Oregon

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First thing we appreciated about Oregon were the gas prices - first time below $3/gallon all trip! We’d be happy to pay these high prices if the money was going somewhere other than the oil companies pockets…but that’ll take a new administration and some cojones in the halls of Congress. I digress. We headed up the Oregon coast to Sunset Bay State Park. A nice marine mammal overlook with two species of sea lions, seals, and even a gray whale. A botanical garden with a huge variety of roses was another treat. Headed up the coast to South Beach State Park, near Newport. Got in a nice run along the beach, where the shorebirds were abundant. Talked to another stranger who was a bigwig at the Forest Service until his retirement, then volunteered abroad for a while. Inspiring. Explored the cute town of Newport, including another aquarium. They had sea otters (always fun to watch), lots of crustaceans, tufted puffins, and rhino auklets, which we got to see at feeding time. One of our few rainy nights and mornings (welcome to the Pacific Northwest!). Headed up to Corvallis, which seemed a pretty cool college town. OSU won the college baseball World Series that day, so Go Beavers fever was in the air (at least for the few people left in town for the summer). Tried some good microbrews made right in town, one of Oregon’s selling points. Moved on up to Portland for a couple days. Took advantage of the good public transit (seems so rare in western cities) and wandered around the city. Spent a while at Powell’s, the biggest bookstore in the US. Great place, though almost overwhelming in size. Enjoyed some more local brews and bars with wifi (good to stay connected to the world while we can, and trying to figure out what to do abroad in the fall…). Drove from Portland to Mt. Hood. Took the scenic road up to the top on the south side, which seemed to be a ski resort. Pretty mountain - maybe more so from a distance than up close (unless you’re the one skiing, of course). Toured the Hood River and Columbia River Gorge, beautiful scenery. Decided to head straight up to Mt. Rainier in case the holiday weekend would fill up the campgrounds...

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