Portland: Day 1 & 2...

It seems just as we returned from Colorado, that I was jetting off to Portland with Katie!  I am fully aware at how fortunate I am to get to go to so many places this year.  I was wanting to run a Fall marathon and it just so happened that Portland fell two weeks after Colorado, so off for a girls' trip I went!

Katie and I left on Friday afternoon with a direct flight to Portland.  We landed, grabbed the car, and drove to downtown to get my marathon packet so we did not have to worry about it the next day.  We found a spot for dinner and enjoyed a delicious dinner and drinks before calling it an early night.

We woke up on Saturday and drove to the coast!  One of the amazing things about Portland is that there is so much to do within an hour no matter which way you drive.  We drove to Cannon Beach to check out the Pacific coastline. 

Cannon Beach was an adorable little town.  It seemed like a great little weekend getaway spot for all types of people.  There was a state park nearby, which we ended up hitting up later in the day.

We walked along the beach to get down to Haystack Rock

We were freezing, but these kids were having a blast playing in the water.

Haystack Rock.  Recognize this from the Goonies?

The rocks were massive!  We were too late in the year to get to see the puffins that make nests on the rocks.  

After walking along the beach, we wandered around town for a bit before heading back to the car to drive to Ecola State Park to hike the Clatsop trail.  

The drive inside the park was lined with tall trees with moss all over them.  The park seemed so dark with all of the trees lining the road.

Windy state park roads

We we arrived to the trail head, we learned that there had recently been a mountain lion siting on the trail.  Fortunately, we did not see said mountain lion, but we were prepared to make ourselves look big if we did!

Beautiful coastal views along the trail

Enjoying the hike!

After we finished the hike, that was about three miles, we drove back to town to go to Pelican Brewing Company for lunch and a beer tasting.  The hike was very easy with some beautiful views along the coast.  

Signs you do not see in Kansas

A tasty flight of beers at Pelican Brewing.  We skipped the IPA's since we find them repulsive.  :)

We drove back to Portland, enjoyed happy our at our hotel, ate dinner, and called it an early night before the marathon!