VAN LIFE in OREGON (a happy ending)

So I read online that this is officially the smallest park in the world. It's called Mills End Park. And that's it. That's the whole park.

We're Karen Nate and we spent the last four years traveling to 100 countries. But 2020 brought us back to the US where we bought a converted sprinter van to explore our own backyard. A few days ago we arrived in Oregon and we spent our first few nights here living in this incredible treehouse. This week we're driving our van across the state to explore the highlights from Mount Hood all the way to the stunning Cannon Beach.

Off to a rough start, plan B. It's been raining every day since we've driven into this state. But today is the first day that the forecast is calling for nothing but sunshine. So we're about to go on a short hike and hopefully get an incredible view of mountain.

Well, it's been an incredibly beautiful hike, but the finale wasn't exactly what we were hoping for. I planned this hike pretty quickly, so when we got here I was like, I'm pretty sure we were supposed to be able to see Mount Hood from here. So I pulled up a picture off the Internet and that's what we should be seeing right now. But instead.

The rest of the sky is blue though.

Well, we were hoping if we stuck around long enough, we would catch a little glimpse of Mount Hood. But we're going to give it one more try.

So we've come up to the Timberline Lodge, which sits right at the base of Mount Hood. And we're going to kill a little time here hoping that the clouds clear.

So this lodge was built in the 1930s, so it kind of has that old spooky vibe to it. And we learned that it was actually used for the exterior shots of the Overlook Hotel and the Shining.

Here's Johnny.

This has kind of been the year of the Shining for us because earlier this year we ran the Estes park at the Stanley, which is where Stephen King stayed when he was inspired to write the book in the first place. I also learned that the producer of the movie was asked not to use room 217 because they thought it would scare off future guests at this hotel. So instead he used room 237, which is a non existent room. But now 217 is the most requested room to book in the lodge.

Well, the weather's only deteriorated since we've gotten here. And there's one more thing we really want to see today. So.

We'Ve just driven about an hour into the Columbia River Gorge, which is absolutely, absolutely beautiful. And we're going to go on another short hike to the tallest waterfall in the state.

Wow. I feel like I've seen this place a thousand times on Instagram, but it's a lot more impressive in person.

So this waterfall is not only the tallest in Oregon, but it is the second tallest year round waterfall in all of the US and we're only like two minutes from the parking lot.

Unfortunately, the really cool hike up to the bridge is closed. But as of right now, we have this place all to ourselves.

Two million people per year come here and somehow we timed it perfectly and we didn't even get up at 5 in the morning. That's the best part.

Thank you very much.

Hey, I was hoping I could speak to a manager about staying overnight in the parking lot.

Do overnight staying.

So three different RV parks have turned us away because their restrooms are closed due to Covid and we don't have a black water tank. And apparently our composting toilet isn't enough. Now this RV park is full. So we called around to some Walmarts and they said we couldn't stay there either. So not sure where we're going to sleep tonight.

Me either.

You're welcome to night.

Yay. We have somewhere to sleep tonight. Walmart number three. I literally didn't know what we were gonna do. The last thing I wanted to do is like sleep on a random road and have to worry about somebody waking me up all night. We're not good like stealth van lifers.

I can't believe how long that just took.

It's interesting the different approaches that states are taking to dealing with COVID and I think Oregon is the most strict state that we've encountered.

Well, the Walmart parking lot was good to us, minus the giant loud machine that drove around our van cleaning the parking lot all night. But I think that was just poor timing. We're about to drive into Portland and hopefully find some donuts.

So I asked the Internet for some donut recommendations in Portland, which brought out some very strong opinions. And it's my understanding that Voodoo Donuts is kind of the shop that put the Portland doughnut scene on the map. It's also the most popular and the most touristy, and a lot of people told us to avoid it. But then there were also quite a few people who said, don't let people tell you it's overrated. So it's all very confusing. But there were two other local recommendations that we got over and over again. So I'm just Using this as an excuse to try all three. This is all in the name of research so that if you ever come to Portland, you'll know which one to go to. You'll know which one to spin your stomach spin on. That's the main concern here.

All right, now we're down to two, and there's less of a chance that I have a belly ache after this is all over.

All right. Voodoo donuts it is. I didn't do a lot of research before we started today. If you can't tell, I'm sorry.

All right, we've made it to downtown port Portland. We think we found a safe place to park the van, and we are walking across town for try number three and putting some donuts in my belt.

Okay, so this city has a slogan, and it's keep Portland weird. And in that vein, I thought this would be a good thing to highlight in the city. Mills Inn Park. This is the park, and it is officially the smallest park in the world.

Are you serious? I love that. This is so weird.

It's open. There's a line about to get some donuts.

Really had to put some effort in to get the donuts today. Not only is this the third place we've come, but this area of town is kind of scary. Look, I'm kind of putting my wife in danger for these donuts. How am I ever gonna choose?

And then there's partling cream and maple cream.

Both have bavarian cream. This was such a hard decision. That is way too many donuts for one person. Thank you so much. Have a great day. I'm so excited about this.

Whether they're overrated or not, I'm super excited to be here. I. I grew up watching the travel channel, and I feel like this place was always on it. And so to be here with our own travel channel, in a sense.

It'S just kind of cool. At this point, I'm very glad that the other two donut shops weren't open, because I definitely would have made myself sick today.

That is so good looking.

It was worth venturing into the sketchy part of town for this donut.

That's a really good donut if you're new around here. I don't eat donuts or breakfast in general, which is why Nate got three giant ones to himself.

I think as a local, it's really easy to get, like, cynical when something gets popular. But these donuts are delicious, and I would say definitely not overrated. Look how big that apple fritter is. That's like, the size of my head. Consider myself a bit of a donut connoisseur. And an apple fritter is my go to. So this will be a good test for how voodoo donuts truly stacks up. I have my expectations lowered by a lot of people on the Internet, but these are really good donuts. The outside with the glaze is nice and crispy. The inside is mushy and warm with real chunks of apple. I think they're fantastic.

I'm gonna say it. These are the best donuts I've had in my entire life. I'm all about finding hidden gems, but sometimes the most popular places are popular for a reason, and I think that's the case of voodoo dungeon. Best donuts in my life. Oh, man.

Congratulations.

I was ready to be disappointed.

What do I get to eat now?

Portland has a giant food truck scene, and they all congregate in these little pods, and we just found one of them. I got a falafel gyro from an Iraqi food truck solely because it was Iraqi. And we went last year and had the best time and the best food. The guy who made it was just as nice as all the people we met when we were there. Traveling through food right now.

So we had quite a few people tell us not to come to Portland right now, but we have a lot of people tell us a lot of places we should and shouldn't visit. And we like to give places a chance no matter what.

Not that there wasn't good. The donuts were great.

That was wild.

So we're putting the finishing touches on this video, and we're realizing that this debrief got really long, and we were probably a little too negative on the city of Portland. What we can say is that we understand why people would tell us not to visit at least the city center at this time. This city is going through a lot at the moment, and it's probably not the best time to be visiting as a tourist and forming a first impression of the city as a whole. We're being completely honest from an outsider's perspective, the city felt pretty dead. It seemed like most of the things were closed. And a lot of the people that we did interact with on the street.

Let'S just say they weren't the type of people that you want being ambassadors for your city. With that said, had I done better research or how we had a local to show us around the right spots, I'm sure we could have had a much better experience.

I think the reason that I felt the need to interrupt this video Was that as crazy as it feels to us, we know that our opinion carries a lot of weight just due to the number of people that are gonna see this video. And we felt like it was unfair to the city of Portland that we didn't do a better job of showing a complete picture. At the same time, we didn't want it to look like we just waltzed into the city and had this incredible time, and then it was on to the next place.

There's some kind of delicate balance that we're trying to strike, and I think that's what I'm trying to do here that I don't feel like I'm doing a very good job of or it's just late, and I'm trying to make sense of all of this, and I'm going to regret it in the morning after we hit publish. All right, we're going to continue heading west.

Foreign.

So we've made about an hour west of Portland, and tonight we're staying at a Harvest Host, which is a winery that lets you stay for free with the understanding that you'll have a tasting and buy a bottle. It's a win win for everybody. And normally you just get, like, a free place to stay in the parking lot, which is incredible. But this place is gone over and above. They have outlets for us to plug our camper in. They have water, which is great because our tank is completely empty. Free WI fi and.

Dumpsters. All the little things that you take for granted when you don't live in a van.

We have been traveling with so much trash for, like, a week because we just didn't have anywhere to throw it away. Like, we've been staying at places like this, and not only do they have dumpsters, one of them's recycling. So we didn't even have to throw away all of our boxes. I seriously.

If you're watching this, I challenge you to live for just one day. Putting every bit of trash that you use into something this big, and then you'll realize how much trash you produce in just a single day. It's crazy. It's changed my life. I thought we were living small before, but we were just throwing away trash and all the different trash cans. We had no idea.

It's left over from the treehouse.

No, you need this one. Yay.

I'm gonna burn it some more. The one thing in life Nate and I will never agree on. Burnt marshmallows.

So good.

There is an art to it.

Yeah.

Can't just light it on fire immediately. You gotta, like, get it mushy on the inside for a little while and then just like sear the outside really quick.

Morning, we can't get our heater to turn on and it's, hey, Siri, what's the temperature?

It's 34 degrees outside.

It's cold.

Why?

I slept surprisingly well last night, but it was not easy to get out of bed.

I haven't gotten out of bed yet.

With that said.

Eating my leftover voodoo donuts this morning. So I'm very happy.

It has turned into a gorgeous day, which is perfect because we are finally en route to the Oregon coast.

My first time ever on the west coast right here. I'm so happy right now.

After leaving Tennessee, it took us four months to get here, but we have finally made it to the west coast. This is Cannon beach and it is absolutely beautiful. We just drove through this forest where trees were hanging over the road for an hour and then just pretty much popped out at the ocean.

The beach is massive. The rocks coming out of the water, absolutely beautiful. But even though it's sunny, it is deceivingly cold.

I still love it though.

That breeze just cuts right through you. I had all intentions of sticking my feet in the Pacific Ocean, but probably not.

We just walked into the little town of Cannon, grabbed some coffees, and I cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon.

So we actually planned ahead and have a place booked to sleep tonight. But even though we did our research, we still couldn't find anything around Canna Beach. So we're driving about 30 minutes south to Nahalam Bay.

We made it to our campsite, made a quick hot chocolate, and now we're running to the beach before the sun goes down.

I don't think it gets much better than this. I'm pretty blown away with the Oregon coast and this beach is just as beautiful as Cannon beach minus the big rocks jutting up out of the water. But there are no people here.

And what's crazy is how far you can see. That's just like nature.

The beach just goes on forever.

Sand dunes, mountains, trees. I don't see a single building for miles.

And then the beach just runs right into this super thick old growth forest covered in ferns that fills a planet away from the ocean.

We really let this get out of hand.

That is. I don't think it did big.

I can't even pick it up. It's just gonna link at the most cinematic Walmart shot you've ever seen.

I cannot emphasize enough how good these are. Like if you just want a straight up sugar rush. You have a very high wheat tolerance. This is the place for you. I just described myself. This is the place for me.

I'm not sure if I've ever seen Nate this passionate about anything. Last night, Nate said, I think I'm gonna go ahead and go to sleep so I can wake up.

I still have one more I'm saving for tomorrow. I made carry coffee, but it was too cold to.

I think that might have been our coldest night.

We both slept in our clothes and our beanie.

It was like we were camping.

I woke up this morning and Nate brought me my puffy jacket along with my coffee.

It's pretty comfortable in a puffy jacket under the sleeping bag, though. Yeah.

What? You happy?

Even the drive here is. It was appropriately named the scenic trees to seas Scenic something Scenic road, highway.