Blogs from Oregon, United States, North America - page 12

blog 09-28-17 Bend/Sundance, OR to Diamond Lake, OR The campground in Bend (27 miles south) was terrific and we were both sorry we were only staying one night. But it is definately on the list for the next visit, and yes there will be another visit. I want to stay in this area for at least 2 weeks the next time I come, lots to see and do. Heading south on 97 we found a grocery store that had most everything we needed and after shopping we continued on. Rt 138 took us west for longer than I thought but the scenery was gorgeous. Tall pine trees all along the road that I was begging for a break from to snap a picture of this mountain that was just to our right. I was so busy ... read more

THE BASICS We drove north from Idaho Falls past the INL (Idaho Nuclear Labs) and EBR1 (Experimental Breeder Reactor One) to Arco, Idaho, and visited the Craters of the Moon National Monument, where we drove a seven-mile loop trail past a variety of lava formations. We had hoped to drive north in Idaho, into the mountains, but threats of snow and bad weather led to a decision to simply head west and hence to Boise, which is at the western end of the state. We enjoyed visiting the Saturday Farmers Market and the Basque Museum, which really celebrates that still prominent culture. The "old Pen", the federal territorial prison, was an excellent tour which would deter most from bad behavior choices. In the evening we had a lovely dinner outside in a fine restaurant in the ... read more

I think Uncle Larry has crawled out of his rut – FOR A WHILE! I spent two weeks at Driftwood RV Park in Long Beach WA, instead of my customary one week, and then made a stop (with the Bighorn in tow) on my journey between RV parks. Rarely do I find an attraction that 1) is so exceptional that I will suffer the inconvenience of dragging the RV to the attraction, AND 2) is impractical to visit from one of my RV park stopovers adjacent to the attraction because of either time or distance. Since I would be passing through Astoria OR anyway and since I had a relatively short drive on the agenda, I checked out Columbia River Maritime Museum on Google Earth and saw there is a H-U-G-E parking lot that would readily ... read more

My Airbnb host suggested Mount St Helens as a good option for something to do to beat the heat in Portland and the traffic to the coast. The park was only a 2 hour drive so I decided to make a day of it. And I would say it was worth it! Mount St Helens is a part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and falls under the USDA's forest service. It is technically called the Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument and so I was able to get a stamp for my national park passport. The only area I had to pay a fee for was the Observatory, but the $8 was worth it for the visitor center and outdoor viewing platform. It's a fairly easy drive to get to the park from Portland and ... read more

Due to the excessive heat in the forecast for the weekend, I decided to do all the things on my Portland list in one day. I ended up seeing everything I wanted to and I lucked out with the weather. I headed out to find a TriMet station with parking. After a little searching, and a drive through the Nike campus, I found a park and ride at the Beaverton Creek stop. The TriMet consists of the Max train, buses and the Portland streetcars. $5 buys you an all day pass that is good on any of these, which is a great deal if you are going anywhere in the city. There are plenty of signs and each stop is clearly announced on the train. I took the blue line to the Washington Park stop to ... read more