My mom and I are off to the Azores! What and where are the Azores you might ask? I asked myself that very question the first time I saw this trip pop up on TravelZoo several years ago. Through the wonder of Google, I learned the Azores are a group of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean that are part of Portugal. There are nine islands and we are visiting the third largest, Terceira. Guidebooks are limited so we are going in a bit blindly, but it will make discovering this island that much more interesting. Here is our itinerary! March 14 - Depart O'Hare at 4:34 arriving in Boston at 7:55 PM Depart Boston at 11:05 PM arriving in Terceira at 6:45 AM on the 15th March 15 - 22 - Reservation at ... 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

Today was mostly driving, with a little sightseeing thrown in. I hated to leave the coast, especially since Portland is under an excessive heat watch starting tomorrow, but I wanted to check out some things in and around Portland. I left the very chilly coast and headed back the same route I had come in on. I really enjoyed driving along Highway 6 through the Tillamook Forest. The road is never very steep and it winds through the hills with green trees all around. I don't know the highest elevation in this area, but the one sign I saw said 1500 feet. It was still cool and cloudy through the forest and that made for a nice drive. My first stop of the day was Oregon City, home to the terminus of the Oregon Trail. Now ... read more

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do today, other than I was going to drive north. I thought I would go all the way up to Astoria, but I never made it past Cannon Beach. This morning it was quite cold and cloudy. I had some guests out in the water to watch while eating my breakfast, two sea lions! They were right up by the shore looking for fish I suppose. A nice start to the morning. I headed north from Tillamook on the 101. Here the road winds along Tillamook Bay with some nice green hills on either side. Beautiful scenery, even with the clouds! There are plenty of pullouts for checking out the views and I would recommend stopping at several. Most have information signs about the area and most ... read more

Today was spent following the Three Capes Scenic Loop. I'm not sure why it's a loop since it runs north to south and is not a circle, but there are three capes and it's scenic and we'll leave it at that. Being on central time, I woke up at a normal time for me of 5:30, which is only 3:30 out here in Oregon. Not much to do that early in the morning so I dozed in bed and listened to the waves. Eventually I got up and had breakfast. This hotel does not offer breakfast so I brought my own oatmeal cups and got juice at the store, which is enough to fuel me for a morning of exploring. I took Highway 101 south to Pacific City rather than drive the scenic loop route so ... read more