Vancouver, WA

Savvy mountain climbers and day hikers alike will take advantage of Mt. Hamilton’s challenging climb while also enjoying waterfalls, wide trails and brilliant views along the way.

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.

We spent a glorious day dodging the aggressive surf and making our way across the stagecoach trail and stopping to peer in all the nooks and crannies of the tide pools. We went into caves bending low to avoid getting scraped by the mussels overhead. We rinsed our salty feet in the freshwater stream and hunted for interesting wood and rocks and shells.

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.