Trip to Oregon

Last week Bill and I took a trip to Oregon to get out of the heat, play around, and have some fun before school starts.

We stayed the rest of Wed. night at a hotel in downtown Portland and then took a bus to Seaside, Oregon.

Thursday in Seaside and Cannon beach we had fun: (Bill has these pictures, I'll have to insert them later)

• walking along the beach noticing all the sand dollars and crab traps
• delicious lunch of fish and chips at Tom's Fish 'n Chips in Seaside
• seeing Haystack Rock at Cannon beach and admiring all the beautiful seaside homes
• eating a not very memorable meal at the very memorable PigNPancake

Friday we took the bus to Astoria, which is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. It was overcast and cool until about 3:00 in Astoria.

• Walked along the riverside trail to Pier 39 where we learned about all the fish packing companies that used to be there
• Found delicious blackberries growing wild along the trail and a home of cats among them
• Rode the trolley (that follows the same trail) and learned more of the history of Astoria
• Had a delicious lunch of fish and chips (with an unbeatable view) at The Wet Dog Cafe
• Wandered around town window shopping
• Scaled hills and lookouts for beautiful views
• Had a late dinner at an arcade in Seaside.

Saturday we checked out of the hotel and had fun exploring Seaside more.

• It was a sunny morning, so we took advantage and walked/ran (I walked, Bill ran) along the beach.
• Found sand dollars to bring home for the kids.
• Ate the best corn dog I have ever had for lunch.
• We rented bikes and rode along the promenade and up the hill to the end of the road on the rocks
• Found more wild berries and I tried a few
• Got sick from the berries and asked in a sporting store what I ate
• The berries were safe (salal berries) but maybe the pesticide on them wasn't
• Bought fun candy to bring home for the kids to try.
• Took the bus back to Portland

On Sunday we checked out of our hotel and walked to The Grotto, a Catholic shrine and botanical garden a few miles away from our hotel.

• Again, we saw blackberries growing wild everywhere
• It was hotter than we expected and we were glad to think to bring our umbrella with us for shade.
• The gardens were spectacular and the grotto had a replica of The Pieta in it. It was quite a shrine.
• We got hungry and walked to Popeye's chicken from there. Then we walked to Rocky Butte, which is the remains of a cinder cone volcano turned into a small park at the top and has a spectacular view of the surrounding area.
• We were able to see Mount St. Helens to the north and Mt. Hood to the east.
• Also visible to the north was PDX, the Columbia River, and Vancouver Washington.

It was a bit of a transportation vacation. We took shuttle busses, light rail, a trolley, uber and a few intercity busses as well as walking and biking.

P.S. The kids seem to have done just fine without us. They probably don't really need us anymore!