Sheer Beauty: The Oregon Coast

Where to begin! The national parks are always a highlight on any trip and Fort Vancouver, Fort Clatsop, Oregon Caves and Redwood National Park (yeah, I know its in California, but its SOOOOOO close!) were no exception to that rule.

We also ate and drank our way through the area, visiting cheese factories, candy factories, fish smokehouses, a brandy distillery, wineries and a cranberry farm.

Being from the East Coast, our biological clocks were waking us up before dawn. We took advantage of that to go out beachcombing nearly every morning, and now have beautiful souvenirs of stones, sand dollars and driftwood to remember our trip by.

Quick Tips:

Take it slow! Sure, you can drive the whole coast in a weekend, but why? Stop and linger on one of the world's best scenic drives. Oregonians had incredible foresight when they set aside so much land as state parks along the coast. Say thanks by stopping in to enjoy a few.

Best Way To Get Around:

Rent a car and stick to the coastal roads. Use the Interstate only as a return route to your origination point.

We found some great restaurants on our trip, including "Der Rhinelander" German restaurant in Portland (awesome swiss cheese fondue!), and a great Mongolian Barbecue in Coos Bay. We really enjoyed the Tillamook cheese factory, and their free samples, the Mexican Hot Chocolate (available just about everywhere at little roadside coffee stands), the Bandon Cheese Factory (more free samples!), A cannery down around Golds Beach, and the many wineries of the Willamette Valley.

Our two favorite "food" places, though, had to be Faber Farms (a cranberry farm near Bandon) and the Brandy Peak Distillery.

Learning how cranberries are grown and harvested was really fascinating, and the incredible variety of products made from cranberries was wonderful too, especially the Cranberry and Green Chile Salsa (no kidding....its fantastic!)

The Brandy Peak Distillery, near Brookings, takes some effort to find, but is well worth it. We got a private tour of this little boutique distillery from one of the owners. Did you know that brandy is essentially distilled wine? The brandies have won many awards, but the don't-miss surprise hit was the blackberry liqueur....great over vanilla ice cream!

Fort Vancouver isn't in Oregon, and it isn't on the coast, but it is a worthwhile stop if you fly in or out of Portland because it is just across the Columbia River from the airport.

Back in the 1800s, the Pacific Northwest was (and still is) rich in natural resources. Especially notable among those resources were beavers. Trapping the animals was important back then because hats were in high style, and beaver fur was the best for making felt hats. Even today, felt hats have an "X rating," but there's nothing pornographic about them! The X (as in a 10X felt hat) refers to the ratio of beaver fur to rabbit fur in the felt. Each "X" is equal to 5% beaver fur, so a 10X hat was half and half. Since beavers were so prolific in the area, it made sense to have fur trading posts to collect the pelts from trappers. The posts were run by the Hudson's Bay Company, and the largest of these was Fort Vacouver.

Now a unit of the National Park System, Fort Vancouver is a reconstruction of an early 1800s fur trading post. In its day, it was THE cultural and economic center of the Pacific Northwest. Though the original buildings are gone, the reconstruction helps visitors get a feel for what life was like on this frontier. You can visit the blacksmith shop, the bakehouse, the fur warehouse and the home of John McLoughlin (often called the "Father of Oregon"), who served as Chief Factor (head honcho) for the Company for nearly 20 years. There are lots of other buildings as well, and during the summer months, lots of living history and costumed interpretation that really bring the fort to life.

Control of the area was argued over for many years by the British and the Americans. We were fortunate to have visited during the first weekend in October, when the annual candlelight tours take place. This is a very popular event, and was great fun, even though it drizzled quite a bit. The premise is that, once you enter the fort's palisade, you've left America and are transported back in time to a very British fort. You'll even get a passport that will allow you to return to America at the end of your evening.

The fort itself has a palisade around it, so the view of the nearby cities is blocked once you enter. This is great for recreating the ambience of the scene, but unfortunately, Portland's airport is directly across the river, so you never quite forget where you really are. Outside the palisade is where the village and farming areas used to be. The area was used as a military base at the turn of the 20th century, and the officers homes, beautiful Victorian buildings, have been adaptively reused as offices and restaurants. It makes for a beautiful neigborhood stroll.

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Fort Vancouver National Historic Site is located in Vancouver, Washington, just east of Interstate 5. For more information, visit their website at www.nps.gov/fova

This is a real gem in the National Park System crown. It is the location of the winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805-06. Set in a beautiful pine forest near Astoria, Oregon, the site is home to a 1955 reconstruction of the actual fort, built according to a floor plan drawn by William Clark.

Despite nearly three months of constant rain, the Corps of Discovery ate well, and readied themselves for their return journey back east. Trails through the forest lead to a pretty little spring and to the landing on the Lewis and Clark River. Interpretive signs along the way, as well as beautiful exhibits in the visitor center really bring out what an amazing feat the expedition was.

My best tip for this site would be to not avoid it if it is raining. We were there on a rainy day, and it was just gorgeous. It also tended to add to the realism, considering the conditions under which the Corps lived here.

Beneath the Siskiyou forest, near Cave Junction Oregon, are a series of beautiful underground chambers decorated with stone flowers, pillars and draperies. Oregon Caves National Monument became a unit of the National Park System in 1907. I found this to be a rather strange little park. Though the caves were beautiful, I found the forest above to be more so. Another odd bit was that we did not see a park ranger the entire time we were there. The tours were run by a concessioner, and the guides were surly at best. Fortunately, the National Park Service has since taken over the cave tours, so things should be much better now. The cave was discovered (as so many were) by a hunter chasing a bear. There is a historic lodge near the cave entrance, and lots of very pretty trails through the woods. If you are visiting in the summer months, be sure to get there early, as tickets are limited, and they do go fast.