We arrived in Troutdale, Oregon on Wednesday for a 3 day stay at Sandy Riverfront RV Resort. Troutdale is a small town just east of Portland. Barbara's never been to Portland so I thought I'd show her some of the sights downtown.
The Portland area has a robust public transit system called TriMet, a combination of bus and train service. We left Friday morning at the bus stop across from the RV park. We got off the bus in Gresham where we caught the train. An hour later, we got off in the middle of downtown for a day of exploring. I definitely recommend using public transportation if visiting here. We bought 1 day passes for only $5 each. Just to park downtown would have set us back over $20 bucks, not to mention fuel cost and the aggravation of driving.
Portland is a wonderful place to explore on foot. If you like to walk, it's entirely possible to walk all over the city center. We started out by visiting the largest bookstore in the world, Powell's Books. This place takes up 3 stories of an entire city block. They have over 3.5 million new & used books. They will also buy your used books. We spent over 2 hours and only covered a tiny fraction of the store. The geography & travel section alone was larger than most bookstores I've ever visited, and they had over 30 different sections.

 

 

We had lunch at Jake's Famous Crayfish...great place to eat (and rest). I had the Crayfish Penne and Barbara had Pecan Crusted Catfish....mumm good! Both dishes for less than $20...not bad.

 

 



 

 

Most of the major retail chains are located downtown. They are interspersed with unique small shops cafes, and coffee bars.

 

 

 

 

 

Portland has some nice old neighborhoods with many homes built during the Victorian era. It's been a good day! We leave tomorrow on our way back to KC. We plan to drive to Baker City, Oregon for a one night stay.

If you like our blog, why don't you let me know by posting a comment...I'd like to know there are folks out there looking at it. If you have any suggestions as to how to make improvements, let me know those as well.

 

 

 



 



Our month in Crescent City comes to an end today. We're heading over to Roseburg, Oregon for the night, on our way to Portland for a three day stay. After Portland we will slowly make our way back to Kansas City to visit with our boys for a month or so. We've had a great time here, visiting the dramatic coastal scenery and walking among the Redwoods. Crescent City is a neat little city with ample shopping options and restaurants.

 

 

The weather for our stay has been pleasant with cool temperatures and a mixture of fog, clouds, and sunshine. It rarely rains during the summer months and we didn't see any rain during our stay although during some days it sure looked as though we were going to be in for it.

 

 

 

One side trip I wanted to let you know about was our journey to Oregon Caves National Monument. On the way we passed through the small town of Cave Junction, Oregon. It's a delightful little town nestled in the Lincoln Valley, surrounded by the Siskew mountains. We stopped for lunch at at Taylor Country Store, a wonderful combination meat market/eatery. If you call yourself a carnivor, you'll love this place.

 

 

Oregon Caves was a real surprise. I thought there would be a simple structure in front of the cave where you get information and pay for the cave tour. Instead, there was a full blown lodge, built in the 1930's that was quite substantial. It reminded me of Timberline Lodge at Mt. Hood, Oregon, both built during the depression, beautiful in their rustic charm, built with local materials and old world craftsmanship. It had many rooms for rent, an elegant restaurant, and gift shop.

 

 

 

So, it's off to Portland, a place Barbara's never been. I'm looking forward to showing her some of the many waterfalls in the area as well as strolling around the city, taking in some of the sights. Stay tuned...



 



The weather this time of year for the Northern California and Oregon coasts is usually pleasantly sunny with highs in the 60s and lows in the 50s. The past week has been mostly cloudy with persistent fog hugging the coast. According to the RV park owner, this summer has been unusual in that the regular sunny skies have instead given way to the gray skies and fog but if you drive a couple of miles inland, its like the skies magically clear with bright warm sunshine. You really get a sense of how much the cold ocean currents affect the coastal Pacific Northwest.
We took a drive one day to a rather unique tourist attraction that you can't miss while driving up CA 199 toward Oregon. "Trees of Mystery" is your all in one destination in the middle of a redwood forest with a motel, resturant, gift shop, gondala ride, and hiking trails. They have two giant sculptures of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox that no doubt have the kids screeming at parents to make a stop. We just stopped for a stroll through the gift shop before moving on up the highway. The last few days however have been spectacular. Just maybe, the sun is making a comeback for the last days of summer. Our last few days have been spent between walks on the beach and drives into the forest for quiet walks among the giant trees. We have a week left before making our way back to the Kansas City area. We've had a great three weeks thus far but I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends again.          
                                         Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood Nat. Pk.

                                         Cape Ferello, OR