Free Wine Tasting (Part 5) : Willamette Valley, Oregon
Welcome back to Part 5 of my free wine tasting series! We are going to continue on with the famous Willamette Valley since it was too long to fit all in one blog post last time. If you are interested, you can find the first Willamette Valley post here. The day that we visited these wineries, it was, unfortunately, raining all day. It seems that I can't get away from bad weather. First, it was
The Nines Hotel : Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts
On our last Oregon trip, we decided to stay at The Nines Hotel in Portland using our Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts benefit. I know of The Nines Hotel because of a previous trip I took years ago when it was still part of SPG. Today, the Nines Hotel is under the Marriott brand and is part of the Luxury Collection Hotel sub-brand. I haven't been to this hotel in probably five years so I
Free Wine Tasting (Part 4) : Willamette Valley, Oregon
In Part 4 of our Alaska Airlines Free Wine Tasting series, we are now going to visit the famous Willamette Valley, Oregon! Yes, the prestigious land of pinot noirs. A lot of people don’t know about this region, but it’s just as reputable as Napa or Sonoma. If you didn’t know, it’s actually pronounced “Will-AM-it” as in “Will-AM-it, dammit!” In the beginning, I was pronouncing it the wrong way and was literally practicing for weeks
Free Wine Tasting (Part 3) : Hood River, Oregon
In Part 3 of our Alaska Airlines Free Wine Tasting series, we are going to visit Hood River, Oregon! As a quick reminder, the way to get the free wine tasting is that you must have flown on Alaska Airlines from one of the 30 participating airports and will visit one of the listed Oregon or Washington wineries within a certain amount of days. You must be a Mileage Plan member and be able to
Best Waterfall Hikes in Umpqua National Forest
Umpqua National Forest is filled with an abundance of waterfall hikes and it was hard deciding on which ones we wanted to do. The day we landed in Portland, we decided that we were going to drive down and spend the night in a city closer to Umpqua National Forest. We were flipping back and forth between staying in Eugene (+2 hours away from Umpqua) or staying in Roseburg (+1 hour away). We originally decided
Photography Series: Toketee Falls
When we first planned our Oregon trip, I knew that I wanted to visit Toketee Falls. I saw a lot of amazing photos and I couldn't help but want one for myself. When I was researching Toketee Falls and how to get to the bottom, I couldn't find that much information on it. I figured that I must not be the only person so I thought I would start a Photography Series on how I
Free Wine Tasting (Part 2) : Umpqua Valley, Oregon
In Part 2 of our Alaska Airlines Free Wine Tasting series, we are going to explore Umpqua Valley, Oregon. As a quick reminder, the way to get the free wine tasting is if you’ve flown on Alaska Airlines from one of the 30 participating airports and will visit one of the listed wineries within a certain amount of days. You can find more detailed information on Part 1 of the series here. Umpqua Valley is not
Harriman Springs Resort and Marina
Harriman Springs Resort and Marina is an incredible place to stay if you are looking for accommodations around Crater Lake. Granted, it's an hour away from the park, but the resort ended up being one of the highlights of our trip. Crater Lake only has two hotels: Crater Lake Lodge and Mazama Village Campground & Cabins. I've heard that these two places get booked out months in advance and it was true for us. Both
Crater Lake National Park One-Day Itinerary
I know a one-day itinerary seems very short for Crater Lake National Park, but it's totally possible. When you're on a short vacation, you want to fit in as much as possible, right? Luckily, I've done all the leg work for you. We actually planned to go in the day before, but by the time we got up and drove to the park, it was already 2:30 p.m. We also waited another hour because there
Free Wine Tasting (Part 1) : Rogue Valley, Oregon
I love wine. I can’t tell you how much money I’ve spent on wine because I’ll probably start getting depressed. Just kidding. Even though I’m no expert in wine, it’s something I’ve taken a liking to in the past couple of years. I hate going to a restaurant and not being able to pick a wine bottle that I know I would like. So, for the past couple of years, I’ve decided to slowly educate