Rural Oregon

Saturday morning: cloudy and only about 50 deg. F. Before leaving Portland, we still went to the huge Portland Farmers' Market in the University District: many, many local vendors of all kinds of food, from veggies to home-made jams, hummus, chocolate, cheeses, sausages, wine and spirits, baking goods and much more,,, in addition to sausages, mexican food and other stuff being served to visitors. Really overwhelming, what a culinary paradise Oregon is!!!

Compared to that, the famous Portland Saturday Market, which is more of a arts&crafts&souvenirs market on the waterfront is less unique.

Checked out of the Porter Hotel and took an Uber to the airport to pick up our rental car, a red Mitsubishi Outlander, pretty new and o.k. size-wise. With a stop at the Troutsdale Outlet Shopping Center we drove on Old Hwy. 30 to a great viewpoint Vista House at Crown Point - first time, we were lucky and had sun there! – and to the Bridal Veil waterfalls (pic), both spectacular sights. Since it was Mother's Day Weekend, parking lots at the Multnomah Falls were crowded and, unfortunately, parts of the old highway closed.

Temps had risen to almost 80 deg F in the meantime and we enjoyed the drive. Arrived at our historic Mount Hood Hotel in Hood River just in time to throw in our stuff and walk over the Columbis River bridge to the waterfront, where pFriem Family Brewers have set up their brewery in one of several pretty fancy modern warehouses along the waterfront. We did expect a rather small family-operated brewery, but were completely blown away: This is a state-of-the-art brewing facility, specialized in traditional Helles & Lager (which is pretty rare in the U.S.), and Belgium-style beers. A good percentage of their production is aged in barrels and comes in cork-topped fancy bottles.


Had a great tour and tasting and, at the end, dinner with a superb charcuterie plate (with products of regional companies) and a bratwurst platter. Enjoyed the sun in the Hood River Waterfront Park - with its sandy beach - and watched people surfing, kite-surfing, SUPing and even swimming till sunset.