Columbia River Gorge – Oregon

On their 1805 journey to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis & Clark traveled along the Columbia River Gorge. The explorers sailed past waterfalls and high canyons. Today, travelers can drive along the gorge on a combination of the Historic Columbia River Highway and I-84 from Portland to the Dalles.

In 1913, construction began on the 74-mile scenic highway to offer tourists a glimpse of the gorge’s natural beauty. Considered an engineering feat at its time, it was the first paved highway in the Pacific Northwest and the first planned US scenic highway.

Since we came from Mt. Hood, we started our journey along the Columbia River Gorge in Hood River before heading east to Portland.

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Vancouver/ Seattle/ Olympic National Park Itinerary

Sea-to-Sky Highway between Vancouver and Whistler, BC

Our trip to Seattle and British Columbia was the 2nd of our big trips with our children who were in elementary school. Since flights were significantly less expensive for  Seattle, so we decided to incorporate that into our trip to British Columbia. (more…)