Oregon-Useful Information

We went on our trip to Oregon & Northern California in July of 2021. Always check websites or make a call to see if things are different now. Our kids were 9, 7 & 2 at the time. This trip wasn’t long after covid; so most of what we did was out doors; but Oregon is perfect for that!

We drove south from Portland and then over to the west to the coast to Brookings. We went down into California to see Redwood trees before driving up Oregon’s west coast and then back to Portland. 

This is one of my favorite trips I have been on.

I wish I had known:

How cold it would be on the coast. We went in July and weren’t expecting it to be quite so chilly!

Transportation:

We flew into Portland, OR & rented a car for our trip. 

When we drove into California (from Brookings, OR for day trips), some of the roads were almost tunnel-like because of all of the trees that were so thick and tall. They even required day time headlights.

We could not pump our own gas in Oregon at the time. An attendant would come out to do it for us.

Driving in Portland was not fun. Going 5 blocks seemed to take forever. Outside of Portland it was fine though.

Tips:

We were so glad we had packed jackets for the coast.

We use ROAD iD to order wristbands when our kids aren’t old enough to know our phone numbers by heart. We put their name, our names and numbers and where they’re from on them. It gives us a little more peace of mind while we’re traveling.

Laundry: 

Having laundry soap sheets for washing out swim suites or dirty hiking clothes is nice.

Toilets: 

We were on highways mostly, but there was nowhere to stop for bathrooms. Like ever. We had some close calls. Even the gas stations were just gas stations, no little store with bathrooms to go in like we’re used to in the midwest.

Shopping: 

One of my favorite things to do is to go to local grocery stores to get our snacks. It is so fun to try foods that are popular where we are. It is always a good idea to take reusable bags with you. Some places will have you buy a reusable bag if you do not have one.

The best parts:

The Redwoods were by far my favorite part of the trip. You just feel so tiny. They are amazing.  Some of the redwoods we saw, on day trips from Brookings, OR, were in California. So they will be under the California section of this website.

Hiking

Seeing different plants and things they grew

Random Things:

They had palm trees in some places along the coast. 

We also saw fields of things growing we just don’t see at home (midwest). Pear trees, blueberry farms, fields of lavender and poppies.

The internet was almost nowhere when driving, probably because of the trees, when we went.

There were tons of logging trucks on the roads. 

One of our motels (on the coast) had a tsunami evacuation route paper laying on the table and telling what would happen and such if one hit. Yikes! It was good to know the evacuation route though if that had been an issue.