Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is located in Woodbury Oregon and it is the place to experience 40 acres of beautiful tulip field in Spring of each year! The ticket price is $5 per person or $20 per car. So if there are more than 4 people in your party, it is better to go with just one car to save money. Other than just rows and rows of tulip at Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, there are also gift shops, game facilities for the kids, and food vendors. The tulip farm usually opens from the end of March to the end of April. It is usually better to go there near the end of the season, around mid April when most of the tulips are blossom.
During the Easter weekend, we decided to head to Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm after having brunch at Reedville Cafe. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is about an hour away from Portland. Just drive down I5 and exit at Woodburn and follow the sign to Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. When we are just about 10 minutes away from the farm, we got stuck in traffic. Of course, this traffic is due to the amount of people heading to the tulip farm. The traffic was moving extremely slow. We were actually stuck in this traffic for 2 hours until we got into the tulip farm! The good thing is that finding parking is not a problem. There is a ton of parking spaces!
The tulip field at the farm is split into 2 major tulip field. We found this to be a little bit disappointing because a whole field of tulip would look a lot better. The tulips at the farm have a lot of variety of colors and are just beautiful. There are also tractor ride that take you around the farm. The ride is a great choice for senior and little babies. Several benches at the farm have been painted pink to look cute and match the tulip field. There is also a tractor being painted to pink color and attracted many girls to take pictures with! The farm also allow people to bring their pets into the tulip field. Other than just dogs, we also saw cats on leash! Just make sure the pets behave and don't damage the flowers! We saw several German Sheppard, Golden Retrievers and Labrador retrievers. Most dogs there were Labrador retrievers.
Note that there mobile washrooms at Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, but they are quite smelly and usually has a very long line up. Thus make sure to prepare for the line up! Overall, Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is a great place to go once a year! We were just hoping it has just one single tulip field instead of splitting it into many. In addition, it is recommended to go there as early as you can to avoid all the traffic. Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm does sell Photographer package that allow people to enter early to take photos to avoid the crowd. Moreover, be prepare to get your shoes dirty! If you can wear boots, then it would be the best idea to wear boots since the ground is quite muddy. Lastly, if you have an SUV, we would recommend to drive SUV there since some parking space is located in muddy grass field. Having an SUV is a better choice to avoid getting stuck in the field!
Reedville Cafe is located in Hillsboro and about 20 minutes of drive time from Portland. The restaurant opens early and closes late. It offers a wide variety of brunch menus to choose from. The restaurant itself also has bar tables for people to drink and offer happy hour menu during the weekdays for people to come for a drink and relax after a long day of work. The restaurant also has a few casino slot machines hidden in a room for people to play. Just make sure you are over 21 for that.
We have always wanted to try out the brunch menu offered at Reedville Cafe. On this Easter weekend, we decided to give it a try. We got to the restaurant around 10:30AM and we were worries that there could be a lot of people; however, we did not have to wait to be seated. The restaurant is quite large and has a lot of tables for customers. When we sat down, we were surprised to see a CRT TV in front of us! This TV is an antique! We have not seen this TV since our childhood days! This time we ordered a Crab Scramble Egg and Country Omelet. For both the scramble egg and omelet, you can choose to have 2 eggs or 4 eggs. It resembles small and large size of the plate.
The Crab Scramble Egg come with crab scrambled with scramble egg, of course. We could smell the freshness of the crab from afar. The taste of crab and egg together is also an unique experience. The plate also came with 2 pieces of bread per your choice. There are different flavors of jams on the table for people to use as well. The Country Omelet came with a bigger plate since we took the 4 egg option. The plate came with 2 pieces of bread, a hash brown, and the omelet. The has brown is fried just right. It has the crunchiness on the outside but still very juicy. We love the crunchiness of the hash brown. The omelet is covered with house made gravy on the top. The gravy is hot and sweet. Inside the omelet, there are bacon, sausage, and potato. It was an amazing omelet. Overall, Reedville offers a decent brunch menu and wide variety of selection to choose from. The restaurant also has a lot of tables for customers so people don't have to wait in line. It is a great place to go to during the weekend.
Upper McCord Creek Falls is located at Columbia Gorge in Oregon. The trail head to this waterfall is about an hour away from Portland. We took I84 and headed East and got off the highway at exit 35 and go onto Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. Then just keep going East to the end of the road and we reached the trail head. The trail to Upper McCord Creek Falls is only about 1.1 miles and it is quite easy. The trail is usually not very packed but make sure to have NW Forest Pass with you.
This trail head is also the trail head for 2 other trails including Elowah Falls and Nesmith Trail. Nesmith is a difficulty and challenging trail. Only people who are fit should take Nesmith trail. Nesmith trail has huge elevation gain. Elowah Falls is a short trial as well, but when we got to the trail today, we found that part of Elowah Falls trail have been washed off. Thus the trail to Elowah Falls is temporarily closed for hikers and we went for Upper MCCord Creek Falls instead.
While hiking along the trail to Upper McCord Creek Falls, we saw a lot of tree falling off and we had to go under the trees. There were at least 2 trees that fell off and blocking part of the trail. Some parts of the trail are also very slippery due to the rain. At around 80% of the trail, the trail goes around the rocky cliff side. The good thing is that there are metal bars on the side to prevent people from falling off. The ground is muddy and wet however, and the top of the cliff is constantly dripping water, so we walked a bit slow on this part of the trail. This is a very interesting experience and it gives an amazing view of Columbia Gorge. When we came down the trail, we also saw 2 lovely dogs! One is a Bernese Mountain Dog and the other one is a Labrador Retriever. These are the 2 of my favorite dog breeds! They seem very excited to go up and see the waterfall! Just remember to put leash on the dog since it is required for this trail. Although your dog may be friendly to people, some people are afraid of dogs and could lead to unintended injuries on this trail since some part of this trail is quite narrow. Upper McCord Creek Falls is however one of the best trail that we have been to. It is a short trail, takes you around the cliff side, goes under the tree, and leads you to an amazing waterfall. We highly recommend people to take this trail for the fun during the weekend.
Boxer Ramen is another ramen place in Portland. It has 3 locations in Portland. 1 on Alberta Street, 1 in downtown Portland, and 1 on 23rd Street in Portland Pearl District. The one we went to today is the one located on 23rd Street. Boxer Ramen on 23rd street is new and only opened recently. The location of the restaurant is across from Salt and Straw, just beside The Waiting Room. It is kind of hidden in a little corner and we would have found the restaurant if we were just taking a walk on the 23rd Street.
We got there around 1PM in the afternoon and there are many people. We were told that Boxer Ramen at other locations are usually pretty packed, thus we were surprised that there isn't any line up. It could be that this location is new so not many people know about it. This Boxer Ramen restaurant is a bit small. The restaurant can fit around 30 people. There aren't many items on the menu either, but we don't really mind since we are just here for the ramen. This time we ordered a Tonkatsu Shio Ramen and a Red Spicy Miso Ramen.
About 5 minutes later, our ramen is served! This is quite fast! It usually takes around 10 minutes at other ramen restaurants. The first thing I tried is the soup base. We like the Shio Ramen soup base. It is a little salty but still satisfies my taste buds. We don't quite like the Red Spicy Miso soup base. We were expecting it to be spicy; however, it is more like spicy and sweet taste. It just feels a bit odd when there is sweetness in the soup. We don't quite like the egg either. For people who have been to ramen restaurants, ramen is usually served with a less cooked boiled egg. This means that the egg is still quite soft and not quite hard. The egg yolk is usually not completely cooked. At Boxer Ramen, the egg is just a bit too raw. On a scale of 1 to 10, if 10 is completely cooked, then the egg at Boxer Ramen is like 3. We would like the egg to be at least cooked to medium. The pork served with ramen is a bit different from other ramen restaurant as well. We don't have a problem with this but some people might find the Portland to be a bit too thick and hard to bite. So this may turn down some people. Lastly and most importantly, the noodle is a bit too hard to chew. We would prefer the noodle to be cooked a bit longer and become a bit softer. Overall, Boxer Ramen is a good ramen place but we probably won't come here as often. We still prefer Ramen Ryoma.
Clatsop Loop Trail is an easy loop trail at Ecola State Park in Oregon. Ecola State Park is about 90 minutes West of Portland on the Oregon coast. The state park is just North of Cannon Beach. The park has a $5 day use fee or you can acquire a Oregon State Park pass then you don't need to pay the day use fee. During the weekend, many people come here for photo shoot and picnic. On this beautiful day in March, we decided to do our first hike of the season at Clatsop Loop Trail.
We had the brunch first in the morning before heading to Ecola State Park. On the way there, it was actually raining quite hard in the mountain, but we were glad that it became sunny when we got to the coast. On the way to the main parking lot along Ecola Park Road, there was a huge dip on the road! Be very careful there and don't harm your car! You should see a spray painted messages on the road that says "5MPH" and that is where the big dip is! Drive slowly and watch it for other cars! From the main parking lot, the haystack rock at Cannon Beach can be easily seen. It looks like it's raining at Cannon Beach and the scenery is just gorgeous. There were several places that are closed off for visitors due to mud slide and slipper trail, so be very careful here. Some part of the trail is very muddy and your foot could sink in. We wanted to hike to Clatsop Trail from the main parking lot but the Indian Beach Trail was closed off due to mud slide. Thus we had to drive our car to the other parking lot that is right at the trail head of Clatsop Trail.
There are 14 markers along Clatsop Loop Trail so it is very easy to follow and track where you are. The trail is very easy because of how wide the trail is and the trail is placed with gravels on top. Near the loop around point of the trail, we get to hiker's camp. The camp site does not require any reservation and it is first come first server. We did not see any campers this time however. When we got to the hiker's camp, instead of taking the loop trail back right away, we went a bit further to Tillamook Rock Lighthouse Viewpoint. The view point is only about 2 minutes away. Some part of this trail is quite muddy and there are wooden board to walk on. Be very careful when walking on the wooden board because it is quite slippery. When we are at the view point, we could see the lighthouse very clearly.
Overall, Clatsop Loop Trail is very suitable for everyone to hike. It is short and with minimal elevation gain. It is also open all year round. This trail is definitely a great place to start the hiking season!
Sweet Tomato is a buffet restaurant that offers a huge selection of choice at its salad bar and also offers lots of choice for soup, pasta, and other bakery items. Most of its selections are very healthy and are all vegetable based except on few soup selections. This is a great place to go to after having a great work out. There is a 24 Hour Fitness right next to the restaurant and I have seen many people coming to here for lunch after the work out. The restaurant does not have afternoon break either, thus I can really see myself spend the whole afternoon here to relax.
Sweet Tomato is convenient located right around Highway 26 and Cornell street. (forgot to take a picture of the restaurant sigh this time, but it should be easy to find) Thus it is very easy to get to for people coming for Portland. There is also a lot of seating in the restaurant to accommodate a lot of people. Most of the time you can just sit wherever you want, but if there is too many people, the server will guide you to the table. On this beautiful Saturday morning after a heavy rain in the Northwest, we decided to pay a visit to Sweet Tomato. We walked into the entrance and the salad bar is right in front of you. First we prepared our salad from the selection of the salad bar and then pay at the register at the end of the salad bar. Sweet Tomato often have discount coupons that is $9.99 for a person with beverages. After we paid at the register, we headed to our table.
Once we sat down at our table, we went to get our drink, soup, pastry, and pasta. The selection of the soup is amazing. It has chowder, chicken noodle, minestrone, and other soup. There are 8 different soup is total. My favorite one is corn chowder, it is just amazing! At the pasta bar, there are 3 different pasta to choose from. All these pasta are freshly cooked on the spot and very fresh! There is also a bar where bakery good is at and it has pastries, baked potatoes, and pizza. Baked potato is really good and you can add sour cream, onion, salsa, and cheese. After having completing al the main course meal, Sweet Tomato also has dessert bar with ice cream, yellow, and fruit. I like the ice cream a lot. The ice cream has 2 flavors with vanilla and chocolate. I also added some Oreo crumbles on it to have some crunchy texture. In addition, the chocolate brownie is really fresh. It was still hot and crunchy. I really love it. I am not a big fan of small muffins so I did not try any, but it should be very good too. Overall, Sweet Tomato is a great place to go to for enjoying healthy food diet and try different flavor of soup and salad!
Pho Nam is a Vietnamese Noodle restaurant located at Progress Ridge in Tigard, Oregon. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle that is served in beef soup broth with onions and bean sprout. The beef soup broth has a lot of flavor in it. Other than just selling Pho, Pho Nam also offers other Vietnamese meals such as Lemongrass Grill Chicken.
The restaurant is conveniently located at the popular Progress Ridge plaza. We love coming to Progress Ridge and spent an afternoon here. Sometimes we head to La Provence for brunch and spent the afternoon by the pond and also watch movie at Cinetopia. The New Season Market at Progress Ridge is also quite a large and popular super market that sells organic food. We came to this plaza today to buy an expansion pack of the popular board game of Catan. When we got to the toy store, there were 4 different expansion pack to choose from and at the end we chose to buy Sea Fare because this expansion can be played with other expansions as well. After we purchased the game, we headed to Pho Nam for our long waited dinner. We walked in into the restaurant and we were so lucky that there is just one empty table ready for us. We sat down quickly and ordered our dinner right away. This time we ordered a traditional Pho and Lemongrass Grill Chicken on rice.
The first dish that got delivered to the table is Lemongrass Grill Chicken. The grill chicken smelled really good and the chicken is perfectly grilled. It has the sweet taste. The only down side is that there was not a lot of chicken on the dish. I was expecting at least 1.5 times more.
The next dish is the Pho. I asked the server not to add cilantro because I do not like the taste of cilantro. After the Pho is placed on the table, I immediately put the bean sprout into the beef soup to let it cook a bit. I had a sip of the soup and it taste really good. Unlike other Pho that I have had before, the beef soup broth at Pho Nam is a bit sweeter. The sweetness in the soup actually made the soup better! I really loved it. In general, I will come to Pho Nam again because I really love the beef soup broth at this restaurant, but I don't thin Lemongrass Grill Chicken is worth the price to order.
Kukai Ramen is a popular Japanese Ramen restaurant located in Portland Oregon. Although the restaurant has Izakaya in its name, it is more like a Japanese Ramen restaurant. Kukai Ramen originates from Japan. The first Kukai Ramen was opened in Japan and it has expanded its presence world wide. Kukai now actually has several restaurant internationally outside of Japan.
Kukai Ramen in Portland is a very popular dining restaurant in Portland. Every time I go there, I always had to wait for at least 15 minutes for my table to be ready. The longest time that I have waited at Kukai Ramen was actually 40 minutes! On this very Friday, we got there around 6PM and there were already people lining up and waiting for the table. Luckily, we were told by the hostess that we only have to wait for 15 minutes since a lot of people will be leaving shortly. If I had to wait for more than 30 minutes, I would have gone shopping around in the grocery store first and wait for Kukai to text me when my table is ready. Once we got our table, we were served with 2 glasses of water. This time we decided to get a Takoyaki as appetizer, a signature Garlic Tonkasu Shoe Ramen, and a Miso Ramen.
The Takoyaki order came with 6 Takoyakis. The Takoyakis seem a little smaller than the one that you would see in Japan, but it still has great taste. One thing to watch out for is that it is extremely hot when it was delivered to the table. So make sure it cools down a bit before you take a bite!
After the appetizer, here comes the main meal. The first one is the Garlic Tonkasu Shoyu Ramen. This is the signature Ramen dish at Kukai Raman and it is amazing! I normally do not like Ramen with Shoyu flavor, however, with the garlic added to the soup base, the ramen tastes amazing! This is definitely a must try dish!
The next ramen is the Miso Ramen. The Miso Ramen is similar to the one at Ramen Ryoma. The ramen is served with miso soup base. Unlike shoyu ramen, miso ramen is not as salty. The only down side is that it does not come with garlic flavor, so I still think the signature ramen taste a lot better. Having been to both Kukai Ramen and Ramen Ryoma, it is really hard to decide which ramen restaurant is better. I definitely think Kukai's signature Garlic Shoyu Ramen is the best, but Ramen Ryoma is much cheaper and also offer great taste. Overall, both are great in my opinion!
