NHG: Anyone from Portland?

[mrs.jacinthe]

Who can tell me WTH is going on in Portland on the week of August 4th?  We're trying to take a little mini-vacation after my swim next weekend, so we're looking at hotels.  They're reasonably priced over the weekend, then BAM! SUPER EXPENSIVE HOTELS all week.  I don't want to stay in Motel 6 (I'm more a 4* kinda girl) but we cannot afford $400+/night right now.  

Any other ideas/suggestions?  We've been trying priceline, but so far no dice.

[mrs.jacinthe]

atlas ... AHHHH. That's probably the problem. We were really hoping to stay downtown (due to the proliferation of nice hotels down there). We're actually coming FROM Bend (where my race is). It's a possibility that we could just stay there two extra days, but I was really hoping for Portland.

What suburbs/neighborhoods should we be looking at? We're interested in easy access to public transportation and (obviously) a safe neighborhood. Quirky/arty is a plus.

[mrs.jacinthe]

ALL the McMenamins Portland properties are sold out that week. Ugh. I'm kinda bummed about that.

The race is this series: www.comaswim.org/cascade_lakes/about.htm They're in late-registrations now, but if you want to join, I'd be happy to GTG!

[mrs.jacinthe]

Jul 25, 2014 17:41:25 GMT -5 @juno said:

What about the Columbia River Gorge/Hood River? It's a little inland, but we had a really awesome time there. Waterfalls EVERYWHERE and some great hiking.

Can you recommend me a hotel there (or even a city/town to search)?  

That sounds marvelous, and I hear there's wine.  LOL

[stellarose]

You would need a car to stay in hood river. What about a bed and breakfast near McMinnville? Lots of vineyards down there. You would also need a car there.
Have you looked at vrbo.com? You might get a nice quirky house close to the max line too.

[InBetweenDays]

Ahem, can't believe this isn't top news. But it's also the week of StormCon - only one of the biggest conferences on stormwater I'm presenting Tuesday afternoon if interested .

[mrs.jacinthe]

Jul 27, 2014 20:24:26 GMT -5 stellarose said:

You would need a car to stay in hood river. What about a bed and breakfast near McMinnville? Lots of vineyards down there. You would also need a car there.
Have you looked at vrbo.com? You might get a nice quirky house close to the max line too.

We have a car - we will be driving up there.  But if we go to Portland, we would rather take public transit than deal with parking and driving in a city.  That's *usually* our preference regardless of the city, especially if the public transit system is a good one.

[stellarose]

Jul 28, 2014 9:53:34 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

Jul 27, 2014 20:24:26 GMT -5 stellarose said:

You would need a car to stay in hood river. What about a bed and breakfast near McMinnville? Lots of vineyards down there. You would also need a car there.
Have you looked at vrbo.com? You might get a nice quirky house close to the max line too.

We have a car - we will be driving up there.  But if we go to Portland, we would rather take public transit than deal with parking and driving in a city.  That's *usually* our preference regardless of the city, especially if the public transit system is a good one.

Have a good time!

[treedimensional]

My initial reaction was 'Maine or Oregon?' but I came to the game late.