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Arcadia Beach Oregon Day Trip

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There’s not much better than a day at the beach, especially for our kids, who at 4 and 8 are still in the prime sandcastle building and tide pool exploring ages. Oregon’s beaches are spectacular. The water is ice cold year-round, but the scenery can’t be beaten. There’s something about looking out over the endless Pacific with those ragged pine forests rising up behind you that feels calming and dramatic at the same time. Arcadia Beach is a hidden gem. It’s about 5 minutes south of the famous Cannon Beach and offers all of the ingredients for a great family day at the Oregon coast without the crowds of the more popular beaches. It's a 1.5 hour drive from Portland, making this a relatively easy day trip from the metro area. At the north end of the beach you'll see Lion Rock, which a lot like a miniature version of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.  The base of Lion Rock provides plenty of tide pool exploration at low tide.  We always find lots of little black crabs hiding in the ...
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Three Days in the Columbia River Gorge

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This post is about a trip close to our home in Portland, Oregon. My wife and I just spent three fantastic days in the Columbia River Gorge, a spectacularly beautiful place full of rugged basalt cliffs, dramatic waterfalls, lush green forests, and excellent craft beer. Known locally as the "Gorge,” the area is about 80 miles long and follows the Columbia River from the Deschutes River to around Troutdale, Oregon (just east of Portland). Its most famous for the waterfalls, which are awesome and must be seen.  My two favorites are Multnomah Falls , the tallest in Oregon, and Latourell Falls , in my opinion, the most dramatic.   On this trip, however, we skipped the waterfalls and the crowds and focused instead on the small towns, the craft breweries, wine-tasting, and a phenomenal half-day hike.  Getting around: Although you'll see plenty of trains in the Gorge, they're pretty much all freight trains.  There really is no practical way to get around other than by ca...
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