SkyWatch Friday - Sunset at Seaside

I spent the last 2 weeks visiting one of my favorite States.....Oregon!

I never tire of traveling the coast of Oregon and this last trip is another good reason why!

This trip was a girls getaway with my dear long time friend Suzy from Tonopah.  We had a blast visiting old friends and spending time with her mother.  We made several little trips all over Oregon, which of course included the coast!  And believe this or not, we actually went to a part of the Oregon Coast that I had never seen!!  I know crazy huh???

I've been on the very South Coast of Oregon at the California boarder and only as far North as Tillamook.  So visiting Seaside for the very first time was an absolute thrill!

Now I've seen some pretty amazing sunsets during my travels.  Unforgettable Fiji, beautiful Lake Tahoe, and nothing like a sunset in Africa.  But I tell you, the colors in this paticular sunset where unforgettable!

Now watch the colors change as the sunsets

 



 

 

The perfect ending to a perfect day in Seaside!

 

I have written this little story in conjuction with participating in SkyWatch Friday.

 

Just a little note.....these pictures were taken SOOC with no filters!!

 

Oregon on Dwellable

Watery Wednesday - Coast of California

We had a wonderful trip camping up the coast of California and Oregon this past August and saw some beautiful scenery.  It was so relaxing to camp on the beach and fall asleep to the sound of the waves.

This is a picture I took on our first morning after a long overdue well deserved good nights sleep!

Where is this little piece of heaven you ask?  It's just 15 miles north of Fort Bragg in the tiny little coastal town of Westport Beach on the Mendocino coast.

Please take a moment and see some more great Watery photos from all around the World!  Just click here.

SkyWatch Friday - Wintery Sunrise

In February 2005 I was on my way to Oregon from Las Vegas for the Seafood Wine Festival in Newport.  I spent my first night in Susanville California and the next morning while driving on Highway 89, I couldn't resist pulling off to the side of the road and taking this picture.

I am participating in "SkyWatch Friday".  Join in the fun by clicking HERE

Watery Wednesday - Everything Is Wet in Oregon

click picture to enlarge

I found this picture in one of my folders titled "Oregon August 2005".  Imagine my excitement when I saw this picture with the water droplets on the spider web.  Perfect for Watery Wednesday!!  I think it looks a little bit like glass beads.

There are many more people sharing their Watery shots over at "Watery Wednesday".  Click here and take a look!

SkyWatch Friday - Rainbows

Lake Tahoe, Nevada

Central Oregon

Australia
You have to look really hard for this one

Niagara Falls

I love taking pictures of rainbows while traveling.  Nope, still haven't found that pot of gold!

Head on over to SkyWatch for some more pictures of the sky!

Watery Wednesday - Oregon Coast

There is nothing more beautiful then the Oregon Coast!

I took this picture while visiting the cave of "Sea Lion Caves", across the shorline to "Heceta Head Lighthouse".

My First Watery Wednesday!

I thought this picture was appropriate for my first "Watery Wednesday"

I hope I'm not getting in to deep!

Here I am, Back in Las Vegas

Well it took me awhile, but I finally finished my stories about our fantastic month long trip this past April "Driving the Great Northwest"!

As you may or may not know, this trip was inspired and began with a 2 week home exchange in Vancouver Washington. Just click here if you would like to read about how it all started and all the adventures we had from hiking to the top of waterfalls and into lava tubes, to watching mermaids swim in Montana and seeing buffalo covered in snow in Yellowstone.

This was our home while we explored the area of Washington and Oregon.

I have been doing this for 4 years now bringing the total of home exchanges to over 10!  Because of home exchanging I have been able to visit places like Australia twice,  (Click here for the story on my second one),

Provence France (story),

Florida twice, (story of the second one),

And also places like Copenhagen, England and Playa del Carmen Mexico!

I know it probably sounds like I'm the Poster Child for home exchanging, but if not for home exchanging, I certainly would not have been able to see such beautiful places or meet so many wonderful people!

So get ready for some more stories on home exchanging! My next series of posts will be about our home exchange this past February to the Algarve, the beautiful south coast of Portugal!

Driving the Great Northwest - A Day in Great Falls

During our stay in Billings this past April we took the drive up to "Great Falls" to visit a couple of Stijn's high school buddies from when he was an exchange student in Billings.

It was a beautiful drive through this part of the State on Hwy 191 and Hwy 87 to Great Falls.  I love seeing wildlife and we saw plenty of Pronghorn Antelope along the way.  Sorry no pictures, but Click here if you're curious about these beautiful animals.

After we arrived Cliff and Jared took us out to see the "Great Falls" of which this city is named for when Lewis and Clark arrived here on June 13, 1805.

There are five falls along this portion of the Missouri River.  Today we were were able to see a few sites while following the Lewis & Clark Trail along the Missouri River.

The first stop we made was at "Black Eagle Memorial Island". 

This is actually a man made island and is located downstream from "Black Eagle Dam".   It opened to the public in the summer of 2005 and has a 1,500 foot path that links to a viewing area at the tip of the island.

When then headed downstream to "Giant Springs Heritage Park".

Rather then me trying to explain the beauty of this place, I will let you read what William Clark wrote  when he first laid eyes on this spring.

.......the largest fountain or spring I have ever Saw, and doubt if it is not the largest in America ever known, this water boils up from under the rocks near the edge of the river and falls immediately into the river 8 feet and keeps it's colour for a mile which is immensely Clear and of Bluish Cast....

......William Clark

There is a concrete walkway in which you can take a stroll right between the Giant Spring and the Missouri River.   

  

Here you will also see the shortest river in the country.  The Roe River ranks as one of the shortest rivers at 201 feet in length, flowing into the longest river in the country.  The Missouri River is  2,540 miles long, 200 miles longer than the Mississippi River.

It is entirely way to cold and windy on this day to endure too much more.  But we did get a glimpse of one more site along the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail.  This folks "Is" the Great Falls!

 

I can just imagine what ol' Lewis and Clark thought when they saw the waterfalls in Oregon!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just Click here and then click the album "Great Falls"

Driving the Great Northwest - Off to Montana

Sorry this post is soooooo late!  I have been met with the challenge of Melanoma and it has set me back even more than I already am with my posts about our fantastic trip through the great northwest!  So I figured it's time to catch up a little bit more before I have some surgery and start treatments.

Let's go back in time a little bit to April 21, and put ourselves on the road leaving from Vancouver Washington and making our way to Billings Montana.  First stop, Missoula Montana.  Our route takes us through the magnificent "Columbia River Gorge".  I never tire of traveling this portion of I-84 that travels along the second largest river in North America. It is so beautiful with the waterfalls of Oregon on my right.......

 and the Columbia River on my left which creates the border between Oregon and Washington.

We arrived in Missoula just in time for dinner, so we decided to check out what "Historic Downtown Missoula" had to offer.  With a recommendation from a very nice lady we met while parking our car, we took the short walk to "The Iron Horse Brew Pub" located at 501 N. Higgins.  This place had a typical Western feel to it with it's wood beams and rustic decor.  They had a nice side patio, where of course we needed to be!  The food was nothing to exciting and the only thing I really have to comment on is the Sweet Potato fries!  Remember I had some great Sweet Potato fries at "Casa Nyranja" in Portland, and I was thinking that everyone made them that way.....WRONG!  These were so skinny, and quite flavorless.

Well it had been a long day so we headed back to our room at the "Mountain Valley Inn", which by the way is really within walking distance to Historic Downtown.  After a good nights sleep, and some breakfast in the lobby of our hotel, we were on the road again!

Next stop, Billings Montana!

Driving The Great Northwest - Mount St. Helens

Another beautiful day in Washington draws us out to explore some more on April 15th. Sure beats doing taxes on that day!

We decided to take a drive up to Mount St. Helens and check out "Ape Cave".  This is a lava tube that was formed 2,000 years ago and is the longest in the United States at 12,810 feet (3.9 kilometers) long.  And it's only about 1 hour away!

We headed north on I-5, and then east on State 504 which took us past some beautiful lakes.

As we continued it was becoming apparent that winter wasn't quite finished up here yet!

Okay, so let me share something with you here....if you are going to go and explore this lava tube on your own in the off season, which this was, you are going to need to bring a flash light!  A big one!  Somewhere in all the brochures I read, I missed where a flashlight is a must if you are going to walk the mile and half long lava tube.  Hmmm.  But common sense might tell you that hey, your going in a long lava tube, underground...Hello!!  I have visited many caves and even a lava tube when I was in Hawaii, but it was always with a tour guide, and low and behold they had flashlights!  Okay enough of that.

We went ahead and went down the steep rocky wet stairs that lead into the mouth of the lava tube.

Took a few pictures and left in great dissapointment that we didn't get to hike through the lava tube.

So we say good-bye to Mount St. Helens and head back to meet up with Sterling and Carrie for Happy Hour!

If you would like to see more pictures of our day just click here "Where's Debbie" and then click on the album "Mount St Helens"

Driving The Great Northwest - A Bike Ride Along The Willamette River

I can't help but think how lucky we had been with the weather during our home exchange in Vancouver Washington.  I mean it was April and there was hardly ever any rain!  Read my previous posts, I'm not lying!  Nowhere will you read that any of our plans, while in the Northwest, where cancelled because of rain.

And on April 18th it was another beautiful sunny day and we decided to take a 10 mile ride on our bikes along the Willamette River in Portland.

Oregon is a fantastic place for cycling and you can choose a route that suits you from the many maps that are on line. Click here for maps.

We of course chose the path along the Willamette River because you know how I love the water! 

 

For a minute I thought I was in New England somewhere with the colors and the white steeple church!

And then on our way back to the car we were able to see how an elephant crosses the road in Portland!

There are a few more pictures of our ride on "Where's Debbie".  Just click on the album "A Bike Ride Along the Willamette River"

Driving The Great Northwest - Some Great Places for "Happy Hour" in Portland - Part II

Happy Hours are such a great thing in Portland Oregon that as you can see it has made it necessary for me to do a two part story about some of these great little spots!

So after our first evening on April 12th of discovering where the "locals" like to go, April 15th Sterling and Carrie took us in a different direction to try some of Portland's "Happy Hour" fare.

I know everyone has heard of the "Pearl District" in the heart of Portland.  It's the one talked about in all the travel books and magazines.  So of course that's where everyone (tourists) wants to go.  Well let me share a little secret with you...."The Historic Mississippi Avenue District"!!  This now trendy, historic part of Portland is located in the northeast in the Boise section at North Fremont Street. 

Portland Oregon's Historic Mississippi Avenue Shopping and Restaurant District has a culture all its own, combining originality, variety, and excellence with style and energy. Almost every business is locally owned and operated, making it a welcome break from the corporate fare found elsewhere.

Our first stop, "Casa Naranja".  Located at 4205 Mississippi Ave., the brightly painted California Craftsman Style house is what draws me in right away.

But with all the great options for sitting outside, "In" is not what we did.

We tried a few of the items off of the Happy Hour menu and I must tell you, the Yam fries are the BEST you will ever have, ANYWHERE!

Stijn was loving his burger and beer!

Our next stop brings us to "Amnesia Brewing" which is located in what seems to have been an old auto mechanics garage at 832 North Beach St.

This is a very relaxed place with picnic tables lined up outside where you can enjoy your beer and a barbequed hamburger or hot dog while enjoying a rare sunny day in Portland.

It was pretty fun to see that Belgian Beer, being the great beer that it is, was not available for Happy Hour!

But all is not lost.  We headed over to "Bridgetown Beerhouse" where Mike was more than happy to help Stijn fulfill his need for some good ole' Belgian beer!

There are some more pictures to see at "Where's Debbie".  Click on the album "Happy Hour Part II"