Vancouver, WA

There’s nothing like a ferry ride, pumpkins and hot cider to make kids young and old miss summer a little bit less. Today the sun was out, the air just slightly crisp. We put on our sweaters, packed a quick snack and headed out the door.

For me, an extended camping trip in our travel trailer at Maryhill State Park makes a relatively inexpensive family vacation, but being less than two hours away from Vancouver, it’s also a day trip worth taking.

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.

What is the most exhilarating, exciting and fun thing to do in Vancouver for FREE? Racing sailboats is exhilarating, it is one of the best ways to learn to sail and meet new people, and just as the sailor needs a boat the skipper needs crew so the ability to show up is all you need to start a new and exciting sport.

RACE SAILBOATS!

I have traveled the world and walked many a beautiful beach but nothing has come close to the stunning and dramatic seascapes of the northern Oregon coast.

In need of a few titles I headed out on one of my Powell’s Books Expeditions. Indeed, the largest used book store in the nation is expedition worthy and to prepare adequately I decided to tack on a stop at another classic destination in the surrounding district: Fuller’s diner on 9th and Davis.
Fuller’s has been [...]

I paired up with another mom and together with our ten charges, set out for what turned out to be a fast-paced morning of sight-seeing on foot around the streets of West Portland.

I took advantage of a break in the winter-like weather to explore the Washington State University Vancouver campus trails. What I expected would be a normal out-of-doors excursion turned into a serendipitous adventure through lush valleys, quiet woods and hidden meadows dotted with apple trees.

Before we go to the fort itself, let’s stop in to the Visitor’s Center, up the hill from the fort on the corner of E Reserve and Evergreen Blvd. The visitor’s center is free, and there’s lots of information here about the history and archeology of the fort. There’s a gift shop, too, [...]

The garden at Fort Vancouver is a heritage garden, meaning that it contains plants that we would have seen here when the fort was in operation in 1845. Notice the arch over the entrance to the garden and the snowball bushes on either side of it. Snowball bushes are European, and would have [...]