Savoring Sand and Sea at Cape Blanco

The final stop in our tour of Oregon was Cape Blanco State Park, situated on the sparsely populated southwestern coast of the state. The cape is a rocky headland that juts out into the Pacific, reaching the second-furthest-west point in the 48 contiguous states. Surrounding the cape is a field of partially submerged rocks called … Read more

Weekend on the Central Oregon Coast

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

“Ocian in view! O! the joy.”

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

The Columbia River Gorge: It’s Gorge-ous!

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