Portland, Oregon (Is it P.O. or BO 'cause that just stinks)

Thought for Thursday: What ski area is the highest in the United States?

Come back tomorrow to find out the answer. But first, take a guess.


And now, this is one of those things that makes you say, "HUH?"

I told you all how Portland is one of the top ten places in the country where you can walk around the city, well now they say Portland is the unhappiest place on Earth, according to Business Week. Huh???

How can this be? We have the riverwalk, the Esplanade. Portland is beautiful, an hour to the snow covered mountain, Mt. Hood, one and a half hours to the beach, 2 and a half hours to the desert, and we are smack-dab in the valley, with the Gorge being famous for windsurfing. How can anyone be unhappy here?

Cool Sights to See in Portland, Oregon

Here are a few sights to see, if you're in Portland, during December:

This is the Pioneer Place Christmas Tree.
Here are some cool old buildings:

A church in downtown Portland.

This building on 39th and Hawthorne has actual flames shooting up out of the sconces on either side of the front door of Arista. Creepy but cool, in a hot way.

Everything seems prettier during the holiday season.

Laurelhurst Park in Portland Oregon

There are so many parks in Portland - it's unbelievable. Within walking distance of my home is Mt. Tabor Park, Laurelhurst Park, Normandale Park and probably a few others.

Last Saturday was such a beautiful day we decided to take the dogs to the park to play.

Here are a few photos from our walk.

Portland, Oregon in the Fall

Portland, Oregon (the home of Powell's Books) is one of the prettiest places in the Pacific Northwest. Of course we tell people it rains all the time - to keep them from moving here ;-)

Actually, it rains in Seattle a whole lot more. Plus, Seattle seems to always have gray clouds hanging over head. And, I love Seattle.

But Portland is only an hour from the Mountains and some amazing winter sports. Mt. Hood is about 50 minutes away and offers so many ski resorts I couldn't name them all. But a few of the best known are Timberline Lodge, Mt. Hood Meadows and Ski Bowl.

Then travel an hour and a half the other direction and you'll be at the ocean.

Still, it's about two hours to the high desert, and we live smack dab in the middle of the valley.

Oh, and the Gorge, is right down the road, (hwy 84), which offers some of the best windsurfing in the world.

And Portland is the home to Forest Park, which covers over 5000 acres and is the largest city park in the country.

Only about 5 minutes from downtown Portland, Forest Park offers a 40-mile loop trail system.

And then there is still Washington Park and the Rose Gardens to see and the Japanese Gardens, and . . . there is just too much to cover it all in one blog post.

With all this to offer, it couldn't be any prettier. Plus, a river runs through it.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Just look at these photos, which I took from inside my office.