Exploring the American Landscape
Shannon 
Our journey south from the Columbia River along US 101 took us through miles of rural scenery, filled with dairy farms and small fishing communities. In places where the road runs right along the coast, we could sometimes make out dramatic pillars of rock down topped by hardy evergreens just offshore. Unfortunately, persistent rain and … Read more
This November 7, 1805 journal entry from William Clark perfectly encapsulates his peculiar spelling and punctuation style, along with the very understandable relief of getting to the long-awaited destination: the Pacific Ocean. At the mouth of the Columbia River, just west of the town of Astoria, Oregon, the Lewis & Clark Expedition completed the journey … Read more
We emerged unsettled but unscathed from our visit to the remote areas of Eastern Oregon, and after crossing the Cascades we discovered a wonderland of green. After months of seeing dry, sagebrush-filled landscapes, the leafy moisture of the Columbia River Gorge is almost hard to fathom. I’ve definitely been unreasonably excited to see moss on … Read more
Even after being on the road for almost 8 months, even after extensive reading of reviews, even after plenty of time spent analyzing satellite maps, we are still encountering places that completely defy our expectations. Eastern Oregon is one of those places. We were in the area mostly to see the John Day Fossil Beds … Read more
Boise’s population of around 300,000 and its role as the capital of the state make the city comparable in some respects to Tallahassee, Florida, our home-state capital. But unlike Tallahassee, which is a relatively small town in a state with multiple major metropolitan areas, Boise is also the largest city in the state by a … Read more