What an amazing day we have had. We woke up bright and early for Pacific Coast Time, and got out on the road to enjoy everything we could today. We are trying to somewhat stay on EST, hopefully to give us more hours in our days, and to make it easier to adjust back to work the first day we are home. We left The Dalles, and followed the Historic Columbia River Highway. The highway gave us some pretty fantastic views of the Columbia River and the Forests around Mount Hood. Continuing down the Highway we came to The Cascade Locks and Dam. Here we got out of the car, because this is the infamous location on the Pacific Crest Trails crossing of the River from Oregon into Washington State. We explained to the kids that the Pacific Crest Trail starts at the Mexico/US border and goes all the way to the Canadian border, and that people start in the spring and walk the entire trail or parts of it. It is complete wilderness for most of it, and you only pack what you can carry for many months. The kids were inyrigued by this idea, so we showed them the trail and even walked just a little part of it. The part of the trail we walked is actually the BRIDGE of GODS, which took us from Oregon to Washington. We paid the .50 each toll and crossed to the other side and back.
From the Bridge of Gods we continued down river to the Falls area. We parked the car at Horsetail Falls and decided to take a hike. Stretching our legs and climbing the hills through the large sitka trees was beautiful. The hike took us about 1.5 hours. Luckily the weather on the west coast is cooler than the last few days so it was quite enjoyable. A little further down the road we also visited the very popular Multnomah Falls. After Multnomah Falls we had quickly arrived at our next destination. The city of Portland, Oregon. We made our way downtown, and quickly found a parking spot one block from where we were headed...and it shouldn't surprise anyone.... http://www.powells.com/ The Richard's went straight to Powell's Bookstore. Famous in this area, and known for their HUGE INVENTORY on 4 colour coded floors. There is a book I have been looking for which is only available in the US. Sure enough there it was waiting for me. We all picked up a new read, and left very happy. We were pretty hungry by this time, and the other thing Portland is well know for...it's many many breweries. We decided to have lunch at one of them downtown. http://www.deschutesbrewery.com/locations/portland We didn't plan on staying in the city for long... we are on a quest. It's to take the kids as west as we can go..... THE PACIFIC. The kids first time to see it. We drove straight west from Portland until we reached the town of Cannon Beach. A busy and bustling beach town. But we found a great parking spot and walked right out to Tillmook Rock. The kids excitement at seeing the ocean was priceless... they ran right out into it. And right back to me. It was COLD!!! But it didn't stop them from going back in. From Cannon Beach we headed north up highway 101/ And stopped at Fort Clatsop. http://www.nps.gov/lewi/planyourvisit/fortclatsop.htm Fort Clatsop is a National Historic Park, and is the location of Lewis and Clarks winter stay on the Pacific Coast. We visited the Fort, and of course got another stamp in our National Parks Passport. Ethan at the entry gate and Emmy with the Sacajewea statue. Look Auntie Janin- They took a Newfoundland Dog with them. His name was Seaman. We have had a couple Newfs in the Pugh Family. ![]() From Fort Clatsop we crossed the bridge at Astoria saying goodbye to Oregon and hello to Washington State for the next few days. We made our way to our hotel for the night. A gorgeous Beach House Resort on the Long Beach Peninsula. http://www.lighthouseresort.net/ is were we have checked in. It is gorgeous and right on the beach. Even cooler is the fact that inside the rooms are shells and pieces of driftwood left and signed by other visitors. We will be leaving one in the morning too. We made our way down to the beach earlier to find that driftwood, but we also found a few shells and one 6 legged, two clawed friend. As you see, we have had a very busy , but simply wonderful day... it is midnight back home. So it's time for bed for us too.
Good night from ......
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