Traveling through Oregon and Washington

After Ken had done as much ancestry-searching as he'd planned for this trip, we then headed directly across Oregon, following the Columbia River as we neared Portland, to the Oregon Coast. (We also stopped at Multnomah Falls, above, and climbed the trail to the bridge.)

I love the Oregon Coast, but it had been many years since we'd last visited the area.

We spent the morning walking on the beach at Cannon Beach, then we drove down the coast quite a distance.

 

That late afternoon we took the Astoria bridge over to Washington State. This bridge is over four miles long.

We followed the Washington coastline for a couple of hours before finding a hotel room for the night.

My main reason for wanting to go into Washington was to see Seattle and Pike Market again.

We were shocked at how much larger the market area is now. I swear it's at least three times the size it was when we were last there.

 

Continuing east from Seattle the next day, we came upon an amazing scenic view rest stop: The Wild Horses Monument to our left, high on a bluff, and the always-beautiful Columbia River directly in front of us.

 We learned later that we could have climbed a trail up to the Wild Horses Monument. Maybe next time.

 I took this photo in Ellensburg, WA, that evening as I sat in the car, waiting for Ken to check us in to our hotel. I loved the rich golds in the scene.










After a night in Hungry Horse, Montana, we were up early and eager to spend a day at Glacier National Park.

Westward, ho!

This past spring, when Ken and I were discussing our travel plans for the coming summer or fall, Ken mentioned he'd like to drive out West sometime to do some family history research. I asked him if this trip was on his Bucket List, and he said it was.

So I said we'd better take the trip now. A long ride in a car is not my idea of real fun, but it had been a while since we'd driven from shore to shore, and I knew we'd have fun rediscovering America. We set off on September 2.

On both sides of Ken's family relatives headed west from New Hampshire/Maine and made new lives for themselves "out there."

Our first stop was Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Here Ken's father's uncle settled. The uncle is long gone, of course, but Ken was hoping the uncle's daughter might still be living. We learned while in Scottsbluff that the daughter's husband died in 2005. As far as we know, the daughter, now age 95, is still living, but we were unable to locate her. We did get the name of her son, however, and once Ken does a White Pages search, he plans to get in touch with him.

So here are a few pictures of our brief stay in Scottsbluff. You can drive to the top of the actual bluff and see for miles. There are excellent hiking trails on the bluff, and the local residents certainly make use to the trails, judging from the people we encountered and chatted with as we hiked.

Our trip took us from the Atlantic to the Pacific, so I have more stories to tell!

I'll be back shortly

...with stories to tell!