EverGreen Escapes

We took the greater portland tour. Our guide Jeff was great and his knowledge and love for the city made for a fun and informative tour.

I went on the wine and waterfalls excursion in late March. First let me say, that even though I don’t remember the name of the tour guide (some 30-​ish fellow [Jeff?] who went to George Washington Univ [I think], which is possibly the greatest university in the world, according to the tour guide, fit only for someone like him), he will go down in history as the greatest, smartest, most awesome person I have ever met in my life. There was no end to what he knew, and he set out to prove that to us from the moment we set foot in the van. From him, I learned that none of us were very interesting, for when we spoke of our paltry lives, he frowned and turned the conversation back to himself. I learned that he is the single smartest person on the planet, and that my PhD means nothing compared to his wealth of knowledge about everything. I paid good money to learn that, and I am so glad I did.
During our excursion, our tour guide told either me alone or the group of us that:
–He knew more about Oregon than anyone else. We were free to ask anyone we saw about Oregon, but he knew the most.
–He was a wine snob and a food snob and that only his recommendations were worth our while.
–That Oregon’s mountains were better BY FAR than Colorado mountains. I was so glad to learn that! I think my home state has pretty awesome mountains, and that Oregon has gorgeous mountains, too, but I needed to know that Oregon’s mountains were THE BEST.
–He did not approve of another Colorado outfit I had toured with. When I talked to him about it, his lip curled up in a sneer at their policies. I was glad to know that Evergreen was superior to Colorado tour groups. I will forever question Colorado tour groups from now on.
–His degree was the best, was from the best university, and proved him the smartest person in the universe.
When I first met him, I am devastated that I must have come across as an utter hick, because he asked me slowly, «Have…you…ever…been…to…the…west…coast?» From this I learned that it was best for me to shut up and listen when I am in the presence of someone as cool and as west-​coasty as he is. I’m also glad he knew to speak in near-​monosyllables to someone as dumb as I am.
It was good that I shut up, because he poured his wealth of knowledge into my ears. Geology, wine, food, international politics, electrical engineering, intracranial hypertension, natural history, Lewis and Clark, Diabetes mellitus, = N, how to run a GRADE A tour group, deoxyribonucleic acid, Cheryl Strayed, Mount Saint Helens, intergalactic travel, marijuana, aerodynamics and atoms, he talked and talked to us about it all. I am so much the better person for being in the presence of such greatness.

Got a Travelzoo deal for the Columbia Gorge tour. It was worth every penny! There were 8 of us in a Mercedes van plus our young tour guide, who picked us up and dropped us off from downtown Portland. He then drove us to Chanticlear Point, 2 waterfalls (including Multnomah), 2 wineries (Wy’East — great wines; Cathedral Ridge — very scenic), a stop off for a Mt. Hood picture opportunity, and provided cookies and beverages for us halfway through the trip. It was very relaxing to leave it to someone else to drive all that, considering we were visiting from out of town & didn’t rent a car, and we were drinking. The only suggestion I have is to install a speaker system in the van. We sat in the back row and couldn’t hear our guide well.

My husband and I bought a Groupon for a wine country tour recently as a gift for my birthday. We were both very excited as this would have been our first time experiencing this and we have wanted to for a very long time. After arranging the date and getting our baby-​sitter for the day we were all set. Unfortunately, as soon as we arrived downtown to meet our pick up, I was suddenly stricken with incredible pain in my back and my husband had to take me to the emergency room. Our date of wine and romance turned into a horrible day of pain with a kidney stone at Good Sam.
Of course, it was out of anyone’s control, but we are extremely disappointed with Evergreen Escapes refusal to let us reschedule the trip with out paying a fine (mind you they wanted the entire purchase price of the originL trip)! Whomever was speaking with my husband told him that «well, anyone could just not show up and then say they had a heart attack or something and how would we know?» Wow, well let’s all not go out and start lying about heart attacks! This company obviously only cares about money and clients referrals are not important.

This review is based on the Mt. Hood Snowshoe Excursion:
I purchased this excursion through Travel Zoo and couldn’t have picked a better weekend to use it. The weather was perfect! Our tour guide (Janis — not sure about the spelling) was fantastic and knows everything about everything. Seriously, this guy is so outdoorsy and knowledgeable and tells the most interesting stories! We visited a bunch of waterfalls on the way up to Hood and stopped at Cooper’s Spur for lunch and snowshoeing. Unfortunately, the actual snowshoeing was only about an hour and a half which was a little disappointing was kind of under the impression we’d be out for at least half a day, which is why I only gave 4 stars. The hike was really low key and easy and I was hoping for more of a workout. (i.e. — if you are a beginner or want a really easy day, then this is for you!). Lunch was provided by the Cooper’s Spur Lodge and it was just okay.
After lunch we drove up to the Timberline Lodge and had hot chocolate outside. The tour comes with light snacks and refreshments (herbal tea and muffins in the morning, hot chocolate and cookies in the afternoon) all prepped and served by the tour guide, which was a really nice touch. We were then given about an hour to check out Timberline and chat with the other tour members, take pictures, etc.
It was a fun day overall, and I’d highly recommend EverGreen Escapes if you’re thinking about booking something similar.

Our entire experience with EverGreen Escapes was fan-​tas-​tic. From the friendly staff at the home office in WA, to my multiple conversations with co-​owner Dan, and to our friendly and very knowledgeable guide Jeff, to even the other guests on our tour, everything was just great.
We purchased a discount excursion from them, and despite them not making any money on us, they went way out of their way to make us still feel very welcome on the trip, even trying to help accommodate us since my sis almost couldn’t make it due to some medical issue. Luckily she was given the green light, so we went ahead on the trip to the Columbia Gorge and Mt Hood for snow shoeing.
First of all, let me say that Jeff knows his stuff. For being relatively young (OK, he was probably my age), I felt like we were being guided by a fun encyclopedia. It blew us away.
Second, we’d gone to all the Columbia Gorge sites many times before (being semi-​locals ourselves), but we still learned a ton about the gorge on the tour. Gorge, tributary, river, whateva. :) Let me just say, on a rainy day like on the day we went, all the falls are amaaaaaazing. Horseshoe Falls was crazy!
Lastly, and most importantly, we probably picked the worst and best day possible for the tour. It has just started snowing like crazy making it awesome for watching but driving conditions very treacherous. Luckily that Mercedes van was nice and warm and Jeff was a very skilled driver. Just as it was about to get scary in the van at Meadows, he rushed us inside where it was warm and he took care of everything. He then guided us patiently through the 2 – 3 ft (!!) of new snow (there’s nothing like falling in a couple feet of brand new snow, repeatedly), then brought us back up for some delicious hot chocolate and apple cider.
I don’t remember anything about the trip back to Portland since I fell asleep the entire way, but needless to say, Jeff got us back safely.
This trip was well worth it’s original cost, since you get fantastic treatment, fantastic food and a fantastic guide. My sis and I are already looking forward to when we can plan our next trip — hopefully for the wine tour.

If you’re looking for a Willamette Valley wine tour this is your pick.
Our guide was amazing, friendly, knowledgeable about the area and so fun! My friend and I were the only ones that signed up for the tour that day so we essentially got a private tour in their Mercedes SUV! It was awesome. Plus they pack water bottles for you and plan in a stop for a wine and cheese platter snack.
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