in Juarez and get a $5 hooker.

If you guys can time it such that you are in SF Sunday, May 20th you can engage in the greatness that is Bay to Breakers.

Honestly, see if you can't swing Jackson Hole, Wyoming on the way.

 

[Luke Duke]

Wouldn't it be better if they see if they can swing Jackson Hole, Wyoming on the way?

 

[chitwood]

Did a road trip after I took the bar exam with my two roommates.
Austin
Santa Fe
Albuquerque
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas
San Diego
Santa Barbara
Lake Tahoe
San Francisco
Southern Oregon
Portland
Seattle
Glacier National Park
Yellowstone
Jackson Hole
Denver
Austin

We did that in four weeks and it was awesome. You should be able to see tons of that stuff in two weeks.

 

[miguelito]

Nice, chitwood. But you didn't stop at Crater Lake?

rice, once you're in Portland, it's just a short drive up to Mt St Helens, and then up to Mt Rainier.

 

[bigbad66]

do you want any Portland tips as well? I grew up there and lived there until my mid-20's, and all my family still lives there so I know it pretty well - let me know

on the drive: we actually made that drive a few times (from Portland to Austin) when we went to UT for grad school - I would echo hitting the national parks; another possibility that can be added on is a quick detour up to the santa fe area

 

[chitwood]

miguel,
We did not do Crater Lake but we should have. We drove from SF to Southern Oregon along the coast and found a campsite on the beach south of Florence. Played golf at Sandpines the next day and drove on to Portland. Wish I had seen Crater Lake.

 

[rice97ut02]

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[bigbad66]

Arches is a great park - and you can see quite a bit in just a half day if your very limited.

On Portland:

Plenty of great hiking/walks in the immediate area - a good one to start w/ is Leif Erikson trail (starts just above the Northwest Portland neighborhood). If you have a map, take NW Thurman all the way to the end and the trail/fire road starts there. Very pretty walk, and you can go as long/short as you like. Plus, its right next to Northwest Portland (i.e. 23rd/21st Ave. area), so very convenient to grab a bite/drink before and after.

If you want more hiking, head out to the Columbia River Gorge - lots of hikes out there (a popular one is Multnomah Falls - can be crowded - but there are other hikes nearby which would be less crowded).

In the city:

- downtown area is full of good restaurants/bars
- the "northwest" neigborhood (roughly from 20th thru 23rd Ave, from Davis down to Thurman) - the entire area is full of good walking/shopping/eating/drinking - both day and evening are great.
- the Pearl District - same as above, but just "newer" and less established, but very fun as well
- you could venture over to the east side, but w/ just a couple days, I would stay on the west side

some good (but not cheap) restaurants: Wildwood, Blue Hour, Higgins, Fratelli

some good brewpubs (there's a million): Bridgeport, Rogue; McMenamins is a big chain of brewpubs in the PNW, and there are many good ones (Ram's Head on NW 23rd, 23rd Ave. Tavern) - there's probably at least 10-15 just in Portland proper itself

for a good slice of pizza: Escape From NY Pizza on NW 23rd

If I think of anything else I'll add some later.

Have fun!

 

[FAST FRED]

My son has told me that Portland has some of the best skateboarding parks he's seen.

 

[rice97ut02]

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[bigbad66]

"But I think I'll stay away from this one - I live in NYC."

got it!

let me know if you have an idea of what you'd like to do - i.e. if you really want to go on a great hike I can give a couple more recommendations; if you like biking I can point you to a couple good bike shops which rent good mountain or road bikes and can tell you some good local rides - Portland is a great "outdoors" city

 

[blkshoes]

do not take I10 to socal. you will regret it later. might be the fastest way west, but you will lose time heading north through the quagmire that is california. in fact, stay out of california all together. go north, young man. hit arizona, nm, wy, ut, mt, etc. you will come home all the wiser from seeing these great states. old faithful, custer natl monument, grand canyon, carlsbad, mesa verde. 4-5 days is ample time to hit some landmarks.