We have a Sat and Sun in the Portland area -visiting son in Beaverton. What are 2-3 recommended things we must see or do before leaving? We are driving from the San Francisco Bay area.
Thanks in advance!

The Columbia River Gorge, the Japanese Garden, the Saturday Market (on saturdays and sundays), if you like books then Powell's Books in Portland (the one in downtown Portland, not the others), enjoy some Stumptown coffee, drink some craft beer and our world famous pinot noir. If you are interested in wine at all, head south of Beaverton just a bit and you will be in our main wine region, from about Newberg to McMinnville. BTW, the Beaverton Farmers Market is on Saturdays and is very good. The fall market is going on now and they have some great stuff!

If you're a fan of interesting houses, as I am, I can recommend a visit to the Pittock Mansion, close to downtown Portland:

http://pittockmansion.org/

+1 all of the above. Also, if you enjoy biking, rent a bike and bike the river front or around town

Wow, I think I have our wekend planned! I'm a market junkie and will definitely go to the Beaverton Sat market. Our time in Portland will be full of food, drink, culture and the outdoors. Thanks so much, I greatly appreciate this.

A tip for the Beaverton market. There is a lot of street parking, but that fills up really fast. The library parking lot has a lot of room and we have always found spots there quite easily this time of year.

I think Portland has a really cool Sat market. mms?

Nanabee--yes it does, that's why I mentioned it earlier. They will be in BeVerton though and so didn't want them to miss the farmers market there. There is also a farmers market in Portland at PSU, but honestly the Beaverton one is just as good. The Saturday Market is an entirely different thing.