Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, WA

We attended the International Beerfest which was right under the Space Needle.

Seattle is a huge city with a lot of traffic and major parking problems. Kind of reminds me of Austin with it's little hip enclaves. We spotted this troll under a bridge while driving around. It has a volkswagon in left hand.

We went to all the tourist attractions in Seattle; waterfront, Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square. Instead of the Space Needle we went up in the Columbia Tower which is twice as tall and 1/3 the price. This is a pic from there. On the 4th of July we sat under a bridge in the truck and watched fireworks from a few blocks away.

July 1st. We headed straight up to Seattle, Washington. Found an RV park right in the middle of Bellevue, which is just across the lake from Seattle, and has lots of huge Microsoft buildings. Big money in this town. Water, water everywhere here. We have been here a week. The pic above is a ship made out of legos at the Center for Wooded Boats where we attended a wooded boat festival. Went to Tacoma one day and walked around.

Fort Stevens SP, OR

One of the pics from Astoria Column of the bridge that goes across the river to Washington.

We next headed north to Ft. Stevens SP, a defensive outpost from the Civil War through World War II that sits at the mouth of the Columbia River. It still has a bunch of old gun batteries to explore. While there, we visited the town of Astoria, a few miles east. A very cute town sitting on the Columbia River. We rode the trolley through town and went to this Astoria Column. Climbed the stairs and took pics.

Tillimook, OR

We drove a scenic loop from Tillamook through some pretty coastal towns. Saw Cape Meares lighthouse and this octopus tree.

June 26, we went back west to the coast, to Tillamook, Oregon. It was marshy and green and there were cows everywhere. It smelled like cow crap, but kind of sweet milk cow type. Have you heard of Tillamook cheese? We toured the big cheese factory. Stayed at Blimp Base park, a small air park where the building that is recorded as the largest wooden building in the world used to house blimps.

Columbia River Gorge, OR

We drove further east to Hood River, the wind surfing capital of the world. Went to a vista point there and took this pic of Mt. Hood, at 11,245 feet, Oregon's tallest mountain.

We visited Bonneville Lock and Dam on the Columbia River, a huge hydroelectric power system that supplies more than half of the regions energy. It also had a huge fish hatchery and fish ladder for the salmon to swim up. There was an underwater viewing room below this ladder. Also saw Herman the sturgeon, a 9 foot fish.

Picture of the Columbia River Gorge from a vista point.

We headed east from Portland on Hwy 84. It runs right along the Columbia River and the huge gorge that it has carved. We stayed in a state park and drove along a waterfall trail. This is Multnomah Falls, the 4th highest waterfall in the U.S.