breweries | Our Oregon Trail

Let it snow! Hiking to 23rd Street on Thursday evening

Snowlandia 2014

February 10, 2014 by kristikrass

This past weekend, I witnessed the city of Portland turn into crazytown. People swarmed the streets, corporations shut down, iPhones blared emergency alarms, and public transportation ground to a halt. Winter finally hit the City of Roses. Three storms swept through the Portland metro area last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and they dumped inches of snow and ice in their paths. What’s so unusual about a little winter precipitation, you say? First, Portland rarely gets this kind of weather. Jeff […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: breweries, snowstorm

Bend with My Bro

January 27, 2014 by kristikrass

My little brother. He is the rare bird who deliberately chooses February to visit us in Portland. The reason: the snow-capped mountains beckoning for snowboarders. Dave last visited exactly two years ago, and we covered a LOT of ground in a few days. This time we had a whole Tuesday-to-Tuesday to explore new places. Dave is our kind of guy: He loves his breweries and food. We kicked off his trip with a night at beer haven Apex, a pizza dinner at […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: bend, breweries, falls, mountains, parks, Redicks, restaurants, vacation, visitors

Spring Is in the Air!

May 4, 2013 by kristikrass

Look at this glorious forecast. I’m in partial disbelief. But I’ll take it! Jeff and I took advantage of the amazing Portland spring by checking off an item on our bucket list: biking to work. The Nike campus is a mere nine miles from home, but 1,000 feet of elevation separates us. We identified a route with help from a cycling enthusiast at work (there are lots of them, by the way), Jeff borrowed a road bike from Daniel, and […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: biking, breweries, festivals

Chuckles and Chepys

March 23, 2013 by kristikrass

Have I mentioned I love visitors? It makes me giddily happy when far-flung friends and family carve out a long weekend and purchase that Portland-bound flight. Big thanks to the Krass family (including cousin Linda), Redick family, Tillmans, Joey, Lesley, and the latest member of the PDX visitors club, Chepys. And there are more to come, with the Minagawa-Webster (aka Webby) duo coming next weekend – yay! Our Chicago-based buddies – and Michigan State grads – Chris and Julie Chepy rolled […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: breweries, restaurants, Timbers, visitors, wineries

Lesley and me perched on the outdoor seating at Amnesia Brewing

Kristi and Lesley’s Excellent Adventure

October 21, 2012 by kristikrass

The first weekend of October brought an awesome milestone: The first major visit to Portland from a girl friend of mine from back home. Yay! Welcome, Lesley! Lesley and I are Pinny High grads, cheerleading buddies and we lived in Chicago at the same time. It was great getting her out to the West Coast – and witnessing her first visit to the Pacific Ocean! We had 48 hours and a lot of ground to cover. First stop: lunch at […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: breweries, coast, Cooper, restaurants, views, visitors

And We Shall Feast

September 23, 2012 by kristikrass

This weekend marks the inaugural Feast Portland, presented by Bon Appétit magazine. Since Portland is home to amazing vineyards, more breweries than any other city in the world, local seafood, and produce that grows practically year-round, a few people thought it’s high time we get our own world-class celebration of food, drink and everything else that makes Portland awesome. Jeff and I kicked off the festivities with a feast of a different sort: Dinner at Jessica’s apartment with her friends Todd […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: breweries, festivals, restaurants, wineries

Eighth Wonder of the World

July 8, 2012 by kristikrass

Yesterday, we discovered the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. How we’ve gone a year and a half in Portland without hearing about it, I have no idea. Just off the Columbia River Gorge and near the tourist-packed Multnomah Falls – which we visited in May 2011 and September 2011– is Oneonta Gorge, a mossy chasm so narrow that the Oneonta Creek fills it wall to wall. Lindsay and Daniel introduced us to the one-mile in, one-mile out hike. It’s quite […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: breweries, gorge, hikes

Bikes, Hikes and Pedal Pubs

July 8, 2012 by kristikrass

July 5 was Portland’s unofficial start of summer. Magically, on that date, the weather flips a switch from cool and unpredictable to amazing. While a heat wave ravages the rest of the country, the Northwest has been spring-like. Drizzly, 60-degree weather, with occasional sunny respites. Not anymore! We have 80s and sun now! Here’s how we spent our last days BEFORE summer… Hiking Mount Tabor: Mount Tabor is an extinct volcano on the southeast side of town. After snagging brunch at […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: beach, breweries, exercise, games, gorge, mt. tabor, sauvie island, Timbers

Two Weeks of Timbers, TED and Talk Shows

March 22, 2012 by kristikrass

…and rain. Two straight weeks of chilly, gray, rainy days. This is when any report of higher suicide rates in the Northwest makes a little bit of sense. Okay, it’s not SO bad, but it makes it worse when the Midwest is enjoying freakish 85-degree days. But talk to me again in July when it’s heavenly here. A couple Mondays ago Jeff, my co-worker Kristen, her roomie Nicole and I cheered the Portland Timbers in their second season home opener. Kristen […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: breweries, eugene, games, Timbers, vacation

Our Oregon Trail

Portland through the eyes of a festival-loving, dessert-feasting, travel-addicted Midwesterner.

Tag: breweries