parks | Our Oregon Trail

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

The Heat Is On

July 5, 2013 by kristikrass

I’ve been slacking on the ole blog lately. Who wants to sit inside on the computer when it’s ridiculously beautiful outside? Oh yeah, and I recently found out all my computer time probably made me a partial blinker, which is killing my meibomian glands and drying out my eyes. Swell. The result: I now need to do blink exercises, use eyedrops for a bit, and I got a $1,500 Lipiflow treatment to get those little glands pumping again. Lesson for […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: concerts, festivals, parks, work

Krasses in the House

November 10, 2012 by kristikrass

Visitors make me so happy. Not only do we get to spend time with some of our favorite people in world, but we also get to pack in a boatload of exploring! Last weekend, Jeff’s parents came to town – their third trip to the Rose City after their Oct. 2011 visit, Chris’ April 2011 visit and Bob’s Jan. 2011 visit (our first visitor in our new city). With this crew, y’know we hit some bars and restaurants. We commenced […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: coast, gorge, hikes, Krasses, parks, restaurants, visitors

Flip cup! (Did I mention the party was drinking game-themed?)

A Thousand Words

June 13, 2012 by kristikrass

We’ve had a mishmash of entertaining activities lately – like my co-worker/friend Kristen’s b-day patio party at our place – so this time around I’ll let the photos do the talking! (And I feel like a disproportionate amount of the photos are drinking-related. Honestly, we do much more than that!) 🙂

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: exercise, market, parks, parties, restaurants, tennis

The Trip Not Meant to Be

May 28, 2012 by kristikrass

Jeff and I had big plans for Memorial Day weekend. He, Cooper and I were going to cross the Canadian border to Vancouver, British Columbia. One of the cities at the top of our “must-see” list, and a mere 5 1/2 hours north of Portland. But…Thursday night, after booking hotels in Vancouver and neighboring Whistler, we made a disappointing discovery: Jeff’s passport expired last month. Total bummer. Lucky for us, we were already planning a Friday night stop in Seattle, […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: Cooper, holidays, market, mountains, parks, restaurants, seattle, vacation, washington

One Week and Counting…

May 13, 2012 by kristikrass

That’s right, folks, Portland is in an epic run of sun. More than one week of blue skies and sunny days, with more on the way. We might even hit 90 degrees tomorrow! It feels like summer’s arrived. It’s also one week until my sister Shelly and I will be hoofing it 13.1 miles in the Qualifier half-marathon back in Bay City, Michigan. Sunday is my long run day: I hit 10 miles last Sunday, logged six miles today, and […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: beach, Cooper, manzanita, parks, restaurants, seaside

Walk in the Clouds

December 10, 2011 by kristikrass

Winter’s arrival, with gray days, 30- to 40-degree weather and 4:30 p.m. sunsets, is no match for most Portlanders. Cyclists, runners and hikers constantly swarm the streets and trails with little regard for the elements. Jeff and I – well, we’re not quite in that boat, but we do enjoy a brisk walk with Cooper. With the amazing hills right at the city’s edge, we figured we’d conquer a hike last Saturday morning. After poring through online lists of hikes […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: Cooper, hikes, holidays, parks

Mom and Dad posing in front of the Multnomah Falls

Swifts, Falls and Goodbyes

September 24, 2011 by kristikrass

It’s a little sad recapping the end of my family’s 10-day trip to Portland – it makes me wish we weren’t 2,300 miles apart. Seeing how quickly my nieces Ava and Macy are growing up makes it even harder. But, as Jeff says, that means we need to make the most of our visits. Which we did on my family’s last weekend in Portland. Friday was zoo day – and my parents’ 33rd anniversary. (Congrats to them!) Saturday was Columbia […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: babies, falls, gorge, parks, Redicks, restaurants, visitors, wineries

My Italian Stallion

June 28, 2011 by kristikrass

Overall, this past weekend was really chill by design. I had a big test on Sunday that had been looming for >1 year. The last step in my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) through the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). And good news: I passed! Thank heavens. It’s like a big gorilla has gotten pulled off my back. But Jeff and I did notch up some fun times. We paid our second visit to Forest Park, which is a hiker’s […]

Categories: Our Oregon Trail • Tags: cooking, Cooper, parks, test

Our Oregon Trail

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

Tag: parks