Thanks for the great suggestions! We have now joined the bandwagon and want to move to Portland (we are now in Chicago!).

Had 5 great days before the rains came. For a mid-sized city, Portland has a ton to do. We stayed with a friend in the city, but really enjoyed the Pearl District and downtown areas. Powells Books is worth the trip.
Trip highlights (in no particular order):
1. Bike ride along the waterfront, unique way to see the city
2. Walking the streets of the Pearl, windowshopping, cute antiques
3. Microbrews, Microbrews, Microbrews. I may never drink a Miller lite again
4. Dinner at Jakes. Classic and fabulous.
5. Drive out to Hood River, cute little town.
6. Super best day: Drive along Columbia River Gorge, Hike in on a trail near the Dam, see salmon making their way up the creek (really, not in the salmon ladder, righ there in the creek), have a picnic on a giant rock next to a waterfall. Also enjoyed walking around and seeing Multnomah Falls. Can't believe this wonderland is only 30 min from downtown!
7. Winery visits: Torii Mor and DePonte (sp?) were favorites. Also Lange. Got a private tour at one, very cool
8. Overnight at Youngberg hill, beautiful B&B with great wine and awesome breakfast.

Other notes: Missed the japanese gardens, def on my next trip. Saturday market in OldTown was interesting and great people watching. Drove to the coast through OSU, very small but nice University. Stopped in Newport, a small fishing village, worth a stop. Then the rain started. Drove up the coast in pouring rain that never stopped. Our romantic trip to Cannon beach was pretty rained out, could barely see Haystack Rock, but did have a really good dinner at the Bistro.
Headed up to Seattle a day early to escape the rain (which of course continued!).

The Nike campus visit was pretty neat since we knew someone who worked there,a bit "stepford" ish. : ) The people were all super nice everywhere we went. Also a trip to the Columbia Outlet was great cost saver for good outdoor clothing.

Thanks for the report, I was just reading about Tori Mor in Wine Enthusiast. We hope to visit this place sometime soon. Youngberg Hill sounds really nice, we would like to tour this area sometime, also.

It sounds like you had a great trip! ***kim***

Thanks for the report. We hope to move to the Pacfic NW some day - Or or WA.

Oh, and definitely drop the Miller Lite! Life is too short to drink bad beer - (or even moreso, bad wine!) ;-)

eroz, so glad you enjoyed Youngberg Inn, we stay there every year for our annual wine tasting weekend. I think it's just gorgeous!

Sounds like you did all the things I love!! Haven't been to DePont but Torii Mor is really good and we love Lange, we actually belong to their wine club.

The wine guy at Torii Mor was a doll, in his 60s or 70s from Denmark orig. He said they have been swamped on wkends so recommends wkday winery visits.

Also, we liked the McManimins pubs, they keep the rooms warmly decorated and the Kennedy School one in Portland was cool!

Glad you had a great trip. The only thing wrong with Oregon is the economy and the tax base, or lack thereof.

Orcas, you are so right, we are considering that. no sales tax which was awesome but we found out it's a 9% income tax (state). Yikes! Also everyone told us so many people want to live there that cos. don't pay much. Sigh. : )

Glad you enjoyed our state!

We have always enjoyed the various McMenamins. Yes, OSU is a pretty compact campus...but so pretty. We loved our 4 years there and will be back for homecoming next month.

I am an Oregon native, have lived all over the country with my dh, and we recently moved back. As far as employers paying less...not true for the most part. I am sure it depends on the profession...but my dh sorted through many offers in several states and the offers here were on par with the others. Like I said though...it might depend on the profession. But don't let that alone scare you off

Oregon has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation and the better paying jobs are being replaced by low wage service jobs. The August 2004 rate of unemployment was 7.4%. The affordability index for housing, based on income versus prices, is one of the worst in the nation in the Portland metro area.

In ballot measure after ballot measure, the voters cut and limited property taxes as well as taxes on businesses. With the state relying so heavily on the income tax (no sales tax, as you note), when high tech busted a few years ago, so did the state economy.

We left when work took us to Seattle. I prefer Portland, but at least we're not too far away, and there's a lot to be said for good employment. That said, Washington is also having its own financial troubles, and unemployment is high here, as well. The cost of housing and traffic in Seattle - I won't even go there!

Yes, Orcas...we moved from the Seattle area to down here! WA definitely has its troubles as well, but we were just so happy to be able to stay in the PNW. After living in so many places we realize that not one place is perfect...but you just take the good with the bad and make the best of it

I'm with you mms. We've lived all over the country too, and there is nowhere I would rather be. I love the northwest! If one wants to see a silver lining in the crazy financial crises we have here (and the rain!), I think it's that it all keeps us from being as crowded as California, which used to be as close to paradise as one could come on earth.