Day 16-18: Portland, Oregon

I'm almost done here guys!  Ok, so in Portland we basically ate and shopped through the 2 full days we were there.  It was our first time in Portland and even though it rained the whole time I loved it (but man, that rain does not let up!).

First stop when we got in that night, a nice hot bowl of ramen.  We just picked a neighborhood close to our RV park and picked a restaurant through yelp.  It was awesome.  Good food and no wait.  A place like this in SF would require at least a half an hour wait.

Then we stopped by Salt and Straw for some local ice cream.  I remember it being good, but I can't remember what I ordered...

The next morning we had Pine State Biscuits.  So yummy and again, no wait!

Stopped by the local Whole Foods Market where they had a refrigerated beer room.  A whole room for just chilled beer!  Amazing!!!!!

Another lunch at Laurelhurst Market (I think...I can't seem to remember since there were so many good places to eat in Portland).

This is a good reminder of the calories before you start drinking!  Only in Portland?

And then DOOONNUUUTTS!!

At Blue Star Bakery-they're so good! (p.s. Voodoo donuts are over-rated)

Creme Brûlée donut

And then dinner at our last night in Portland.  Super cute outdoor market/eating area complete with airstreams!

We then ate at PokPok which is just down the street.  Again, no wait!  Portland was by far my favorite big city on the trip and I can't wait to go back.  Even with 2 days there I feel like we missed so much!

Day 8: Salt Lake City

On day 8, we finally left the Zion RV River Resort and headed to Salt Lake City, which was about a 5 hour drive when towing and taking gas breaks.  We got into SLC late in the afternoon.

The dogs enjoying the ride.  Ellie's new favorite sleeping position, on Hachi's back.

First stop was the Wasatch Brewery in the Sugarhouse neighborhood for some craft beer.  It was interesting since Utah has some of the strictest alcohol laws, being a Mormon state and all.  Some of the things we learned about alcohol in Utah: 1) All beer sold in restaurants have to be lower than 4% ABV, 2) you can't have a sampler because you can't be served more than one beer at a time 3) if you purchase a growler, you can't have any other glasses of beer on the same tab. 

But the decor was nice.  We went in for a late lunch/early dinner at like 3pm so it was basically empty, except for some "hard core" Utahns drinking 4% ABV beer at the bar.

Then we went to City Creek Center, a brand new shopping mall next to the main Mormon campus and owned by the LDS church, to get my consumerist non-nature fix for the week (though the shops were not great--just boring chain stores that can be found everywhere).  But the mall was pretty cool in that it's an open air mall but has a retractable glass roof to enclose the mall during winter months.  

And that's it for day 8.  Next stop: Wyoming!