Hmm, not sure how that any are particularly spicy, but they make darn good biscuits and gravy at these places, and you can always top them with hot sauce: Industrial Cafe, Screendoor, Arleta Library Cafe, Gravy, Podnah’s, Besaw’s, of course Pine State Biscuits!

A couple years ago the Oregonian came up with some favorites: here

Here is a great website with some other lodging options in the Hood River area.

There are tons of great rides in the Columbia Gorge, 60 miles from Portland. There are no mountain bike trails of that length in PDX itself, but Forest Park has fireroad riding and very limited singletrack.

The Oregon Brew Fest (in July) for one thing! Several street fairs & take place in July/Aug too, also Sunday Parkways . If you like sports, don’t miss a chance to see the Timbers (our soccer team) play at home!

I’d check out Astoria and Canon Beach, see this blog entry. I would take I-5 to Hwy 38 to the coast and down to San Francisco.

Lots of family friendly events in Portland, check out Around the Sun, & my site.

Lots of summer beer & neighborhood festivals in Portland! Check out this site for beer events. Lots of wine nearby, too. When you’re here check out my blog for events!

Commuting distance is relative, of course. Much of close-in Portland is actually quite residential, so you could consider that. Nearby suburbs include Gresham, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Oregon City, etc. Like Rogue Ales says, traffic can be bear – but it really depends on your own tolerance for it. The Portland area has some good transit too, so the first three suburbs I mentioned, for example, there’s light rail into Portland.

I have the ultimate pub crawl for you here.  Have a look, and holler if you want more.