The Trail Ends Here

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have another travel post to write. I feel that for the first time in a while, I actually have something to say. Ah well, I suppose that's the challenge of actually writing about daily life as opposed to a 3 month stint in Europe.

I call this post, "The Trail Ends Here," because, in a way, this vacation was the end of a trail, both figuratively and literally. When I was littley my parents decided we should try and see all 50 states by the time I finished high school. We didn't make the deadline, most notably because of the hopportunity to go to Europe. Who wants to see California when Paris is knocking at your door? Nevertheless, this trip completes us, as far as the Continental US goes at least. (Hawaii is all thats left, but will wait until after... what else? Europe.) That's the figurative end of the trail, now on to the literal.

Q: Does anyone know which two trails end in Oregon?
A. The Oregon Trail and Lewis and Clark's Expedition of Discovery.

We've often done "nearly" themed vacations- one year we went to nearly every significant site Abraham Lincoln ever lived in KY and IL. Our GA, TV, SC, VA, and MD vacation was like the Civil War on steroids. Lewis and Clark have always been intriguing to us, me in np articular because of Sacajawea, whom I honored at the end of the trail by buying a biography of. But I"m getting ahead of myself.

On Tuesday we landed in Portland, Oregon. Surprisingly, many things in Portland remind me of European culture- small cars, biking lanes, attention to recycling, and being environmentally friendly. The people, however, remind me of being in Austin. Indeed, I think one of the most sought after past times in the town is people watching.

Our first task was to find Fort Vancouver, an old fur trading post and commonly accepted as the end of the Oregon Trail that was established in 1825. It sits just across the Columbia River from Portland in Vancouver, WA (raise your hand if you knew there was a Vancouver, Wa...) Then we headed over to Portland's famous Japanese Garden.

After dinner we went to the voodoo doughnuts, home of the Maple Bacon Log, the most bizarrely, delicious thing ever:

This store could have been in the heart of New Orleans. The outside is painted this strange silver with glitter, and on the inside is pink and neon. They only let one person per cashier in at the time which results in a line that wraps around the block. Our wait, apparently, wasn't so bad, only 15 min.

Lindsay's foodie recommendations for Portland:
Lunch: Beaches Restaurant, fish and chips
Dinner: Jake's Famous Crawfish Grill, crawfish Etoufee'

The next morning we paid Portland adieu and headed to Astoria. We made a bee line for the 101, otherwise known as the Pacific Coast Highway, and detoured to Seaside, OR to dip our toes in the sand. We also picnic lunched at Sunset Beach State Park- what is now one of my all time favorite picnics of all time (trust me, we've picnicked all over the country). Making it into Astoria, we stopped by Fort Clatsop. Clatsop is the fort Lewis and Clark built in 1805 after finally reaching the Pacific Ocean. They spent the winter of 1805-1806 there. After we left Clatsop, we explored Astoria. It's a good size little fishing community built on the side of hills that would rival San Fransisco.



Lindsay's foodie finds of Astoria, OR:
Dinner: Bridgewater Bistro, clam & mussel gnocchi
Breakfast: Pig'n Pancake, sourdough pancakes

Well, that's all for our Oregon travels. From Astoria we crossed the bridge into Washington, but that's a whole 'nother post.