Hey All,
Midterms are slowly beginning to slow down so I can finally tell you about my Spring Break. I decided to break it up into two parts, half of which I would go car-camping, and the other traveling to Portland, Oregon. In retrospect this made my break very busy and let me really make the most out of the free week!
At the beginning of break, a few friends and I decided to go car-camping in Malibu, CA for a couple days. Some of them had never been camping so this was their introduction. What better way to first learn about camping than along the beautiful Pacific Coast Highway and the Malibu cliffs! We grabbed groceries in Santa Monica before driving the rest of the way to Leo Carrillo Beach and Campgrounds. Our campsite was less than a 2 minute walk to the beach and the weather was perfect. It was hot enough for the beach, but not too cold at night where everyone was miserable. We explored the tide pools around the rock formations dotting the beach and even managed to catch a few crabs in the process! Afterwards it was quite the adventure cooking meals for four hungry people before the sun dipped below the mountains, though I will admit we ate well with sandwiches for lunch and salmon for dinner! The days following, we hiked around the surrounding mountains and even saw a filming of a music video on the beach!
I got back from camping on Wednesday afternoon and caught a flight to Portland, Oregon on that evening! Portland is home to the Nike, Adidas, Columbia, and other company headquarters. We got the opportunity to visit the factory stores and do a bit of shopping. It was amazing to see the large size of the campuses and all of the perks of the job for the employees. We got lucky and arrived in Portland right after the rain and left before the rain picked back up. While there, I had to go back to Voodoo Donuts, home to eccentric donuts! More and more boutiques have begun to pop up in Downtown Portland so I really got a feel for the culture of the city. However, I did not have enough time to explore the Eastside of the river and mainly shopped, ate, and walked through the Westside.
Still, there was plenty to do like visit the iconic Powell Book store and the numerous famous coffee shops sprinkled throughout the city. Places like Stumptown are slowly makings its way to California, but the original coffee shop in Portland is still unrivaled. All in all, it was a great city to kick back and relax with a growing culture. I would definitely recommend visiting!
Fight On!
Markus
