On Thursday, after contending with the broken shower and the lock that, well, wouldn’t, we headed out. My hair was still in the form of a large singular dreadlock held in a ponytail to the back of my head. It was most unpleasant, but at least it was out of my way. Our first ordeal was stopping for gas in the great state of OR. We’d both forgotten that this is one of those crazy states in which the employees pump the gas for you. We were rather confused…do you tip these people? When they walk off, are you allowed to put the pump back when it’s done? What exactly is the etiquette in such situations? Well, we ended up driving off when it was all done, without tipping, and hoped that’s how it’s done! I think that worked because no one seemed to care on subsequent fill-ups. They really need instructions for us ignorant out-of-staters at gas stations in OR. We drove west along the Columbia River, stopping at a Stonehenge replica on the Washington side of the river. It’s built to scale and commemorates servicemen. It was quite an interesting site, and I’d recommend seeing it if you can’t get out to see the original in the UK. From there, we stopped at a fish hatchery and dam on the Oregon side – Bonneville Dam, I believe. Then we continued on in Oregon, taking a long hike along the Triple Falls Trail. It was an amazing place! A somewhat steep trail snaked upwards through lush forests. Along the way we would encounter various species of gigantic slugs. It was so nice to be immersed in such a flourishing environment. And despite the humidity, it was cool and pleasant. After the Triple Falls trail, we checked out a number of other waterfalls in the area, including the most visited tourist site in Oregon, Multnomah Falls. The falls there were absolutely huge. You can feel so insignificant standing next to a feature like that.
Once we parted from the Columbia River, we headed south along I-5 through Oregon. We stopped at Enchanted Village along the way. This was a unique little park that centered around children’s fairy tales. The first half of the park involved walkthrough replicas of stories such as Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Alice in Wonderland. Heck, the whole park had things like that. One of the neatest things was a tepee with a stack of “firewood” in the center of it. If you enter the tepee and go behind the firewood, you notice that the wood is actually an entrance to an extensive series of caves. It was such a blast! Nate and I had such a good time exploring all the catacombs, and I can just imagine what it must be like for a kid.
Beyond the walk through fun, there were also a few rides at the park. The Roller Coaster Database indicated that there were two roller coasters here, but none of the employees had any idea what I was talking about. They knew about the obvious one, the homemade Alpine Bobsled coaster, which was neat in that it went through a cave and had a cover over the top of the train (for good reason – you could hit your hands or head on the cave if it weren’t there!). It turned out the other coaster was actually the water flume! It runs on wheels and has a section of track that it runs on as well. How exciting! An unexpected water coaster! Beyond that, we did the walkthrough-haunted house, which was a lot of fun, and the dark ride shoot-em-up. I used both guns and got really high scores on both hands! What a fun, though overpriced, park.
That night, we headed down to Eugene, OR, home of the University of Oregon, where we ate at Steelhead Brewery, which Nate enjoyed, and then wandered around the U of O campus. From there, we motored south and got down to the southern part of the state by 11pm.
On Friday, we got up early and I took a much-needed shower. Then we drove out to Crater Lake National Park, the place that most excited Nathan on this trip. The route took us past lots of coniferous trees – it was really lovely out there! Unfortunately, most of the park was closed due to snow, but we were able to do the overlook from the visitor center. The lake was breathtaking! The water was the most perfect mirror! You couldn’t tell where the earth ended and the water began. And it was bluer than the purest sapphire. We were able to hike the rim road that was closed to traffic and took in the lake from several different angles. We saw some adventurous skiers swooshing down remote mountainsides up which they hiked themselves. It looked like such a rush! Besides this, we saw some interesting birds including Stellar’s jays, one of my favorites, and quite a few large mosquitoes. I wish we could have seen more, and also gone down to the surface of the lake, but I guess that’s a good excuse to go back again sometime!
After we saw all we could of Crater Lake, we headed back toward Portland. We stopped for lunch at a roadhouse with some really good food. My tuna melt was to die for, and we had an Oreo shake, too. The service was a little slow, but we still got out of there in plenty of time to get up to our destinations. Once we got to Portland, we found out way out to Thatch, a highly rated tiki bar. Although small, the décor was really nice. They even had a tiki in the bathroom! We munched on crab cakes and party mix, and I had a donkey punch and a Tahiti. Nate had a tiki punch, which was served in a gigantic tiki bowl. We weren’t that impressed by the drinks, but it was still fun to experience. I guess we’re just spoiled with Hala Kahiki in Chicago.
After Thatch, we headed over to Alibi, the other highly rated tiki bar in Portland. It was karaoke night, so the tiki music, if any, was hard to make out. The décor was very tiki, though, and the place was quite a bit larger than Thatch. Nate just had beer, but I tried the Hula Hoochie and the Samoan Sunset, both of which were just ok. Sadly, I don’t remember too much at this point! That’s what I get for going to two tiki bars in one night! Luckily, we stayed nearby at the Budget Inn, which was pretty decent for what it was. I know I slept well that night!
On Saturday, we got up late and grabbed a quick brekkie at McD’s before heading to the library to check email (yes, I’m obsessed). Then we drove out to the Velveteria, a museum of velvet paintings. It was extremely tacky, but I kind of enjoyed it. We even talked to one of the owners who told us they were going to be featured on various television shows in the near future. I assured her I’d tell everyone I knew about the place, so that’s just what I’m doing.
We also walked around Portland looking for the Voodoo Donut Shop, which is apparently some sort of tourist attraction. Sadly, we couldn’t find it, but in our travels I was able to get more acquainted with the city. Portland is an interesting town. It’s as though the hippies and the yuppies collided, and the fallout is Portland. It’s an older town with lots of run-down sections inhabited by young, college-aged people. It rather reminded me of Old Town in Chicago, actually. Lots of yuppies and hippies just making their way.
After our time in the city, we headed toward the river in search of Oaks Amusement Park. This was an old park – 103 years old, in fact! Mostly it was a collection of flat rides and carnival rides, but there were a few roller coasters including the portable Looping Thunder and one of the scariest darned kiddie coasters ever, Zoooooom. There was one drop on Zoooooom on which I was sure I would be thrown merely because I didn’t fit in the seat. It was great! The park also sported an historic Dance Pavilion and roller rink, and I’m sure its carousel was up there in years, too, not to mention their train. I got the wristband and did a lot of riding, including this train. Nathan didn’t feel much like riding things, so he only sampled a few rides. When I rode the train, he walked alongside it for the entire loop, and I think he actually beat it back to the station! Beyond this, we rode some ancient bumper cars that were just insane! They were so fast and handled questionably, so that when you would go around a curve, you’d careen out into space. I’m not big into bumper cars, but they were so good I convinced Nate to ride the second time around. We also did a Lewis and Clark-themed dark ride and the Ferris wheel since one of the ride ops forgot to take Nate’s ticket and we had a free ride to do. At one point, Nate went to get the car, which we’d parked several blocks away, and I rode as many remaining rides as I could. It was a nice time at a good park, and I’m glad I got to experience it.
Around 5pm, we left Oaks and headed west toward Astoria, OR. I’d wanted to see the town ever since seeing “Kindergarten Cop,” which was filmed there. It was getting late once we arrived, but we still had a bit of daylight with which to explore the town. Astoria is incredibly hilly, set on veritable cliffs overlooking the Columbia River and adjacent waters to the Pacific. We drove all the way up to the high point to see the Astor Tower, a huge monument overlooking the city. Sadly, the tower itself was closed, but we got to see it from the outside at least. Then we drove over the immense bridge connecting OR and WA and headed north to Long Beach. Nathan had thought Long Beach sounded like our kind of town – very touristy and kitschy. It wasn’t quite as saccharine as we’re used to, but still a neat place. We walked along the beach, touched the Pacific Ocean, toured the boardwalk, and admired a whale skeleton. Then we walked down the main street, noticing an abandoned old amusement park, some crazy museums and shops, and the world’s largest frying pan which was used to make the largest razor clam fritter back in the 1940s. We finally found a place for dinner and shared a sampler platter of local seafood, which was ok, though not as spectacular as I’d have hoped, being on the coast and all. Then we drove out to Aberdeen, WA, a large, though seemingly abandoned town, for the night.
On Sunday, we ate a quick breakfast at the hotel before driving out to Olympic National Park. We stopped at the beach and saw a number of tide pools, a large cedar tree, and another large tree, of which type I don't recall, as well. The cedar was particularly amazing – you could walk right into it and look up into its depths. It would be a haven for tree-dwelling wildlife. After that, we did several hikes through the thick rainforest, admiring crystal clear streams and some of the most amazing jungles. It was a fantastic location, and I could definitely see working someplace like this! It was just so lush and peaceful.
From there, we ate lunch at some Italian place that had great salad. Then we continued on to Port Townsend where we at dinner at the Port Townsend Brewery. Again, typical brewpub fare, but Nate enjoyed his sampler. After that, we wandered around the town, which reminded me a lot of Hannibal, MO for some reason, sans any reference to Mark Twain. We saw a deer wandering through town, and we admired all the historic homes and structures. Something that caught my eye during our time along the coast were all the tsunami evacuation route signs. I wonder if these are a new development, as prior to the Asian tsunami, no one really gave such things much thought. It was a bit disconcerting, but at least they have some sort of evacuation plan.
After dinner, we headed back toward Seattle, driving over the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge. As a child, I remember seeing footage of that bridge oscillating and throwing cars from their perches. It was a horrific scene indeed! Luckily the reconstruction of the bridge seems a lot more secure than that! It was interesting to drive over such a historic site, however.
Monday was our last day, and I was still raring to go. I honestly think I could travel for weeks on end before getting tired of it all. I was truly sad that things were winding down. I wound up sleeping in until 10:45, which was definitely needed after the lack of sleep this trip caused. We wound up drinking some wine coolers for breakfast because we forgot we’d had them and we couldn’t easily bring them back with us. Then we ate lunch at LeLe Thai in Tacoma, which was very good. From there, we went to the Glass Museum and admired all the interesting glasswork. We even were able to watch a glass blowing demonstration, which was just fascinating! The heat involved in making such things is immense, and when they open up those gigantic ovens, it looks like they’re opening up a portal to the sun. After the museum, we admired the glass bridge, which is essentially a normal bridge with more glasswork on display. We also had our first glimpse of Mount Rainier the entire trip. It was absolutely immense, and I wish we’d have had time to visit it as well. All good reason for another trip out!
So we made our way to the airport and explored that for a bit before getting our flight out. During the first leg of the trip, I was in the middle between Nate and some rather grumpy fellow. Luckily we got to move during the second leg, but I was stuck with a slimed-up window. People are so disgusting, sometimes! We had an uneventful trip home, and were happy to be reunited with our critters and to settle back into life in New Mexico.
On Thursday, after contending with the broken shower and the lock that, well, wouldn’t, we headed out. My hair was still in the form of a large singular dreadlock held in a ponytail to the back of my head. It was most unpleasant, but at least it was out of my way. Our first ordeal was stopping for gas in the great state of OR. We’d both forgotten that this is one of those crazy states in which the employees pump the gas for you. We were rather confused…do you tip these people? When they walk off, are you allowed to put the pump back when it’s done? What exactly is the etiquette in such situations? Well, we ended up driving off when it was all done, without tipping, and hoped that’s how it’s done! I think that worked because no one seemed to care on subsequent fill-ups. They really need instructions for us ignorant out-of-staters at gas stations in OR. We drove west along the Columbia River, stopping at a Stonehenge replica on the Washington side of the river. It’s built to scale and commemorates servicemen. It was quite an interesting site, and I’d recommend seeing it if you can’t get out to see the original in the UK. From there, we stopped at a fish hatchery and dam on the Oregon side – Bonneville Dam, I believe. Then we continued on in Oregon, taking a long hike along the Triple Falls Trail. It was an amazing place! A somewhat steep trail snaked upwards through lush forests. Along the way we would encounter various species of gigantic slugs. It was so nice to be immersed in such a flourishing environment. And despite the humidity, it was cool and pleasant. After the Triple Falls trail, we checked out a number of other waterfalls in the area, including the most visited tourist site in Oregon, Multnomah Falls. The falls there were absolutely huge. You can feel so insignificant standing next to a feature like that.
Once we parted from the Columbia River, we headed south along I-5 through Oregon. We stopped at Enchanted Village along the way. This was a unique little park that centered around children’s fairy tales. The first half of the park involved walkthrough replicas of stories such as Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and Alice in Wonderland. Heck, the whole park had things like that. One of the neatest things was a tepee with a stack of “firewood” in the center of it. If you enter the tepee and go behind the firewood, you notice that the wood is actually an entrance to an extensive series of caves. It was such a blast! Nate and I had such a good time exploring all the catacombs, and I can just imagine what it must be like for a kid.
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