Blogs from Oregon, United States, North America - page 111

My husband Joe and I just went to Oregon for 9 days and we fell in love. Joe is ready to move there. I am ready to visit again. In short, we arrived in Portland late at night and got up the next morning and headed towards the Oregon coast. Before we did this, I had to drive up into Washington State and have breakfast, just so that I could officially say that I have been to Washington State. We had some breakfast in a little town by the name of Salmon Creek. We went to Astoria, Oregon and visited the Columbia Maritime Museum. Astoria is where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean. We then drove further down the coast and stopped in Cannon Beach for lunch. This was a beautiful town. It was ... read more

Smith Rock, Oregon. A small, nondescript state park whose name doesn’t conjure up images of wild landscapes or scenic crags. In truth, quite the opposite is true. Smith Rock is the home of sport (bolted) climbing in the US. When it was ethically prohibited to place bolts in the rock unless absolutely necessary which often translated to very sparse protection and very scary and potentially dangerous routes. Smith Rock was one of the first parts of the US to embrace the then radical concept of placing bolts where convenient rather than placing them at utmost need. Today, many areas have accepted a more moderate stance and both styles have found various areas to thrive in. All ethical considerations aside, Smith was a wonderful place to climb and a wonderful place to be. One of the ... read more

Im not going to say much about this trip, Because a went on this trip a while before i found this wedsite. We didn't go to Oregon for somthing good. But it tured out to be great! I really enjoyed being up there, it was cool a lot of the time. There are lakes and ponds everywhere. It rained almost every day i Love the rain! It seemed so much cleaner and easyer to breath up there. Even the rain seemed cleaner. Some of the mountines had snow on the top of them. We ate at this Resterant when we first went into Oregon. It was a little out side of Portland. I can't remeber the name but i will try to put pics up. If you ever are up that way stop by that place! ... read more

One Last Taste Of Home Scene- A scrumptious lunch served by the Taylor's, bidding us farewell. A scenic drive down the Old Pacific Highway ending at the quaint town of Bandon, OR. After a drawn out conversation with the power trippin State Park Ranger (He had us pegged as a coupla' prissy sissies), we came to Whiskey Run Beach.... A desolate dune lacking...oh my gosh, can it be....NO FACILITIES!???! Eh, we managed. Tent pitched, sun setting, we rested well-for FREE- in the bosom of the coast. Quote Of The Day:One day I'll be able to say that to you as it shoots out your ass! How Did Sand Get There?! Camping for free on the beach is great, but we had no idea we'd be taking it with us. After shakin' out our...everything...we continued on to ... read more

Another beautifully fine morning and a hearty breakfast that included waffles and we were on the road again.I seemed to have picked up a mild sore throat and runny nose so hope it doesnt develop. We found the old highway easily and started off climbing high above the mighty Columbia River to the first lookout point.From there the size of the river was apparent.It dwarfs anything in NZ. Another viewpoint a couple of miles on at Vista Point gave great views both up and down the river.We stopped at three waterfalls that had short walks to get to them including the appropriately named Bridal Veil Falls.The light thru the trees was beautiful and as the road was quiet with traffic it made the drive very restful.Down below near the river I-84 buzzed with traffic speeding by ... read more