Visiting Portland for First Time and Need Advice (Astoria, Seaside: rental car, rental)

[CardsfanfromBoston]

Hello!

My wife and I are excited to visit Portland in mid-November. We have three full days; four nights.

My thought (please tell me if I'm on the right/wrong track): spend two days in the city exploring and then on the third day, rent a car and explore the Columbia River Gorge, Astoria, Cannon Beach, then return rental car and stay at an airport hotel since we leave early the next morning. I realize that this will be a loaded day, but I'd really like to get out of the city and explore some of these areas.

A few questions:

1) Is it possible to do a day exploring those areas or is that just too much? Any other recommendations for a rental car day?

2) What would be a good itinerary for the two days in the city?

3) Most important: I love to read novels about an area before/while visiting them to help me better get to know the place. Are there any really good novels that capture some of the interesting things about the city? I don't really care about the genre - just fun reads that help me get into an area.

[borntorun1180]

Sounds like a good plan, though the Gorge and the North Coast are each their own day, so you are probably gonna have to pick one or the other because you can easily spend an entire day in Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach, and everything else over in that area.

[CanuckInPortland]

You can explore Astoria and Cannon Beach the same day--but the Columbia Gorge is the other direction and would take too much time to throw in a coastal day trip. The coast is a long day(1.5 hours each way, also about an hour from Astoria to Cannon Beach).

If you can't do a full day for the Columbia Gorge-Hood River Valley-Mt. Hood loop(well worth it IMO)--I'd do a morning or afternoon daytrip to Crown Point, Multnomah Falls and some portion of the Old Columbia River Highway. But the loop through the Hood River Valley and up to Timberline Lodge is my favorite trip for out of town visitors.

[j_k_k]

The previous poster is correct. By and large, it's hard to combine proper sightseeing east of Portland with that west of Portland in the same day. Each is well worth its own day lived to the fullest.

The only novel I know of about the area is the Emberverse series by S.M. Stirling. You'd begin with Dies the Fire. However, I'd be a bad person if I did not point out that it was a dystopian post-apocalyptic tale. I mention it because one can definitely tell that Stirling is familiar with this region and its quirks.

[borntorun1180]

Chuck Palahnuik wrote a great book of what Portland use to be like back in the 90's when he lived here.

Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (Crown Journeys): Chuck Palahniuk: 9781400047833: Amazon.com: Books

[CardsfanfromBoston]

Good advice - so which would be better: See the sites west on the coast or stick with the Gorge and sites near that area? Tough choice and no wrong answer I'm sure but still would like to hear....

[bler144]

As you note, there's no wrong answer.

Depends on what you want to do more and how much you want to drive. Multnomah Falls is about 30 min from the airport and voila, you're well into the gorge at that point. A bit longer drive if you take the scenic route past the Vista House.

But the main reason to do the gorge is to get out and hike, or at least make the drive up to Timberline lodge.

The coast requires more driving, but imo offers a wider variety of activities overall.

[borntorun1180]

Originally Posted by CardsfanfromBoston

Good advice - so which would be better: See the sites west on the coast or stick with the Gorge and sites near that area? Tough choice and no wrong answer I'm sure but still would like to hear....

Flip a coin and pick, both are great options.

[SETabor]

Other books with Portland include the Wildwood series which is a kids/young adult trilogy written by Colin Melloy of the Decemberists. Also, the Chelsea Cain books about a serial killer in Portland. For more classic Oregon literature there's Sometimes a Great Notion.

[CanuckInPortland]

While it's not about Portland, if you're interested in the history of this area, the book Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival, is a good non-fiction account of how rugged the Northwest was as far as European/American settlement at one point.