Portland is Oregon's largest city. It is located in Northwest Oregon. Portland sits on the Columbia and Willamette River in the shadow of snow-capped Mount Hood. The weather in Portland is warmer than it is in Illinois. Portland's weather in the winter doesn't usually go below 35 degrees, and in the summer, it can reach up to 80 or 90 degrees. The city of Portland is located in the PST time zone. PST stands for "Pacific Standard Time". There time is two hours behind CST ( Central Standard Time).
History Of Portland
Portland was founded in 1845 by Amos Lovejoy, from Massachusetts, and Fransis Pettygrove, from Maine. Lovejoy wanted to name the land after his hometown, Boston, and Pettygrove wanted to name it after his hometown, Portland. They flipped a coin and Pettygrove won. That is how Portland got it's name. In the 1850's, Portland, Oregon was a place to get supplies during the California Gold Rush. After the California Gold Rush ended, Portland's population grew. It also grew do to the development of it's salmon, lumber industries, and railroads.
Cultural Information
Everyday there is a event going on in Portland. Some of the most traditional and popular events are the Rose Festival and the Christmas Festival of Lights. The Rose Festival is in downtown Portland. In 1905 the mayor of the town, at that time, came up with the idea to have a festival for flowers. He succeeded with making that happen and called it the Rose Festival. Ever since the Festival, Portland was known as the City of Roses. Portland has a huge parade for this event. Citizens will walk down the main roads of Portland and stop at little stores. There is is many interesting things at these stores. They have all different kinds of flowers that are sold and for decoration. The Christmas Festival of Lights is the most popular festival in Portland. It only comes around for a short time around Christmas. It is the largest Christmas choral festival in Oregon. This festival is a walk through event. It is about a quarter of a mile long walk. There are lights hanging from the trees and Christmas music playing. Once you get to the end of the trail, there are many things to do. The Christmas Festival of Lights has nearly 160 indoor holiday concert. They also have a large petting zoo. There is also a huge gift shop full of Christmas related things. Both of these events are colorful and filled with fun.
Things To Do
Cannon Beach has a beautiful view of the Pacific ocean. It is located on the edge of West Oregon in the town of Seaside. There is also whale watching at Cannon Beach. There are many tours you can go on. The people in Oregon don't call it a beach, they call it "the coast" because of how cold the water is. Throughout the whole year, the water doesn't usually raise above 15 or 20 degrees.
The Picture above is called Multnomah Falls. It is located near the Columbia River Gorge in Troutdale, Oregon. It is only a 30 minutes drive outside of Portland. Just over the waterfall is a highway. There is a steep path that hikes down through the side of the waterfall. Halfway down the water fall, there is a bridge you can walk across. If you don't want to walk down through the path, there is a back road that will take you straight to the bottom of the waterfall. At the bottom, they have a restaurant called Multnomah Falls Lodge. They have great food there and treat you kind. There are tables by a window that has a perfect view of the Multnomah Waterfall.
This is the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It is located just outside of Portland in the town of Newport. There is many things to do there. There are tours you can schedule and a behind the scenes. The behind the scenes allows you to touch and see animals that nobody else is allowed to see. Oregon Coast Aquarium doesn't just only have sea life. They also have a huge outdoor area with land animals. The most popular thing to do there is to go through the tunnels. You can walk through multiple tunnels that surround you with glass and on the outside is sea life. All different kinds of fish will swim around the glass. There is even a tunnel with all different kinds of sharks swimming around you. It is an fascinating experience. You can rent the tunnel area after hours to sleep in or enjoy the area by yourself or with family. Many people have been renting this area for birthday parties and sleep overs.