Okay, about our trip

As mentioned, we took off for Vancouver WA on Friday so hubby could work on a computer net work. We'd originally planned on a really early start and decided the heck with that, set the alarm for 6am and we were on the road by 8am.

Hit Lewiston to top off the gas tank, grab a quickie breakfast at Jack's and get the tires checked (good thing, one of them was WAY off). Picked up Hwy 12 in Clarkston and we weer off (and traveling too LOL!).

Day was cloudy and very breezy, rained a bit

Rainy start to the trip


But started clearing up by the time we hit the Columbia

Got nicer closer to the Columbia


I'd made sandwiches the night before and we'd packed some chips and iced tea, so we didn't need to stop for anything other then bathroom and stretching legs breaks.

Did stop in Briggs and saw this gull on the light pole

seagull

We got to Portland early enough we thought to hit Fry's as hubby had forgotten the power cable to his laptop. Managed to take the wrong exit and ended up somewhere near downtown Portland. By the time we found a place we could get wireless, figure out our bearings (the GPS unit was acting flaky) and head to Fry's, it was rush hour

Portland traffic


So we made it to Fry's, hubby couldn't find the right cable, but did find a refurbed Motorola GPS we decided to try. It was not a bad little unit. Took a bit of fiddling to figure out how to get where we were going. We did end up taking it back tho, it was almost what we wanted, but it couldn't download information to a computer and I never did figure if one could input latitude and longitude so it could be used for geocaching. For what it could do it was great, but just not what we needed.

In the meantime, while there I finally got to check out the Cannon Powershot G11 camera I want. I will definitely be saving up for one.

We stayed at Fry's until rush hour was over, so made good time getting to mom's.

Saturday spent at our friend's place. I visited, hubby worked on computers. We met up with some other friends that evening and finally got home about 1am.

My brother was up visiting also, so while the hubby went back to finish working on the computers, we headed out to Astoria.

At first I couldn't figure out why we were headed towards Seattle, then I remembered the Columbia curved. I never paid much attention to the geography of that area since I rarely ever get out there. But I finally got my bearings. We popped into Woodland to see the tulips

Tulips!


It was all I could do to keep from having mom stop the car and digging some out of the ground LOL. But I resisted.

But we made it into Astoria. Saw the cutest little house across from the restaurant

Good choice of color


The Ship Inn was not too hard to miss

Ship Inn Astoria OR


Neat view of the bridge from our table and we saw the trolley go by

View out the window


The Trolley that goes by


After lunch we headed up the the Astoria Column, where I got a nice view of Astoria

Overlooking Astoria


The column was pretty cool

Astoria Column


Astoria Column


Got a bit dizzy looking up at it. Went inside

Inside the Astoria Column


Decided I wasn't up for climbing to the top. It was very windy out and I didn't think I would enjoy it.

Driving back down, we saw a big ship sitting out on the river

big ship


Headed over the bridge to the Washington side for the drive back to mom's

Crossing the bridge


BIG bridge!

The Washington side was nice

Washington side


We got to mom's place about 15 minutes before hubby got there. He and I then popped out to do some shopping. I really wanted to hit Trader Joe's, since they don't have one in Spokane. Picked up several bottles of different balsamic vinegars. A couple white ones, an aged one and one regular. Also picked up a wedge of crumbly gorgonzola. I would have liked to have gotten a wedge of the sheep's milk blue cheese, but hubby was having sticker shock as it was. Oh well, maybe next time out.

Since we had to take the new GPS back to Fry's, we decided on a late start. Packed up and hit a Shari's just on the other side of the river to have breakfast and use their WiFi to try and figure out routes and such. Hit Fry's, tried to get the car adapter power supply fo the laptop to work, hit Sonic for a shake and a malted (OH.MY.GHODZ! Those were good, he had a chocolate shake, I had a hot fudge malted).

By the time we got out of Portland it was 2ish. Traffic wasn't bad, I took over driving for a bit thru the gorge while hubby grabbed a bit of a nap. Coming out on the flatlands it got a wee bit dusty

A bit dusty on the way home MOnday


Had to stop at one point when a tumble weed came up and over and knocked one of the antennas off the roof. The dust really wasn't that bad. But the wind was still pretty stiff when we hit the Columbia again

White caps on the Columbia


Waves onthe shore


One gust almost knocked me over the barrier while I was snapping the pics.

Further down the river we looked back, still pretty dusty

Dusty Columbia


A train came by and I was able to get this pic

Train, sun and dust


Headed into Walla Walla to grab a couple of burgers at McDuck's and drove on for home. Got home just before 10pm, brought in a few things and crashed.

All in all, a good trip. Definitely want to do it again and take a couple days getting there and back to check out a lot of the places we keep driving by (like the Discovery Center in The Dalles, Multnoma Falls, etc.

Comments

Drang said…
THE SHIP INN IN ASTORIA SEAFOOD CASSEROLE ZOMG!!!

Ahem. We really liked it. Deserts are supposed to be good, too, but we were economizing, or something silly.

The Maritime Museum is teh awesomeness.

Fort Clatsop is kewl, too.

Alas, Clatsop County will no longer process for OR CPLS unless you live in an adjacent county, so I guess you better keep an eye out for Grant County Sheriff Palmer at gun shows near you. (Or maybe you know someone in the Puget Sound region...)
JeanC said…
I was considering dessert, but I was so stuffed from lunch I don't think I could have eaten another bite.

I would have like to have gone to the museum, but we didn't have time. I'm thinking next time over, try and get some time to hit Astoria for a bit, check out the museum and then head for the coast. Haven't been there in 20 some years.

Yeah, we'd been hearing about Oregon not recognizing other states CCWs :P Will have to keep an eye out for Sheriff Palmer.
Jennifer said…
I used to live out in that area. Your pictures have made me homesick! I really enjoyed them. Thanks.
MarmiteToasty said…
wow great photos........ oh how I love that little lilac cottage....

x
MarmiteToasty said…
I will say though that the flats behind the little lilac cottage look very rickety and unsafe LOL

x
Anonymous said…
I thought the place for burgers in Walla Walla was Artic Circle...
JeanC said…
Ooooo, Acey Greasy :D I'm not sure if they exist anymore........

KEWLNESS!!! They do, tho the closest one is in Yakima. There are only two left in Washington and the ones in Idaho are all southern :(