Name 5 things I HAVE to do while in Portland for the World Indoor champs

Dude, try scoring a pass to get into the Nike employee store! Eff the three stripes!

Portland bound wrote:

This is my first trip to Portland. What should I check out while I'm in town (16th - 21st)?

If you come into town on the 16th and are staying in a downtown hotel then I would suggest

You rent a car on the 17th.

1) Go run in forest park

2) drive out to the gorge and do the old highway tour culminating in Multnomah falls

Return the car

3) Friday morning run along the waterfront.

It is a busy day at the track, but

4) make a dinner reservation at one of the terrific restaurants. Portland is consistently in the top foodie spots in the nation.

Saturday morning you could go to the track at Dunniway or run to Tabor park or run up onto the Marquam trail.

5) Get to Powell's Books sometime during the day.

Sunday

Get back to forest park or join the Red Lizard Sunday run at the Starbucks at NW 23rd and Overton.

Make dinner reservations. Visit the bars and have a fun night.

Monday

Run along the waterfront. Fly home.

Tell all your friends how you hated Portland because it rained all the time

Eat at pok pok (not your typical Thai food); drink beer almost anywhere; visit a vineyard that produces Pinot Noir (some of the best in the world); get out of Portland to see other Oregonians; run anywhere in the rain.

portland runner 97228 wrote:

The main trail in Forest Park Leif Erikson IS overrated. The rest of it isn't.

Voodoo donuts? Never been. Never will.

Salt and Straw is the new place the local news hypes ALL the time. It used to be Voodoo donuts, followed by Pok Pok. Now it is the Salt and Straw. The local news loves to hype places and Salt and Straw is hyped practically daily.

I've never heard of Blue Star so it must be decent based on organic reviews.

Donuts and ice cream!? I thought this was a running bored.

Salt and Straw and Blue Star Donuts have been popular since at least 2012. Only know that because that's when I moved here. I'm sure there's some other pretentious places that have taken their place, but you won't find them on the local news.

Multnomah Falls about 20 minutes from Portland is well worth it.

Eat at Mother's Bistro & Bar.

The air quality issues of Portland are no joke beyond, even beyond Bullseye Glass.

In some neighborhoods, there is massive wood stove use. You can barely breath some days.

Research PM2.5 effects.

Portland air quality is in fact ranked among worst in the nation:

http://fosterunited.org/portlands-dirty-little-secret-by-jacob-sherman/

As someone who lives here, disagree totally on the air quality. Especially this time of year, there are a lot of storm fronts blowing through with wind and rain which keeps things fresh.

Since most people on here are ostensibly runners, Eastbank esplanade heading south from downtown out to Sellwood. Forest Park. Multnomah Falls. Mount Hood for snowshoeing, skiing and other winter sports 75 minutes away. The Oregon Coast, Cannon Beach and Seaside 75 minutes away.

Portland is also the capital of the U.S. athletic wear industry. Nike WHQ. Adidas US HQ. Columbia Sportswear. Showers Pass cycling gear. etc etc etc People on here might be able to hook you up for tours or passes to the company stores.

Look up Ronald D. Moore and see if you can get him to write some new episodes of Battlestar Galactica you can binge watch.

A little snap shot. It's not always as wet as it appears in this video.

http://toptrails.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?do=videos&mgroup_event_id=11937&year=2016&mgroup_id=47439&video_id=166885

Three pages and nobody mentions a zoobomb?

A hearty lol at the "Columbia employee store" thing!

Portland Ducks Sick. Head down Eugene or out to Bend to see the real Oregon!

Enjoy the bad air quality wrote:

4) Pretend you're a commuter from Vancouver and drive from there to Beaverton at rush hour.

Hey! I do that three days a week. :thumbsup:

I've lived out here for almost 27 years now. One of the more recent trends I've noticed is that people here like standing in lines for things. Voodoo donuts, Salt & Straw, the latest hip place to dine. Seems absurd to me. It's JUST fried dough and ice cream, for God's sake. I think it's more about "hey, look how cool I am, waiting at the latest 'in' place", rather than actually because the products they're selling is that good. :rollseyes:

The Portland area has a lot of surrounding natural beauty. Depending on where you're from, I'd suggest taking all of that in - the Columbia Scenic Gorge, the coast, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens. Go see those things, since you may not have them by you. A day trip up to the Johnston Ridge observatory at Mt. St Helens is an experience you won't soon forget, especially if you go on a clear day.

Running-wise, the options around Nike are fun, although you'll need a car to get there. The waterfront in downtown Portland is good, and you can make loops of varying sizes my incorporating the bridges. I'd really suggest running over the newer Tillicum Crossing bridge. Forest Park is nice, although the main fire road, Leif Eriksen is pretty hard and rocky in spots.

If you have time for any groups runs, the club I'm part of, Team Red Lizard, holds group runs most every evening of the week and on Sunday mornings. Check out redlizardrunning.com for details.

Enjoy your trip here!

1) Take the bus up the hill to OHSU on a sunny day, count the volcanoes, take the tram DOWN (used to be free down) to the waterfront, catch the streetcar back to where you started and laugh because you can walk faster than the streetcar or take the pedestrian overpass over I-5. It used to be that one ticket covered all three.

2) Powells, yes, buy the Portland Stairs book by Foster, and then check out some stairs

3) VooDoo Donuts, yes

4) Fehrenbacher Hof for coffee and cool baristas (in Goose Hollow)

5) use the Arthur St pedestrian tunnel if it is uninhabited, which it usually is during the day

6) Take the MAX from the airport to downtown--it is cheap, usually fast and sometimes very exciting. Whatever you do, do not get off at Skidmore Fountain.

As someone who lives here, disagree totally on the air quality. Especially this time of year, there are a lot of storm fronts blowing through with wind and rain which keeps things fresh.

You sir are wrong. It is bad. Just because you can't see it or smell it doesn't mean it isn't there. This is a long going issue. Read this:

I'd love to get a pass! Need some SPF clothing! Still available? Thank you!

I'd love to get a pass! Need some SPF clothing! Still available? Thank you!