Vancouver, WA

Certain criteria make cafes good work environments: enough customers and activity for me to feel forgotten, the staff can’t be shouting conversations across the counter at each other, and WiFi is especially helpful. Mon Ami Café blends each of these characteristics into an eclectic space in uptown Vancouver.

There’s something about this time of year that demands a higher consumption of hot beverages. Luckily, Vancouver is up to the challege of providing and cozy retreats and from the dim and cold of winter.

Vancouver has some unique places to sip a drink and with generous doses of history and class. Tonight’s agenda: two happy hours and a movie.

Entertainment that doesn’t make a hole in the your wallet and time with friends or family. Nice way to spend a lazy day.

…they brought huge platters with open-face hamburgers and large sides of French fries AND onion rings.

Later, a short drive or streetcar-ride away the Portland Aerial Tram whisks you up to the top of Marquam hill, treating you to a picturesque view spanning from downtown, across the river and all the way to Mt. Hood.

I was born and sort of raised just west of Astoria, Oregon. I have family who live there still and frequently pass through the town of Astoria but seldom stop. My whole life the town didn’t have a lot to offer passersby so it was not in my “places to stop and hang out” paradigm. Until now.

I played my first game of Frisbee golf at WSU Vancouver’s dandilion-studded course which lies on the east side of the campus.

I have always thought there should be a park tucked away in this area nestled between I-205 and SR-500, little did I know that it was already a reality. The official address is 10500 NE 47th Street, but I went to the entrance located just south of SR500 at the intersection of 51st Circle and [...]

I love sunshine, just as long as I can enjoy it from the shade. That is one of the reasons I enjoy the 26 acre Marine Park, located to the south of SR14 Exit 1, on Columbia Way and SE Marine Park Way. The park has a nice mix of sun and shade, trees and bright green grass, a baseball field, playground, restrooms, and water to a small group of picnic tables, including a covered area. There is also a boat ramp at the far western portion of the park, but it is a fair walk from where we parked the car so we did not visit it.