Oregon City

Oregon City, Oregon...so nice they named it twice! This town was a bit out of the way in our travels but in an effort to infuse some history lessons into the children, we made the trek. The sign to get there cracked me up.

Evidently, there is a Boring, OR but it just looks like this sign is calling Oregon City boring...in reality there is a bit of truth to it, just ask my kids who got to enjoy this sweet ride for over an hour while learning about Oregon City history.

Alas, I found just two little quaint shops, nestled together along an out of the way street. That's right kids, after the lovely trolley ride, Mamma's goin' shoppin' (insert sounds of children moaning and complaining here).

 Yep, that's me shopping while the kiddos wait in the car!

 However, all was worth it as I scored this for just $10:

 Move over kids, Momma needs to make room between you for her new find. Isn't it fun to vacation with a mom who has a design/decorating/junkin'/shopping habit? Yee haw!
I am sure they all thought is was worth it when I turned it into this:

 Actually, I am sure they hardly care but I ADORE IT!

PS This town also boasted a great Real Deals location that I mentioned in my last post. Their website again if you would like to check it out is Right Here

Troutdale and Gresham Oregon

Next up in my Oregon travels: Troutdale and Gresham Oregon.
These two little towns are just five miles from each other but each had a surprising number of antique shops (or junkin' shops as I prefer) as well as other establishments brimming with personality.
 In Troutdale, even the streets had personality...check out these cute little cars that were lining the streets the day we visited:

Several shops had some fun items to peruse:

My treasure find for the day was a vintage tablecloth, I love blue and yellow together!

And I think it looks pretty with my daisies...
And our favorite was the Troutdale General Store where we stopped in for ice cream cones and were pleasantly surprised by all of the vintage advertising owners Terry and Jodi Smoke had collected over the years. Thanks for a great afternoon!

From their website:
As you enter, it’s as if you’ve stepped back in time. Just glancing around, you see their unbelievable antique advertising collection.

An early 1900’s soda fountain with stools and back bar serving up shakes, malts, floats, sundaes or just a big waffle cone, awaits you. With lots of seating in the café, you can enjoy homemade soups, sandwiches, daily specials and desserts. Also breakfast casseroles and an array of muffins, scones, danishes and cinnamon rolls fill the cases.

Another side of the store offers over 200 types of nostalgic candies and chocolates; from clusters and turtles to horehound drops and pop rocks. This is the widest variety of candy in the Portland area. Guaranteed to spark the “Oh, I remember those” in everyone! 

CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE HERE

Then it was onto Gresham. This town really just has one main street but it is like stepping back in time, complete with a street fair going on the day we visited. This town had five decor/antique/junkin' stores by my count which is a pretty good percentage for just one short street of shopping.

Finally, not sure if you have heard of Real Deals (anyone who considers themselves a home decor or shopping addict has) but these are fun little franchise shops set up by individual owners across the country. Gresham had one of the cutest ones I have come across, set up in an old church. 

 They are worth checking out if you haven't been to one. To find a location near you CLICK HERE

Hood River

My family and I have done some extensive vacationing this summer and didn't realize until it was done that it has all been in Oregon! While we really enjoyed ourselves (Sunriver Resort was everything everyone claimed it to be!) we cannot get over one thing about Oregon...they won't let you pump your own gas!! Now, I know it is some law and I am at a loss as to why it is a law but to all my Oregon friends...HOW DO YOU PUT UP WITH THIS!? Everywhere we went there were long lines at every gas station with folks just sitting in their cars waiting for the two attendants on duty to get around to fillin' them up. 

Okay...this may be exaggerating it a bit

Crazy I tell ya...and yes, I jumped out of the car more than once to do it myself when I just could not take it any longer. I hear you saying it is just a lesson in patience but we had places to go, things to do, adventures to be had...maddening I tell you! I have a new respect for all you Oregonians and your level of patience. Wow, I have seriously digressed from the spirit of this blog...what I meant to say was in all this traveling I did find a few 'sweet spots' that I would like to share with you over the next few days in a series of posts about my little finds.
I start with Hood River, Oregon.

This is a fun little town with lots to do around it. Most famous with the wind surfing crowd because of its vicinity to the Columbia River Gorge which always has high winds and great waves. With a great downtown shopping area and a variety of shops to choose from it is worth the visit even if you don't have a surfboard in tow.

I will be honest in saying there was not a lot to choose from in the way of design or home decor stores. I did find a couple but one was my fav! From the name down to its goods... 

That's Swank! 101 4th Street Hood River, OR 

And, it is not a design or decor store at all. It is actually a vintage second hand clothing store but they had just enough vintage decor for sale to whet my whistle. 

This was the little treasure I picked up:

 Oh, and did I mention they have some fun vintage clothes too?

Not going to make it to Hood River, OR anytime soon? No worries they have an awesome website you can order from! CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Kalama

During our recent summer travels we passed a little town called Kalama, WA. It is literally an eye blink along 1-5 and if you happen to be looking out the window the opposite direction you will miss it. However, I was not looking the other way and saw that word that always catches my eye 'vintage.' We pulled off to take a quick buzz through town and found a few shops:

 I took a quick peak inside a couple and found some fun things:

And I found the perfect addition for my bathroom redo:

While you are taking your summer travels, take a few minutes and pull in to take a quick peak at a shop that catches your eye. You might find the perfect thing to complete your latest project or redo!

Centralia

What is a Centralia you ask? It is actually a place, I believe it got its name for being the 'center or central' point between Seattle and Portland, as it is almost exactly half way between the two, but I could just be making that up. Do you ever do that? Something makes sense to you and so you make it reality? Anyway, posting today about Centralia because I think it might be my all time favorite junkin' spot. I touched on it very briefly in one of my first posts which you can view here. They have some great shops and I have been dying to go back and got my chance last week as we made our way on a family vacation to Multnomah Falls, Oregon, which turned out to be a great trip and wonderful hiking with the hubby and kiddos! But I digress...I was talking about great junkin' shops. There are several shops all located on one quaint little street downtown.

 They had some great items for sale for those looking to add some vintage flare to their home.

 I think by far, my favorite is the The Shady Lady Boutique. A SMALL sampling of what she offered:

 

And I LOVED her vintage photo wall that led up a SPIRAL stairway to the second story vintage clothing boutique.

I also adored the great outdoor spaces the shops created that added that amazing special touch that wraps it all together and makes you want to spend the whole afternoon with your besties doing some junk shoppin', grabbing an ice cream cone at The Centralia Perk and maybe grabbin' some grub at the Berry Fields Cafe.

Today, my besties were my kids (making a silly face).

They do not offer a complete list of all the shops but for great directions on how to get to this little piece of heaven visit here.  Oh, I almost forgot to share my little treasure I picked up. A rusty bucket. Yep, that was my little find for the day. Just $12 I am going to make it into a garden hose holder by bolting it to the house. I'll get ya a pic when that actually occurs!

Happy Cen'trails' to you!