We're planning on traveling to Europe next year and have been interested in several countries, including England, Ireland, France, and Spain. We decided to look to Rick Steves for good advice, information, and tips on European travel since he seems to be a great expert. He's actually a local guy from Edmonds who has been traveling to Europe the past 30 years and written several books about each country and even has his own TV show about European travel.

This past weekend we went to one of his free travel classes about Paris and the Heart of France at the Edmonds Theater near his travel office. He wasn't actually there, but the guy who presented seemed to be just as knowledgeable. This guy lives in France for 3 months out of the year and has been to multiple places in France with Rick.

The presentation was fast paced and filled with lots of good information and beautiful photos. It lasted two hours and could have lasted several more. He talked in great detail about how he would take a 5 day trip to Paris, and then add a day or two each for Normandy, the Loire Valley, and Burgundy to name a few areas. He also talked in general about traveling to France, money saving tips, and how to get around on the excellent public transit system they have.

Going to this class definitely made us want to visit France even more than before. I'm looking forward to going to another class next weekend about Spain.

One thing that's often apparent when looking at a US map is how many less roads and people there are in the western half of the country, particularly states like Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho. What's sometimes not apparent from maps is the natural beauty that makes these places more remarkable than their population counts or locations would indicate.

These three states - Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho, are where we took our latest vacation - a road trip of over 2500 miles to see the country's greatest National Parks. We visited Glacier National Park in Montana, and Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming. We also stopped at the Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Sawtooth and Boise National Forests. We were out and on the road for 10 days and 10 nights, and two of our friends were able to join us for the best parts.

We saw a lot of wildlife and scenic beauty, did some hiking, and also did a lot of driving. Overall, it was one of the best vacations we've had and makes me want to spend more time in the outdoors.

We slept in on Tuesday and checked out of the hotel around 10. Thankfully they were able to hold our bags at the front desk until later in the day before our boat ride back. Victoria is the capitol city of British Columbia, so they have a Parliament building there. We took a self-guided tour of it and even sat in on a live session of the legislative assembly for a few minutes.

The next stop was my favorite part of the whole trip - Afternoon Tea at the Empress Hotel! We arrived a little early, so we took it easy and strolled around the hotel and some of the gift shops. The hotel was actually built between 1904 and 1908 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Several British monarchs and other famous people have stayed at the hotel. We had reservations for noon and were seated a little early. We started out with a cup of strawberries with cream and then our tea came. We had a choice between several options that all sounded good. I ended up getting their Empress black tea blend, which was the best tea I've ever had.

Then we got a three-tiered food tray that started with some finger sandwiches, including a curry chicken sandwich, an egg salad croissant, some kind of cucumber sandwich, and a few others. The second tier was the best part - a currant scone with cream and strawberry jam to spread on it. It tasted so good! Finally we got to the dessert and all of us were starting to get pretty full. The dessert included cheesecake, chocolate & vanilla cake with marzipan (also known as Battenberg cake), a lemon meringue pie, a chocolate truffle, and a piece of shortbread. It was quite possibly the coolest eating experience I've ever had. It was pretty pricey, but definitely worth doing once in a lifetime.

Then we went exploring more of Government street and all the retail shops, including a specialty tea shop called Murchie's and an Irish themed store. After that we split up again and Troy and I walked around more of downtown and went by a cathedral we'd seen briefly on our city tour bus the previous day. We met up with his parents again and went to eat dinner at the Spaghetti Factory before grabbing our stored luggage and taking the Victoria Clipper back to Seattle. Fortunately there were plenty of taxis waiting for us, so we took one back to our apartment so we could pick up Troy's parents' luggage before dropping them off at their airport hotel.

Victoria is a nice small city to go to, with several great things to experience such as the Butchart Gardens and Afternoon Tea. We might go back some day, but probably not any time soon. We want to go back to Vancouver first. We had a nice trip and a nice visit with Troy's parents.

We woke up really early for our ride to Victoria on the Victoria Clipper. It left at 7:30 am, so we had to be there at 6:30 am. We woke up around 5:15 am to meet Troy's parents and catch the bus to get down to Pier 69. We finally boarded and were served a decent continental breakfast which included yogurt or cereal with milk, a blueberry muffin, a small cheese wheel, crackers, and Craisins. Thankfully the weather was decent, although not totally clear. We couldn't see any of the mountains that I knew surrounded us, but at least it was partly sunny and wasn't raining.

We arrived in Victoria around 10:30 and it took forever to get through immigration. We finally got onto our tour bus around 11 and had a short tour of the city before heading to the Butchart Gardens. We happened to be there on Victoria Day, so there were lots of festivities and a parade going on near the waterfront, so the tour bus had to avoid that area unfortunately. It didn't take long to get to the gardens though. We had about two hours to meander through looking at tons and tons of nicely landscaped scrubs, bushes, and flower patches. There were tulips everywhere. At the end we stopped in the gift shop and I actually bought some souvenirs, which I don't normally do on trips. The Butchart Gardens were pretty impressive. I could have stayed there another couple of hours probably.

The tour bus dropped us off at our hotel, the Royal Scot, which is just a block away from the waterfront. It was a nice hotel, despite being a little dated. We quickly headed out again and were pretty hungry, so we went to a place I'd read about called Red Fish Blue Fish. The line to order was intimidatingly long, but we waited anyway... and waited... and waited. After about 45 minutes, we finally ordered and got our food about 15 minutes later. Troy and I shared the 2 piece halibut and chips (for $20) and it was awesome. I can't say it was worth the wait, but it came close.

After that we walked through Chinatown and the big retail area. Troy and I continued on to Beacon Hill Park while his parents took a little rest at the hotel. I enjoyed walking through the park and sitting on a bench to rest for a while. We eventually found the Mile 0 marker for the Trans-Canada Highway, which is almost a 5,000 mile long highway that stretches all across Canada to the Atlantic Ocean.

We were a little hungry by then, so we stopped for an ice cream sundae at The Soda Shoppe on Government Street. We got a scoop of cookies & cream, strawberry, and chocolate, topped with marshmallow cream, whipped cream, pecans, and two cherries. It was a little overpriced (as was pretty much everything in Victoria), but it was nice to rest a bit and the sundae actually was very good.

After that we were pretty tired, so we headed back to the hotel and played a few games of pool and shuffleboard with Troy's parents before calling it a night.

We were happy to spend time with my parents last weekend on their second visit to Seattle. They arrived last Saturday and we spent some time in town before visiting Leavenworth and then visiting Victoria.

They arrived around lunch time, so we went to Red Mill, our favorite burger place in town. While the music was rather loud this time, the food was good as usual. From there, we headed to Pioneer Square to walk around and take the Underground Tour. This was Lesley's and my third time to take the Underground Tour. Each tour guide has his or her own stories to tell and different areas to show so it hasn't gotten old yet. We also spent a good amount of time at the Gold Rush Museum, which is a rather interesting and well-done museum.

We then visited the Central Library, which is an interesting architectural landmark. We visited the red floor and traveled along the lime green escalators before going to our apartment. There, we ordered Pagliacci Pizza and watched our Netflix rental (The Verdict) together before taking my parents back to their hotel for the evening.

The next day, we met for breakfast near their hotel before heading to Leavenworth. We rented a car for a more comfortable ride for everyone and then made the 2+ hour scenic drive over the mountains to the Bavarian village east of the Cascades. We enjoyed the town and had German food for lunch before heading back and visiting Bellevue Square. That evening we had apple pie that Lesley made and had a light taco dinner at a place called Tacos Guaymas in our neighborhood.

The next couple days we visited Victoria, British Columbia, which we'll write about separately. I'm happy my parents were able to come and really enjoyed visiting with them.

Not much has been going on that's been post worthy, but I thought I would mention a few things coming up over the next few months:

7th Annual Cheese Festival - We're going to the cheese festival today and might be meeting some friends there. It's free to get in and all the booths have free samples of their cheeses to taste. We're planning on buying two or three different kinds of cheese. I've been looking forward to this for months.

Visitors - Troy's parents are visiting us very soon and we're planning on going to Leavenworth, WA and Victoria, British Columbia. We've never been to Victoria, but I've heard a lot of good things about it, especially the Butchart Gardens. They'll also get to see our new apartment and neighborhood.

Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) - Seattle has one of the best film festivals in the country. We've gone to a couple movies every year during the month-long event. Not sure what we'll see this year, but there's tons of options to choose from.

Northwest Folklife Festival - This happens on Memorial Day weekend at the Seattle Center. Lots of good food is available, as well as crafts, live music, and other things going on.

Mariners game - We'll be going to the Memorial Day game against the Orioles. We haven't been to a baseball game yet this season, so it should be fun. Hopefully the weather is much nicer by then.

Sounders-Whitecaps game - We'll be going to the first regular season match between the Sounders and the Whitecaps on June 11. The Sounders, Portland Timbers, and Vancouver Whitecaps will probably form a strong rivalry due to their close proximity to each other in the region.

More visitors - My parents and Uncle will be visiting us in mid-June for about 5 days. We're planning on going to a Mariners game and also scenic Deception Pass. I'm really looking forward to hanging out with them and showing them our apartment.

Bite of Seattle - This is probably my favorite Seattle festival. Last year we were able to go with our visiting friends and had a lot of fun. It's similar to Folklife, except even more restaurants and types of food to choose from. We'll be going to this in mid-July.

Hiking? - Hopefully we'll start hiking more as the weather gets better. We've had a really cold, wet spring so far, with high temperatures well below normal. My foot is also slowly improving, so it will be nice to hike again. Hopefully I won't have to wear my night splint forever.

So, we'll be pretty busy the next couple of months and it will be nice to have visitors. The summers are always the best time of the year in Seattle.

This past week we have been busy planning a few upcoming trips. First, we are planning to visit our friend in San Francisco. We had a good visit with him a couple years ago and enjoyed the city immensely, so we've wanted to go back. While driving to San Francisco would take like 13 hours, it's not too long or expensive of a flight, so I'm glad we'll be able to go again to spend more time with our friend and experience more of the city. We weren't sure if we'd be able to do this trip, as airfare prices had risen by almost $100 since we started looking. Fortunately, we caught a break, and seem to have gotten a good deal on a hotel. We'll be going within a month from now.

We're also planning a big national park road trip this summer. We'll be driving to three national parks: Glacier, Yellowstone, and Grand Tetons. We really enjoyed our road trip up here from Texas and haven't gone on another one since then. This drive will be about as long of a drive as that road trip and hopefully it will be as good. Hotels in the national parks had already started selling out, so we had to book this one quickly to be able to go. There aren't very many hotels in the parks and the ones that are there are often rather dated and due to the high demand prices aren't as cheap as we'd hoped. We're really hoping to be able to do this trip with some friends as well, but regardless it should be fun.

Each of our parents will be visiting us in the next few months, too, so we've been planning some activities around that as well. It seems like we'll have more opportunities this year to spend time with family and some of our good friends from Texas than we have the past couple years, so I'm excited about that and about these trips coming up.

We just returned from our 9-day-long visit to Fort Worth for the holidays. This was the longest trip back to Texas since we moved to Seattle almost three years ago, so we had more time to see our families than we have since before we moved away.

This trip has seemed different from others. The first few trips back we were very excited to be back and see people and we noticed the many differences between Seattle and Texas. However, this trip, things have felt more like what I remember when we used to live here. This trip was maybe a little too long, but we did many different things to make the most of our time there.

We spent a lot of quality time with our parents, other relatives, and our friends in the area. We went to several of our old favorite restaurants and enjoyed good Tex-Mex and barbeque. We ate at pretty much every place that we wanted to eat at, though it did get expensive eating out so much. There were a few fun family activities, such as the normal Christmas gatherings and going to church with Lesley's grandmother for the first time. I got to see an uncle and a cousin that I don't normally see and spent some time with my brother and saw the apartment he'd moved into. We also had a good time with my parents playing their Wii and other games, going to the mall, and walking at the park with my dad. We also played games and walked in the neighborhood with Lesley's mom and went to a Dallas Stars hockey game and the zoo with Lesley's parents.

I was happy to be able to tour Cowboys Stadium to see the giant high-def screen and walk on the field - it's an awesome stadium. We also celebrated the new year with some of my friends in the area and had a lot of fun playing games and hanging out with some of our best friends that we hardly ever get to see. We saw several movies when we were there, including True Grit and Despicable Me, as well as seeing Tangled while eating lunch at a Movie Tavern.

I also got to explore a lot of the interesting parts of the Metroplex. My parents drove us around new development in Fort Worth along West 7th, and we spent time in the Fort Worth Stockyards with my mom. Lesley and I had a mini-vacation in Dallas, staying in a hotel downtown and spending time in the city on our own. Taking Dallas' trolley to go out to dinner and a movie in Uptown was a highlight of the trip. We also went to breakfast the next day on Oak Lawn and went to NorthPark Center. The day we spent in Dallas also provided us with some welcome privacy and a break from being driven around all the time.

Taking trips back to Texas can be stressful, as we often can't spend as much time with people as they would like, and dealing with people's moods can be challenging. The stress of dealing with expectations may be why Lesley didn't feel very good on the trip.

Overall, this was one of the better trips I've had back to visit family. I really enjoyed the time we spent with people and the varied things we did. We're not yet sure when our next trip will be, but we will be going back this year for Thanksgiving or Christmas again.

This past weekend I was able to go to Game 3 of the World Series and visit my family in Texas, thanks to my friend Megan's buddy pass to fly stand-by for Southwest Airlines. I wasn't guaranteed a seat, so I wanted to get to the airport fairly early. I took a half day off work on Friday and made my way to the airport via the Link Light Rail. It was really nice and took me straight there in about 35 minutes. Getting into the terminal took no time at all and I was able to get a boarding pass while waiting for the flight since it wasn't very full. I can see how flying on stand-by would normally be stressful if the flights you're trying to get onto are pretty full. I lucked out with all my flights since there were at least 20 seats left on all four I took. I got a window seat every time and no one next to me in the middle seat until the last leg from Albuquerque to Seattle.

Megan picked me up from Love Field, which I'd never been to, and we went to Uncle Julio's for dinner. It was really good - we shared the nachos and combination fajitas. It was a lot of food! I enjoyed catching up with her and hanging out. Then she dropped me off at my parents house for the night.

Saturday morning I woke up pretty early so we could go eat bagels at Einstein Brothers bagels, which owns Noah's, our favorite bagel place in Seattle. I got a sesame bagel and some hot tea. We picked up my grandma and took her with us to breakfast too. Then my Uncle Bob met us there so he could see me for a little bit.

After that, we dropped my grandma off and went to my sister's house so I could see my niece, Evie! We spent about 3 hours there and I took lots of video and pictures of her! She was so cute! She's already able to walk around a coffee table while holding onto it. She can even let go and still stand there for a few seconds on her own! I got to see her room too and it was really cute. My sister fed her while we were there too, so I got to see her eat solid foods. I'm looking forward to seeing her and my sister again during our Christmas trip. We're going to babysit her one night so my sister and brother-in-law can go out and eat dinner and have a fun night out.

My parents and I went to Cousins for an early dinner after that. I got a chopped brisket sandwich, fresh hot okra, and the potato salad. It was really good.

Unfortunately, my Dad couldn't get a third ticket for my Mom to go, so it was just my Dad and I at the game. I felt bad using her ticket, but she kept telling me it was ok and that she was just glad to see me. We left really early to get to the game about 2 hours before it started. I'd never seen so many people at the Ballpark. The game set an attendance record of 52,419. My Dad waited in line to get some souvenirs for an hour and a half. The lines everywhere were so long. It was really cool seeing Nolan Ryan throw out the ceremonial first pitch to Pudge. The game went by really fast and the Rangers won 4-2. It was exciting seeing all the home runs and watching the fireworks go off. I still can't believe I was able to go to Game 3 of the World Series! It's one of those once in a lifetime things you can't pass up if you have a chance to go.

We stayed up a little bit once we got back to the house and watched some tv shows my Dad had recorded about Seattle and a little bit of the UW-Stanford game. We had to get up early Sunday to get to the airport for my 9:10 am flight. There were plenty of seats available on the flights, so I had no trouble at all. It was a really short trip, but it was worth it to see my niece and the game. We'll be back soon too for Christmas in a couple months. Thanks again to Megan for getting me the plane ticket and my Mom for giving up her game ticket for me! :)

Last week my Dad said I should fly back to Texas if the Rangers made it to the World Series and he could get me a ticket, but I figured it wasn't possible since plane tickets would cost over $450. Then the Rangers won the ALCS last Friday night to make it to their first World Series in franchise history. And then the San Francisco Giants won the NLCS on Saturday night. My friend Megan said I should fly back for a World Series game and that gave me the idea to ask if she could get me free round trip airfare through Southwest Airlines since she works there. Luckily she had a free pass and was incredibly nice to offer it to me! So, that means I'll be going to Game 3 of the World Series this Saturday between the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants! Who would have thought two of my favorite baseball teams would make it to the World Series in the same year?!

So, I'll be flying in tomorrow night around 8:30 pm and leave Sunday morning at 9:10 am, with a stop in Albuquerque each way. Not only will I see the first ever World Series game at the Ballpark in Arlington, but I'll get to see my niece, Evie! She's already over 8 months old and starting to stand on her own and even make word-like sounds! I'm really excited about seeing her, my sister, and Mom and Dad. I'll also be having dinner with Megan after she picks me up from the airport. It should be a lot of fun!

According to a recent Travel + Leisure review, Sea-Tac International Airport is the best in the nation in terms of delays, with only 10.6% of flights being delayed. By comparison, 22.3% of flights are delayed at D/FW International Airport, the 3rd worst in the nation. According to the survey, the best time to fly in or out of Sea-Tac is before 10:00 am. The worst time window is 6–8 p.m.

Sea-Tac is one of the best airports I've been in. I've always liked that it's smaller than the gigantic D/FW Airport and isn't nearly as hard to get around between the terminals and concourses. It's still definitely large enough to get most places we want to go via direct flights. Sea-Tac rarely changes the terminal or gate on you at the last minute, which is nice. I've always been able to get through security rather quickly and most flights I can remember have been on time. The only exception to that was our flight out for Christmas in 2008 with the terrible snow storm that hit the area that winter. I also really like Alaska Airlines, which has its main hub at Sea-Tac.

Sea-Tac also has a lot of public art inside it, making it one of the most unique airports I've seen. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the terminals, which comes in handy while waiting 1-2 hours for flights. It is also served well by Link Light Rail from downtown Seattle, although we've never actually taken it to or from the airport the entire way. We hope to do that this Christmas.

All of these factors add up to a generally stress-free traveling experience, which is not very common at other airports.

And because I like interesting statistics, here are the top 10 domestic routes out of Sea-Tac in 2009 by number of passengers (from Wikipedia):

1. Los Angeles, CA - 744,000
2. San Francisco, CA - 719,000
3. Anchorage, AK - 681,000
4. Denver, CO - 650,000
5. Chicago, IL (O'Hare) - 589,000
6. Phoenix, AZ - 550,000
7. Las Vegas, NV - 540,000
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN - 519,000
9. Spokane, WA - 503,000
10. Dallas/Fort Worth, TX - 484,000

We had been looking forward to this trip for a while as we had heard several good things about the Oregon Coast. And, our trip lived up to expectations, it was a lot of fun. We're already thinking about going back sometime, though are not sure when. It's about a 4 hour drive to the coast from Seattle, so to be worthwhile we'd want to stay at least two nights probably. There is a lot of other traveling that we'd like to do as well.

Now that we've been to the coast and are more familiar with the area and the various towns and the things to do, we have a better idea of what we might like to do next time. The best part of going to the coast was the time we spent on the beach - walking, watching the waves, lying down in the sand - it was all great. If we go back, I'd like to make sure we do more of that.

I'd also like to do less driving. We had wanted to see as much as we could of what the coast had to offer, and while we did see a lot of different things, all the beautiful viewpoints started to look the same after a while. I think it would be nice to spend more time in each place we stop.

We passed through quite a few towns along the coast and many of them were forgettable, but we have a better idea of where we might like to stay next time. Though Cannon Beach was overrun with tourists, it had a nice beach and lots of places to eat. Also, we liked our time near Yachats - the town was okay, we really liked the food at Luna Sea Fish House, and our motel there was a good value.

We don't have a date set, or even that much of a plan for when we'll travel back to the coast, but we're already looking forward to it.

I've always liked lighthouses and made it a point to visit several on the Oregon coast. Unfortunately we somehow missed the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, but we were able to see 4 out of a possible 5 on the trip. There are a total of 11 lighthouses on the Oregon coast, 3 of which are not open to the public. All of the lighthouses we saw originally had a first order of the Fresnel lens, which is the largest of it's kind at 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide. Lighthouses make for really beautiful coastline photos and also have interesting stories of their own.

Tillamook Rock Lighthouse
Location: Cannon Beach
First Lit: 1881
Deactivated: 1957
Height: 62 feet
Feet above sea level: 133 feet
Range: 18 miles
It was the most expensive to operate in the US before it was decommissioned. Nicknamed "Terrible Tilly" because of the exposure from terrible storm waves, the former beacon is now used as a columbarium (for storing peoples' ashes). It is the only privately owned Oregon coast lighthouse on National Register of Historic Places.

Cape Meares Lighthouse
Location: Tillamook
First Lit: 1890
Deactivated: 1963
Height: 38 feet
Feet above sea level: 217 feet
Range: 20 miles
Cape Meares is the shortest lighthouse in Oregon and is also the home of the Octopus tree. Unfortunately Cape Meares has had several instances of vandalism since the 60s, with an occurrence as recent as January of 2010 when two men fired several shots into the windows and damaged the Fresnel lens. It cost over $500,000 to repair the lens.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse
Location: Newport
First Lit: 1873
Height: 93 feet
Feet above sea level: 162 feet
Range: 18 miles
This is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon. During World War II, 17 servicemen were stationed at Yaquina Head keeping a lookout for enemy ships. This is also a popular area for whale, seal, and bird watching.

Heceta Head Lighthouse
Location: Florence
First Lit: 1894
Height: 56 feet
Feet above sea level: 205 feet
Range: 21 miles
Heceta Head is named after the Spanish explorer Bruno de Heceta, who explored the Pacific Northwest during the late 18th century. The lighthouse is claimed to be the strongest light on the coast by several sources. It is also one of the most scenic and is the most photographed on the entire West Coast. You can also stay at the old keeper's house which was turned in a bed and breakfast able to house 14 guests. Nice antique furniture, a seven-course breakfast, relaxing fireplace parlors, and breathtaking views make it a great romantic getaway.

Beautiful Heceta Head on Vimeo.

There are many places to stay on the coast - bed & breakfasts, local motels, and chain motels scattered all along the coastal towns and oceanfront. Since we were only staying one night at each place, we had to find several places to stay, so it took some time to get all our lodging lined up. We were looking for places spread evenly apart so that we would have a relatively consistent amount of driving to do each day. We also wanted these places to not be expensive (under $100) but not be dumpy, and to be near the beach, if possible.

It seems that a lot of places aren't easily found on the internet, so sometimes our options for booking online seemed fairly limited. That was the case with our lodging the first night in Astoria. We just needed a place to stay for the night and we ended up at the Lamplighter Motel, which was the most inexpensive place we stayed on the whole trip. It offered pretty basic accommodations with no frills. Fortunately the only superficial complaints I would have would be that the carpet and furnishings in the room just looked a little worn - it seemed clean enough - and it was still a satisfactory place to stay, though we might look for something a little nicer if we were to go back.

Our next night we stayed in Rockaway Beach, a tiny town of less than 2,000. Our lodging that night at the Silver Sands was expensive at $126, but it was right on the beach and we had a view from our window. The room was nice and it was very nice to be able to get to the beach with just a short walk. We were again on the 2nd floor and we slept with the windows open until a bird woke us up. We would look for a better deal next time, but it was a good place to stay.

Our final night on the coast was near the town of Yachats. Deane's Oceanfront Lodge was actually a few miles from the center of town and though it was just off the main highway, it felt rather isolated. When booking our room, the owner was nice enough to give us the off-season rate, though he wondered why he did that when we checked in. Our room had cable TV, a fridge, an electric fireplace heater, and a DVD player (which I never could get to work). The bed and pillows were also the most comfortable we had on the trip. There were games and DVDs to borrow in the office as well as coffee and doughnuts in the morning. They were even thoughtful enough to include a mini-flashlight with the room key so that we could walk down to the beach at night (which we did and loved). The building was old, but it was decorated nicely in a beach theme. We never could get our keys lock the rooms and the hot water didn't work during my shower, but somehow despite those big drawbacks, we both really liked staying here.

The final night of our trip was different from the others as we were staying in a large Doubletree hotel in the middle of Portland. This meant we parked in a garage and used an elevator to get to our room instead of parking right outside our room and walking just a few feet. We happened to find a pretty good rate on this place, as it would normally cost more than we'd like to pay. This hotel is geared more for the business traveler than the couple on a road trip, so it was the only hotel on our trip not to have a mini-fridge and microwave. It was also the only place we stayed that didn't offer free Wi-Fi. Yep, in the year 2010, the cost for internet at the Doubletree hotel is like $10/day. It worked out okay, though, because instead of looking online for somewhere nearby to eat, we went down to the concierge to get recommendations. We also got a free breakfast with a full menu or breakfast buffet. Our room was pretty nice too, maybe a little too elegant for my taste, but past the view of the monstrously drab roof of the hotel's conference area, we had a nice view of the Portland skyline. I liked staying here pretty well, though I wouldn't be likely to pay much more than we did this time.

Since we were out doing things so much of the time, we didn't spend much time actually inside our hotels/motels. None of the places we stayed were really remarkable, but they were all fine.

We weren't sure what to expect for dining options on the Oregon coast. Most of the towns we were going through were too small to have that many restaurants, let alone really good ones. We did a little research before the trip and I knew of a few places to specifically try. Overall the food was alright and the service was pretty slow everywhere.

Lost Roo in Long Beach, WA - We stopped at this Australian-themed bar on the first night going to Astoria. Troy got a Caesar salad and I had a salmon burger. The food was alright, nothing special at all. We had slow service, but figured it was just bad luck with our waiter and the fact that we were in the bar area.

Bowpicker Fish & Chips in Astoria, OR - My coworker mentioned this place and said it was the best fish and chips she ever had, so I made it a point to try it. We ate here after the Columbia Maritime Museum. We both got a 3 piece fried tuna fish and chips with a canned soda. I liked it more than Troy, but I guess in retrospect it was fairly average. The fries were definitely nothing that great, but having freshly caught fish fried to order was nice.

Sweet Basil's in Cannon Beach, OR - This was a small family-owned restaurant that also had fairly slow service. It was pretty small inside and there was only one table that wasn't reserved and it happened to be right next to the kitchen, which was pretty open. We could hear everything the cook and his assistants were saying, so the atmosphere wasn't the greatest. I got a house salad and the crab wrap, which was pretty good, but a lot of food. We both liked my wheat tortilla it came in. Troy got the veggie melt tapa, which he really liked. I'd definitely go again and get something different, as long as we could sit outside or have a reserved table farther from the kitchen.

Grateful Bread in Pacific City, OR - We had the worst service of the whole trip here. In fact, it was probably the worst service I've had anywhere the last few years. It took 10 minutes for the waiter to bring us water and then at least another 5 minutes to take our order. The food took a long time to arrive and was just average. I got an egg scramble with came with two biscuits and fruit (they were out of roasted potatoes) and Troy had some french toast and two eggs. Probably the worst part was that we waited at least 20 minutes for the check that never came. I had seen other tables get their checks at the table, so I figured we had to wait for the check to come to us. I got tired of waiting though, so we went up to the register where I asked for the check and finally paid.

Luna Sea Fish House in Yachats, OR - We had the best food of the trip here. We had a really late dinner around 8 after we went to Heceta Lighthouse. After waiting about 30 minutes for a table, we were finally seated. We had cheese and crackers with us we were going to eat that night, so we decided to share a plate at Luna Sea. We got the Captain's Special which included two pieces of fried halibut, two fried scallops, two fried shrimp, and two fried oysters. It also came with fries, coleslaw, and a piece of garlic bread. It took a while for them to make our food, but man, it was the best fish and chips I'd ever had! We wished we had each gotten our own plate. It was so good, we decided to go again the next day for lunch and get it to go before heading to Florence for our dune buggy ride. Unfortunately the fish wasn't fried as crispy the second time, but it was still very good and the fish was so tender and fresh. Our only complaint was the slow service. We'll definitely be going there again though.

Chai Yo in Portland, OR - We were planning to eat at Schlotzsky's for dinner before arriving in Portland, but it was closed for Labor Day. Instead we walked to this Thai food place within a few blocks of our hotel. We were definitely looking forward to having something other than fried food. It was empty when we got there, but a few other people eventually came in and several people had ordered food to go. I liked the atmosphere. It was nice and quiet and very clean. I got the pad thai with tofu and Troy got the stir fry with vegetables. It was decent food for the price.

Voo Doo Doughnut in Portland, OR - This place is really hyped up on the Food Network, specifically because of the Man vs Food episode featuring it (only the first minute of the video is about VooDoo). We went to the original location in downtown around 9 at night and the line was out the door and around the corner of the building. We weren't going to wait in a line with 50 people in it, so we decided to go to the other location closer to our hotel and instead only had to wait about 15 minutes behind 10 or so people. While we were waiting in line, I played a game of pinball on their Pirates of the Caribbean pinball machine. You can get all kinds of crazy doughnuts here, including ones with cereal on top. I got the voodoo doll and Troy got the maple bar. Troy really liked his maple bar, but my voodoo doll was so sweet I couldn't finish it. It's a chocolate covered doughnut in the shape of a doll with red fruit (blood) filling. I have to say Top Pot is still my favorite.

Built to Grill in Portland, OR - We at at this food cart stand in downtown Portland before going to the OMSI. Apparently food carts have become a big deal there and this was one of the highest rated ones. The food exceeded my expectations. I got a grilled chicken panini and Troy got the basil pesto pasta. They were both really good and not that expensive. I could see how it might be difficult to eat here however, because there isn't really anywhere to sit. They had one table with two chairs and two high chairs next to the food cart for people to use. Luckily we were able to sit at the table to eat.

Escape from New York Pizza in Portland, OR - We each ate a slice of pizza at this place, which we'd been to before and loved. We weren't that hungry, but we needed something to hold us over until we got home. I got a slice of pepperoni and Troy got mushroom. Unfortunately they overcooked them a little bit, but it was still pretty good pizza.

This was our last day of vacation, so we slept in a little bit before heading downstairs to eat the free breakfast offered by the hotel. We had our choice between a breakfast buffet or to order from their restaurant's full breakfast menu. I chose the buffet and Lesley ordered an omelet from the menu.

After breakfast, we headed out for a walk at Mount Tabor. This is a park on an extinct volcanic cinder cone. The weather was cool and damp, but it was a beautiful morning for a walk as we almost had the park all to ourselves. There were a few small reservoirs in the park as well as views toward the city.

We then headed toward downtown to have lunch at one of Portland's many food carts. We then went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. Like most science museums, the exhibits were made to be fun and interactive for children, but it was still interesting enough for us. There were several brain teaser puzzles that we did and there was a large globe that showed all kinds of neat things about earth, including weather patterns, earthquake locations, and flight patterns. It also had information on Jupiter and its moons. There was another exhibit area that had a lot of interactive experiments that were kind of fun. We also got tickets to the planetarium where they were showing "Laser Michael Jackson", which was quite corny, but it had some of his songs with a laser light show on screen. In retrospect we wished we'd gone to the show about stars.

When we left the museum it was raining lightly, but by the time we got to our car (not a far walk away), we were in a downpour. This sudden heavy rainstorm was unlike anything I've ever experienced in Seattle and very similar to the type of rain that we used to get in Texas. It was great (once we were inside the car) to get to watch such a downpour. It, however, made it a little more difficult to figure out what to do next. We decided to escape the rain at Powell's City of Books, a huge bookstore in downtown Portland. We bought a cookbook there and then headed to a pizza place for dinner before heading back.

We left at around 6:30 and didn't have many issues with traffic or rain on our way back, though both got worse as we approached Seattle. We didn't have much time to unpack when we got home and had to get ready for work the next day.

For the first time on this trip, we slept in a little late. We got some doughnuts and coffee at the lodge where we stayed and then walked along the beach again for half an hour or so. We went to Luna Sea Fish House again to get more food. This time we ordered to go. While we waited for our food, we walked over to a grocery store in Yachats to buy some wine and beer from Oregon. We then headed down the road and ate at a nice viewpoint. We also made a brief stop at a viewpoint for Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Continuing on, we went toward the sand dunes along the coast where we had a reservation for a dune buggy ride. This was recommended by one of Lesley's co-workers who does this on his own ATV sometimes. We were in a group of 9 people and all loaded into the buggy. We then sped around the dunes, going around turns, over hills, and down seep slopes at high speeds. There were lots of other individuals out there riding ATVs as well. It seemed like it could be dangerous but our driver was safe and we had fun. We had to keep our mouths closed so that we wouldn't ingest any sand. Also, we made sure to secure all of our belongings - apparently it's easy for things to fall out of your pockets during the ride and some people have lost car keys in the dunes. Imagine all the junk you could find if you could sift through all the sand out there.

We then had a few hours of driving ahead of us to get to Portland that evening. We headed east along a crowded two-lane highway. We drove by the University of Oregon in Eugene and then stopped at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem. The art deco building is pretty unique among state capitols as far as I know, but the grounds were nice and we spent some time there.

We had intended to stop for dinner and eat at Schlotzsky's Deli, one of Lesley's favorite sandwich shops from Texas, which has a franchise open near Portland. However, it was closed so we continued on to our hotel in Portland. We were both tired of eating fish and chips, so we walked to a nearby Thai place for dinner. That night we made a quick journey downtown looking for Voodoo Doughnuts, a famous doughnut place that had been recommended to us. However, the line was around the block, so we went to another location that had a shorter line (but we still had to wait like 15 minutes). I got a maple bar, which was very good and Lesley got a voodoo doll.

Bird running on beach on Vimeo.

Ocean Waves on Vimeo.

Heceta Head Lighthouse on Vimeo.

We woke up early again on Sunday and after a brief walk along the beach, headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory. We did the self-guided tour of the factory and saw a few quality control workers on the assembly line of cheese. It was neat watching them pick out the bricks that were either underweight or overweight. The factory produces 167,000 pounds of cheese each day and packages one million pounds of cheese each week. The factory warehouse has the capacity to age 50 million pounds of cheese at once, that's a lot of cheese! We also ate free samples of various cheeses and bought some to take with us.

The next stop was Cape Meares, the first of a three-cape scenic route off of US 101. We continued to be pleasantly surprised by the nice, sunny weather, which allowed for great views from the viewpoint and the lighthouse. The Cape Meares Lighthouse was one of the smaller ones I've seen. After taking in the awesome views of the ocean and seastacks, we made our way to the Octopus Tree just a short walk into the forest from the lighthouse. It looked like what you'd expect - several different trees sprouting from a single above-ground trunk. It was one of the craziest things I'd ever seen.

We didn't have enough time to stop at the other two capes - Lookout and Kiwanda. Instead, we did a short hike on Whalen Island in the middle of them. It was a short, relatively easy hike through a small forested area with shorter trees than normal and lots of sand. I'd never hiked on sand that much before. We could hear ATVs in the distance riding on the dunes, which was pretty cool. Halfway through the hike you could walk to the shore of a small lake in the middle of all the sand.

We were pretty hungry after the hike, so we stopped in Pacific City to eat a late breakfast at The Grateful Bread. Then we drove on down the coast until our next hike at Cascade Head. We were lost for a little bit trying to find the upper trailhead, but we eventually found it. We had to drive on a dirt and gravel road for 3 miles. We hiked through a very green forest to the viewpoint at the top in the meadow area with lots of yellow flowers. We had a nice view of the hills and the valley below, including Salmon River and the rest of the coastline. We also saw several hawks circling and could hear sea lions making noise in the distance. Some very endangered types of flowers only grow on Cascade Head, but unfortunately I didn't find any.

By this time it was around 4:00 in the afternoon, and the next stop was another short hike to the Devil's Punch Bowl! We walked down to the beach and then out onto some slippery rock formations in order to get to the punch bowl itself. It was a little difficult to navigate around the slimy rocks and not slip. It was worth the trouble though because the inside of the punch bowl had red markings on the rock and the water would come crashing in from the ocean through small caves.

Shortly after that, we stopped at Yaquina Lighthouse near Newport and walked to the top of a small hill to the east of it for a nice view. Then we drove 42 miles all the way to Heceta Lighthouse, south of Yachats. We hiked a short distance up to the lighthouse for a great view. Then we drove to a different view point a little farther to see the lighthouse from a distance, just in time to watch the beautiful sunset over the ocean. It was amazing!

We drove back north into Yachats and ate dinner at the Luna Sea Fish House before heading to our hotel for the night. We stayed at Deane's Oceanfront Lodge, which was right on the beach. Before settling in, we walked down to the beach and enjoyed the sound of the ocean waves. We looked up and saw tons of stars everywhere! It was easily the most stars we'd seen since being in Hawaii for our honeymoon. We were far away from any city lights and there was no moon out, which made them easier to see. It was really romantic and definitely my favorite part of the trip.

Ocean Waves near Three Capes Drive on Vimeo.

Cape Meares on Vimeo.

View of the coast from Cape Meares on Vimeo.

We got up sort of early Saturday as we had a full day. Astoria is a small town (pop 10,000) but it has a surprising amount of things to do - it's also where the 1985 movie The Goonies was filmed. We headed toward the 125-foot high Astoria Column on a 600-foot hill above the town. After climbing 164 steps to the top, we were treated to an awesome panoramic view of the surrounding hills and waterways. For only a $1 parking fee, the column offered one of the best views on the trip.

Afterward, we headed back to our hotel to check out and then drove downtown to park. Our next stop was the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which we had read good things about. The museum was of impressively high quality and very informative on a number of subjects including the history of Astoria, salmon fishing, shipping, steam boating on the Columbia River, dangerous weather, and ship wrecks. Astoria originally attracted settlers for salmon fishing and canning. The Columbia River is very dangerous for maritime travel but has long served as a major route for shipping. Next to the museum was a small lightboat, which used to accommodate several people to help guide passing ships. Even in the quiet waters near the shore, we could feel the boat rocking.

We bought our lunch out of a boat in a dirt lot across the street called Bowpicker Fish & Chips and sat outside to eat. Afterward, we walked farther down the riverfront and watched a big ship pass by. After this we drove back and forth over the Astoria-Megler Bridge again so that we could see what it was like in the daytime and then headed farther down the coast.

Our next stop was Ecola State Park where we parked and went on a short and moderately difficult hike through a forest near the water. We had good views of the coast and went down to the beach where we relaxed on a log. We had a good view of the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (also known as Terrible Tilly), which was built on a rock more than a mile out from the shore in 1881. It experienced a lot of abuse from storms and was the most expensive lighthouse to maintain in the US before it was decommissioned in 1957. We walked along the beach a little and took a narrow, steep trail back to the main trail.

We were close to the popular tourist town of Cannon Beach and visited a bakery that we had read about online. I got a fresh peanut butter and chocolate chunk cookie and Lesley got a sticky bun. We went down to the beach to eat these and then we walked barefoot to Haystack Rock. There were a lot of people around, but we found a quiet spot to lie in the sand for a while. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.

We then drove back into the heart of Cannon Beach and stopped at a candy shop to buy some taffy and then we ate dinner in the town. By then it was around sunset and we had a pretty drive to our hotel. We had just missed the sunset, but we had a view of the ocean from our window. We walked around the beach some at night and then had some taffy and tea in our room.

View from Astoria Column on Vimeo.

View from Ecola Park on Vimeo.

Cannon Beach on Vimeo.

I'd been looking forward to going to the Oregon coast ever since we moved here and we finally went Labor Day weekend. We left after work at 3:30 on Friday and traffic wasn't too bad leaving Seattle. It was slower through Tacoma and Olympia and we finally turned west toward the coast after 2 hours. Once we got off I-5, traffic wasn't nearly as bad and the road became more curvy. It was completely sunny when we left, but clouds and fog started to roll in when we were getting close to the coast.

We were pretty hungry after 4 hours of driving, so we stopped to eat at the Lost Roo, a local bar in Long Beach, WA. It was a family friendly place and had lots of fake Australian-themed decor. It was dark and lightly misting outside after dinner, but thankfully we only had about 20 more minutes to drive until we arrived at our hotel in Astoria, OR. We stayed at the Lamplighter Motel, not too far from the Astoria-Megler Bridge, the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. The bridge spans the Columbia River and is over 21,474 feet or 4 miles long. It was pretty cool driving across the bridge. The first stretch of the bridge leaving Washington was flat, but it went pretty high up when we got closer to Oregon. We were both pretty tired after driving about 190 miles from Seattle, so we just decided to call it a night.