We’re Finally Off To Oregon (Almost)!

Back in April we asked for suggestions of things to do in Oregon as we planned to spend a couple of months there during the summer.

When I started booking hotels and Airbnbs for our time there, I discovered that Oregon was extremely expensive in the summer. I don’t know if that was COVID-related with everyone starting to travel again after putting it off last year and thereby having demand push prices higher, or if Oregon is just always that expensive in the summer.

As a result, we decided to postpone our plans to visit Oregon and spent the summer in Colorado instead.

We knew we’d then be spending mid-September to mid-October in New Mexico as we’d be attending the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, but didn’t have any plans for the rest of the fall.

Shae and I wanted to stay out west but weren’t sure where to hit up next. Shae’s meeting up with a friend at the beginning of December for her 40th birthday, so originally we wanted to stay within reasonable driving distance of that location. However, we subsequently figured that we could always have Shae fly in and rent a car which would mean we wouldn’t need to be as close to where they’ll be meeting up (it’s a surprise for her friend which is why I’m not mentioning it here!)

We originally considered California, Nevada and Utah, but with us being able to look a little further afield, I realized that Oregon could be a good option. There’d hopefully be some pretty fall colors and the weather shouldn’t be too cold yet.

Having looked into the areas where we’d want to stay earlier in the year, there was less planning that I’d need to do. Even better, when looking at our hotel and Airbnb options we had far more affordable options than when we’d originally been looking to visit in the summer.

Where We’re Staying In Oregon

Not wanting to miss out, I booked all our accommodation for mid-October to mid-December that night. We’ll be starting off with a week in Halfway, a small city on the eastern side of the state near its border with Idaho.

We’re then moving on to Bend for 12 nights and then Eugene for 8 nights. After that we’ll be staying at a hotel in downtown Portland for 3 nights, then at an Airbnb in Portland for a month. There’s a lot of places in the Portland area that we want to visit, so that seemed to be a good place to base ourselves, plus booking for 31 nights meant city/state taxes are waived.

That month in Portland will be from mid-November to mid-December which is a busy period for me work-wise due to my GC Galore website. That’s a site where I share all the gift card deals out there and there are tons of gift card deals leading up to Thanksgiving and the holidays. Staying in the same place for a month means we don’t have to waste time moving around which will help me be able to focus on writing about those deals while also hopefully having time to do as many things in and around Portland as we can.

We’re leaving for Oregon later this week. Seeing as we’re in Albuquerque, NM right now and it’s a bit of a drive up to Halfway (about 17-18 hours), we’re stopping overnight in Utah and Idaho along the way so that we only have to drive ~6 hours per day rather than longer. I can’t wait to finally check out Oregon!