Reston

We were sad to leave Portland and even sadder on the flight over night to Washington DC, via Newark. The overnight flight was hell. The seats didn't recline at all, the flight was packed, and the guy sitting next to me liked to spread out. Plus I wasn't felling very well (my stomach problems were back) so I felt violently sick all night. 

The flight from Newark to Washington was short and the views were nice, which thankfully, along with the use of headphones, helped to ignore the demon child on the plane, who screamed blue murder the entire flight. His parents didn't helping, getting out of their seats frequently to try to do something about him, including when the plane was attempting to take off. 

Leaving Newark

Approaching DC.

When we got there, we begged the lovely lady at the hotel to let us into our rooms early, which she did. I got an hours rest, unpacked (my suitcase made the trip successful this time) and a little nap, before we headed out to Reston. We were staying near Dulles airport, in Reston VA where our offices are located. First thing we found somewhere to eat. The lady at the desk has suggested somewhere to eat and even given us some vouchers. So we started with Mimosas.

Mimosa.

Then we ordered a seafood feast. I also convinced Demi to try Biscuits and gravy. She said it wasn't too bad but was not impressed. My tuna was amazing.

We had a wonder around Reston to find a supermarket and a bit of shopping. Reston is weird, like a gated planned community sort of weird. But it was very clean and it seems like pedestrians have right of way, which is almost unheard of in the US.

We need up back at the hotel for early nights as we at work the next day, so I enjoyed my treats from the supermarket and watched US netflix, which is so much better than the UK one. I miss it already.

Around Portland, Oregon

We arrived in Portland on the Saturday so had a free day to explore. We booked a trip to see some of the sights and waterfalls and it turned out we were the only ones on it so got to ask lots of questions. 

The first stop was a lookout over the river.

We got to see Vista Point rest stop at Crown Point on the Columbia River Gorge. (Washington State is on the other side of the river.) It was built as a memorial to the early Oregon pioneers, and is the fanciest rest stop I have ever seen.

View down river at Vista Point

Up river.

Vista Point.

Ceiling inside. 

Obviously a Trump supporter. (He had a sicker too.)

After this, we headed to a group of waterfalls along the historic highway. The first was Latourell falls.

Latourell Falls.

The largest waterfall was the one I wanted to see the most, Multnomah Falls. I have seen photos of it for years. According to Native law, it was created to win the heart of a young princess who wanted a hidden place to bathe.

It is the tallest waterfall in Oregon, over 2 levels with Benson Bridge spanning the middle. (The bridge was named after Simon Benson, a prominent business man who gave the waterfall to the city of Portland and was did a lot for the city in general.)

On the bridge

First tier

Looking down over the second tier.

We were really glad we were there in the Winter. We saw some photos of it int he summer and we wouldn't have been able to get close. But on a semi-raining day (typical of Oregon and Washington state) in winter, there weren't too many people around, though the car park was still full.

The next stop was Horse Tail falls. And there is another one above called Pony tail falls. You can't see it from there, but we did get a glimpse from the road later on.

Horse Tail falls.

We headed down to the river and around some of the docking areas. At one of the areas, there were a lot of brass statues. I really want one like this in my garden when I get one.

The weather mostly held off and only rained when we were in the car. But the cloud cover was quite dramatic. 

The last stop was at the hydro-electric dam. It was an odd stop but interesting. We went into and saw how they built it and how they make sure the fish can still get up and down the river. 

We saw some pretty big fish. They have a lot of salmon around the around and we stopped by a local fish shop owned by a native American family where they caught and smoked their own fish. It was amazing and I brought some which become my breakfast for the next few days.
We got dropped back off at the hotel in time to head to a bar to catch the Super Bowl.

Portland

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a business trip to out other offices in the States and I took my grad Demi with me. The trip out there started with a 11.5 hr trip to San Fransisco but it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We upgraded to premium economy as it was amazing! I have never had so much room on a flight. The seat even had a foot rest that came up. 

We had about 3 hrs in San Fransisco before our next flight to Portland so found a nice little bar to try some California wines.

My Pinot Noir wine flight

We got to the hotel early evening on the Saturday. It was later than expected as I had to spend some time tracking down my suitcase which went on a little adventure. It finally got delivered to the hotel 24 hrs later. Luckily I had a few bits in my hand luggage and did a bit of hand washing that night so I didn't smell too badly the next day. I hope.

The hotel was very nice (a perk of travelling for business - there was no way I could afford it myself) and was wine themed. That was a coincidence I swear. 

Unusual hotel room art.

More wine theme.

One of the hotel's bars. Yes, just one of them.

On the Sunday afternoon it was the Super Bowl so after our tour (which will be in another post) we found a bar to watch the game and grab something to eat. This was Demi's first time in the states so I tried to expose her to as much 'American" as possible. As this was a typical American bar. The game was seriously boring but we had good fun people watching. Some of them were quite intense. At the end there was a raffle and Demi won a snow board. She was not very amused at this - it was as big as she is - and to the disgust of everyone who heard the story, she exchanged it with another winner for a  T-shirt. 

A winner!

Over the week, we were working so spent most of the time in the office. The food in Portland is amazing and most lunch times we wondered over and tried some of the different food carts. The chefs will use the food carts to try out new recipes etc so the food is awesome.
And on an evening before dinner we often headed to the bar. Yes our Portland office has it's own bar upstairs. You just help yourself. In London we can't always even get enough milk for our tea. Seems a little unfair.

Office bar.