The Coast and The Goonies

Our destination after leaving Olympic National Park was the mouth of the Columbia River.  There are several state parks in the area and we hoped to find a campsite in one of them.  We made our way to the southwestern tip of Washington State, to Cape Disappointment State Park early afternoon, only to be turned away at the campground because of no vacancy.  Being the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we knew it would be a challenge to find a campsite, but hoped we would get lucky at one of the non-reservable parks.

Cape Disappointment State Park

From Cape Disappointment, we made our way to Astoria, Oregon via the Astoria Megler Bridge and found ourselves at 368 38th Street, more commonly known as the the Goonies house.  Colin is a huge fan of the movie and we just had to check it out.  The current owner of the house was doing some outdoor work on a ladders, so we didn't stick around too long.

Astoria Megler Bridge to Astoria

Sign at the street entrance to the Goonies house

The Goonies house 

As it was getting late in the day and we were so close to the water, but had not yet gone to the beach, we went straight to Cannon Beach in Oregon from Astoria.  Cannon Beach is also a noteworthy Goonies location, and many of you will recognize Haystack Rock in the images below.  

The day was picturesque, but the air temperature was very cool on the water.  There were a surprising number of sunbathers wearing bathing suits, and a few people braving the very cold water.  I kept my long sleeve shirt and pants on, and could only keep my feet in the water for short periods of time before they started to feel numb.  

A picture-perfect afternoon at Cannon Beach in Oregon

The tide heading out and Haystack Rock in the background

Haystack Rock

Very cold water (52 degrees) in the Pacific Northwest

Braving the cold water in the tidal pools near Haystack Rock

While sitting on the beach and enjoying the warm sun and cool air, I used my cell phone to find lodging for the night.  Knowing Portland was only an hour and a half away, we decided to look up some Airbnb rentals there and assumed we'd be able to get a hotel if all else failed.  As I made a few requests for a rental, the sun continued lowering in the sky and before long, I started to get cold.  To warm up and wait for the sunset, we opted for some hot tea and snacks at a local coffee shop.  Our meals this day were comprised of our staples (sardines and Clif Bars) since we had not found any restaurants along our drive that looked appetizing.  In addition to some warm snacks and beverages in the coffee shop, we were also able to finalize our accommodations in Portland for the evening. 

Relieved to find lodging and warmed from the coffee shop, we walked back to the beach to watch the sun set.  It was a beautiful display of varying shades of orange, pink, and blue.  What made the experience even more enjoyable were all the people that were still on the beach, many sitting around campfires in their sweatshirts and shorts.  If it wasn't for the cold water temperature in early September, I would consider living there knowing I would enjoy the laid-back culture.  But, being unable to swim is a major deal-breaker for both me and Colin.

A beautiful sunset at Cannon Beach, Oregon

It was too bad we could not have stayed on the beach, enjoying a campfire. Thankfully, the drive back to Portland wasn't too long.  The day did include more driving than we would have liked (a whopping 345 miles), but there is nothing like the beach to rejuvenate a person.  Our airbnb accommodations proved comfortable and the best (as usual) was taking a warm shower after camping the night before and being on the beach most of the afternoon.  Being in Portland also meant we could explore the Columbia River east of Portland, which I had heard was also very nice.  

Stay tuned for a recap of our adventures on the Columbia River and Mt. Hood!

Where have you enjoyed a campfire on the beach? 

What is your favorite part of the Goonies movie?

My favorite quote is "Heeeyyyyy you Guuuyyyyss!"

Exploring Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier on a Beautiful Summer Day

After our packed day of exploration in Portland, we were ready to see more natural beauty in the Pacific Northwest, so we decided to take the scenic route to Seattle by way of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier.

Our first stop, however, was to exchange our San Jose-to-Portland rental car for a Portland-to-Portland rental.  If you have ever rented a car, you probably are aware that one-way rentals cost more than roundtrip rentals.  We ended up getting a Subaru Forester for 11 days out of Portland for less than the Chevy Sonic we had for the first 7 days from San Jose to Portland.  We had planned for a compact car, and when Budget didn't have one we lucked out with the Subaru Forester upgrade (and thankfully were not stuck keeping the Chevy Sonic).

From the Portland airport, it was a quick ride up to the main visitor center at Mt. St. Helens.  Thinking we would be better off driving to the visitor center on the back side of the volcano, we ended up driving almost 2 hours for a view we could have seen in about 30 minutes.  It was the only real mistake we made on our journey, and the day still turned out just fine, even though we would have preferred more time on our hiking expedition later in the day.

If you ever go to Mt. St. Helens, I recommend driving the main route to the Johnston Ridge Observatory on route 504 and not going to the entrance on route 99, unless you don't mind driving a long time on very curvy roads.  We actually got so sick of driving (and thankfully did not get motion sickness), that we didn't even go all the way to the end of the road.  We still managed to get a good look at the volcano and the damage it caused back in 1980.  There are many trees that have fallen or remain barren from the damaging lava and ash the volcano emitted more than 30 years ago.

Mt. St. Helens from the northwest (rt 99)

Tree damage visible on the right side of the picture

After our long detour to Mt. St. Helens, we were anxious to get to Mt. Rainier so we could get out of the car and enjoy some hiking.  We were rewarded with beautiful views of the mountain all the way up to the hiking point.  The road climbed to 6,000 feet, where many hiking trails started from the Sunrise visitor center.  From there, we were able to hike the moderate 1.5 mile trail to Mt. Freemont with plenty of time to explore other trails on our way back down.

View of Mt. Rainer as we drove to 6,000 feet

The starting point for many trails in the area at Sunrise Visitor Center

Looking back down on glacial water and mountains
from almost 7,000 feet after climbing 1 mile

We literally felt like Mt. Rainier was at our fingertips

Look closely - can you see the little cabin that is our destination

at the top of the second peak on the right side of the picture.

The rocky trail as we approach the ranger's cabin

The former ranger station and stunning views north of Rainier

A nice view of Rainier through the ranger station on a nice day

Mt. Rainier from Mt. Freemont

Looking out to the Northern Cascades

As it approached evening, we decided to take a different route down the mountain and had some fun with photography.  People told us about several photography contests going on, so we kept trying to get photos that would be contest-worthy.  It was actually a lot of fun until we came upon a group hiking into the woods that told us that a family had been scared away from their dinner by a bear not long before.  Once we heard that, we continued photographing, but maintained a heightened sense of awareness of our surroundings.  I had a whistle in one of my first aid kits that I kept close at hand just in case.  Thankfully, we did not see any bears, and made it safely back to our car with a tad bit of daylight left.

Some of the many wildflowers at Mt. Rainier National Park

Sun setting on our path back down from our hike

As we exited the park, we caught a glimpse 

of the last bit of daylight on Mt. Rainier

The full day of driving and hiking left us tired as we approached Seattle, but since we are not ones to rest much while on a sight-seeing vacation, we managed to get downtown for a bite to eat after checking in to our airbnb room rental.  

Stay tuned to hear all about our fun adventures in Seattle, the non-rainy city during our trip!

If you've ever been to Mt. St. Helens, where did you see the best view?

If you've been to Mt. Rainier, what hike did you do?

The 14,000 ft high Mt. Rainier still towered above us at 7,000 feet. What's the highest you've ever hiked or climbed?

Exploring Portland's Main Attractions

The almost 5 hour trip from Crater Lake to Portland was all we could manage after spending the morning on the lake, so we had a very low key evening on our first day in the city. After two nights of camping, I was ready to sleep on a real bed and we had decided to try the apartment/room rental website Airbnb.  If you have never heard of it, you should definitely check it out! We had such a great experience the first few nights staying at people's houses, that we ended up using the site to book almost all of the remainder of our nights on the trip.

The first night we stayed in an "urban farm" where we enjoyed fresh eggs in the morning, were able to air out and dry our tent, and did some laundry.  The house smelled a bit like a "farm," but the people who lived there were very nice and we had a pleasant stay.

Once we packed up our clean clothes and dry tent, we set out to explore Portland.  Our first stop was the highly recommended Portland Japanese Gardens in Washington Park, just west of downtown. We had heard that this 5.5-acre garden is the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan from several reviews (and it is listed on their website).  The $9.50 adult entry fee was a little steep, but we decided it was worth paying for the preservation of a park.  The gardens were really beautiful and mostly peaceful.  We occasionally found ourselves near a group and had to move away to continue enjoying the serenity the gardens offered.

The Strolling Pond Garden housed colorful fish

One of the many Japanese sculptures in the Garden

The waterfall was one of my favorite areas

We enjoyed walking on the narrow paths through the different areas

From the Japanese Garden, we walked across the street to the Washington Park International Rose Garden, a free garden that houses 9525 rose bushes.  The only disappointment we experienced was that there were no rose buds on the bushes that were supposed to be the "blackest" red.  

One of my favorites - a two-toned rose

An amphitheater right next to the rose garden

Walking around the gardens built up our appetite, so we made our way to Dick's Kitchen in the northwest area of Portland.  The restaurant was recommended to us by our airbnb hosts and we had a delicious meal.  We decided on meat entrees in this farm-to-fork restaurant - of which there are many in Portland!  Colin went with the sausage, and I couldn't decide on a burger.  Instead of one large burger, I did the 3 sliders - one beef, one buffalo, and the "guest burger" of the week which happened to be the "dork" (duck/pork).  They were all very good.  The dork was the driest, and my beef cheeseburger was the most satisfying.  

Sausage and beef, buffalo, and dork sliders

The other tip we received was that we could park in the Whole Foods parking lot downtown for up to 2 hours for free if we bought something there.  We've never had a problem finding something to nosh on at Whole Foods!  Leaving the car in the parking garage, we set out on foot to explore downtown Portland.

Walking around downtown Portland

We just happened to come upon a yelp.com recommended dessert shop called Saint Cupcake, and we just had decided to go in for a treat.  The cupcakes were good, but nowhere near as good as Magnolia's or Gigi's.  We actually had one cupcake that was not good. I know that seems impossible to have a cupcake not taste good, but they put salt on the frosting and it was not a pleasant sweet-salty taste.

Seven layer bar and an assortment of mini cupcakes

The other sights we visited on our 2 hour walking tour of downtown Portland included the Central Library, Ira Keller Fountain, Pioneer Courthouse Square, and the Portland Building.  Central Library's interior was impressive, with its etched-graphite staircase.  I had read that this library is the oldest on the west coast.  The  18-foot-high waterfalls that comprise Ira Keller Fountain were soothing, providing us with a wonderful place to rest.  We did not spend much time in Pioneer Courthouse Square, the area which had been compared to Union Square in NYC by several travel guides. The area is much smaller than Union Square in NYC, and an Italian festival took almost the entire square with it's food trucks and music.  Our final stop, the 15 story Portland Building, had an impressive statue of Portlandia - the Goddess of Commerce - on a second story balcony.  Looking up at the statue from the street I could believe it is the second-largest hammered-copper statue in the world (after the Statue of Liberty).  We were invited in the building to visit a gallery, but decided we had to get back to the car.

Central Library's etched-graphite staircase in the main lobby

We walked through quite a few parks all over downtown

Taking a break at the Ira Keller Fountain

Looking up in awe at Portlandia sitting on the Portland Building

Back at the car, we made our way up through the northwest district to the Farmers' Market, before heading to our airbnb accomodations for the evening.  The farmers' market was pretty good, with about 10 farmers offering a variety of late-summer produce.  We were fortunate to find a really great airbnb rental for this second night in Portland. The location was on a bus line to downtown, or we could walk the 2 miles if we wanted, the house was so clean, and the hostess went out of her way to make our experience wonderful. She had 3 different types of coffee makers for her renters and showed me how to use her cappuccino maker, and she gave us some change for the bus.

This farmers' market had some of the largest zucchini I've ever seen

After "checking in" and a quick meet-and-greet with the homeowner, we took the bus downtown to get some dinner.  Since we had such a big lunch, we opted for some Happy Hour appetizers on the outdoor patio at Pink Rose, in the upscale Pearl District. I immediately decided on the bacon-wrapped dates, thinking back to how amazing the bacon-wrapped figs were in Napa.  Colin ordered the chorizo-manchego stuffed mushrooms, and both proved to be delicious and thoroughly satisfying.
.

Bacon-wrapped dates (L) and chorizo-manchego stuffed mushrooms (R)

We spent the rest of the evening walking the mile along the waterfront and making our way back through downtown. One thing that stood out to me as we walked along the water was the visibility of homeless youth.  They seemed to congregate along the main roads that we walked along and unlike NYC, homeless individuals seemed to hang out together.  Almost every group had a few dogs with them, and neither the people or the dogs seemed to be starving.  Under one of the bridges, there was a soup kitchen being served out of a truck. Obviously, this was the reason for the large gathering of people in this area, but we found groups in many areas where food was not being served.  When we spoke with some of the locals about our observations, we were told that many of the homeless youth chose that lifestyle as part of their anarchist beliefs and the groups moved north from California as the weather got warm and moved back south when it got cold in Portland and Seattle.  The explanation seemed logical as these individuals gathered in groups, unlike most homeless individuals we typically saw in NYC that were almost always alone.

Enjoying a nice 1 mile stroll along the water.

Before heading back to retire for the evening, we make a short stop into the massive Powell's City of Books to check out Mt. Rainier hiking books and decide on a hike for the next day.  Then, we completely exhausted ourselves with the almost two mile walk through Nob Hill and back to our room in the northwest section of the city.  Colin kept his GPS watch on for most of our travels and said we walked about 15,000 steps during our day in Portland!  With the amazing weather, we felt we had to be outside.  For the second night in a row, I was grateful for a warm shower and a clean and comfortable bed.

What has your experience been like with airbnb.com?

What is the most interesting combination of meat you've ever had in a hamburger?

What to Do in and Around Portland, Oregon?

Here is today's question of the day...

What awesome things do you suggest we do and visit during a few days in and around Portland, Oregon?

Share your tips for our upcoming adventure

I have been so excited to share the news that we have booked flights for a trip to northern California and the Pacific Northwest! Colin and I have been talking about this trip for a few months, trying to find the best time to go, and we finally found dates that worked for us.

We will have 15 and a half days to explore northern California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia/Vancouver.  As I read through the travel books on the area, I look forward to all of your suggestions on places to visit and things to do while in the area.  We have a flight into San Jose and a flight back from Portland, but the days in between have yet to be filled.  My initial itinerary has us spending a few days in San Francisco, followed by a drive up the coast of California to the Redwoods. From there, I'm torn between heading inland versus staying on the coast. I think it'd be cool to check out Crater Lake, but I also really want to see the Oregon beaches.  We will definitely be visiting Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, but I would like to see some of the national parks that are around the cities.  Some of the parks I'm interested in (based on travel book reviews) include Olympic National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, Mt. Hood National Forest, and we can get into all of the national parks for free with our America the Beautiful Pass.  But every day we spend in one of the parks, or driving to a park is a less day we have to explore the cities.

I can't wait to get some use out of our National Parks Pass

Here is my challenge to all of you, my friends, family, and blog readers who have some knowledge of the area: please share any amazing things to do, places to see and stay that I should consider on our journey.  


We will likely camp in some of the parks, and look for airbnb.com room rentals and hostels in many of the places where we go. We'd like to keep our itinerary fairly flexible so we can spend more time in places we love and avoid places where weather might dampen our experience (pun intended) as we go.

I look forward to your suggestions and can't wait to share our experience with you later in August and September!

For now, I'll leave you with the process for booking our flight:
For the past 7-9 weeks, I've been checking flight prices every Tuesday and Wednesday, looking for a good deal from Raleigh to San Francisco (and surrounding airports) and back from either Seattle or Portland. During most of those weeks, roundtrip flights were ~$499 per person.  About 2 weeks ago, that rate went up and I got nervous that we hadn't made any plans.  These past two weeks, I've struggled to not look at flights daily.  I think flight searches are monitored and can cause prices to go up, so I kept waiting until Tuesday to look again.  With Raleigh flights hovering in the $530-$550 range this week, I extended my search to other airports in the area.  This search proved fruitful when I found a flight from Charlotte to San Jose (near San Fran) for $135 and a flight from Portland back to Charlotte for $153.  That's right, the roundtrip flight came out to $385 per person. Even if we park at the Charlotte airport for 16 days, at $5 a day plus the cost of gas ($35 a tank), the $885 we'll spend flying through Charlotte is still less than it would have cost us to have one less day on our trip and fly out of Raleigh.

I will admit the process can be tedious, but being able to take a great trip every year is worth it and Colin and I are overdue since we didn't get to take a "vacation" to a new destination since 2010. That year we were so lucky to visit New Zealand/Australia for the Christmas and 2009-2010 New Year, and then use miles to go to Cabo San Lucas for a wedding just 3 months later!

Thank you all for reading the blog.  And remember to share with me your suggestions for our trip. I can't wait to hear them since so much of my joy comes from the planning!