Week One As An Oregonian

Cole at Indian Beach

I have officially been an Oregonian for one week now and what a week it has been!!  As you know, I spent my first full day here on the northern coast exploring Indian Beach (at Ecola State Park), Seaside, Astoria and even a bit of southern Washington.

Since then, I ran a bunch of errands while I still had the rental car and learned that you cannot trust a GPS to not send you down the wrong way of a one way street.   Luckily, navigating the light rail system has proven to be a bit easier.

View of Willamette River from the train

I have found many exciting jobs online and have two interviews already scheduled for next week.  I have also found a couple of volunteer opportunities that I am pursuing as well.  I contacted Oregon Wild and have a meeting scheduled next week to discuss how I will help plan their annual fundraiser.  I also am meeting with the folks at the Portland Film Festival to help plan their kick-off and closing parties as well as do some photography at the festival later this summer.

I have joined several Meetup groups that either focus on hiking, photography, dogs or general socializing and am looking forward to several upcoming events next week: hiking at Mount Tabor on Wednesday morning and then wine tasting that night, a pug specific event at the dog park in Tigard on Saturday and hiking Washington Park to Pittock Mansion with a tour of the Japanese Garden on Sunday.

I met up with a friend in Hillsboro on Saturday for a drive in the country through some small towns.  This led us to Carlton where we checked out the festival that was happening, had lunch at Barrel 47 and then stopped for some wine and dessert on The Horse Radish Cheese and Wine Bar‘s outdoor patio before heading back to Portland.

Renae and I in Carlton

I have visited the dog park several times this week and Cole is loving that.  The Normandale Park has a small-dog-specific area that attracts a great variety of smaller dogs.  Everything from Chihuahua’s to Silkie’s to Scottie’s to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and everything in between.   There seems to be little drama among the dogs so it is quite fun to watch them run and play together. 

Cole making dog friends at Normandale Park

The bed I ordered earlier this week arrived yesterday and I am happy to report it is so comfortable, I decided to sneak in a nap this afternoon just to enjoy it a little more.  Unfortunately that cut into the time I had set aside to explore Laurelhurst Park but I am sure I will find time another day to do that.   

This coming Friday is the 4th of July so I will be heading to the coast, hopefully with a friend, to Manzanita for the parade and fireworks.  This is something I’ve wanted to do for several years now so it is pretty cool that it will finally be happening in just a few days.

Stay tuned as I continue to explore this amazing city and the beautiful areas that surround it!!