Oregon

May 20-23, 2011
AC533 YYZ-PDX, AC8118 PDX-YVR, AC188 YVR-YOW, AC477 YOW-YYZ 

In 2010 we enjoyed the opportunity to visit Portland, and with non-stop flights from Toronto and very good fares, Portland was a great choice for the May long weekend.  In addition to spending a little bit of time enjoying the city, we decided to focus on the coast and did not have firm plans but were open to other options.  Oregon has a very good tourism board with excellent publications and a well-stocked office in the airport that helped give us some excellent ideas.  Although we had landed with very few limited plans for the long weekend, with the tourism information, we managed to fill it in with interesting coastal drives, and by exploring the covered bridges and waterfalls inland from Eugene.  As it was still spring, some areas were still closed with winter snowfall, but we managed to find lots to keep us entertained. 

May 20
Evening flight to Portland

Mount Hood from our descent into Portland

May 21
Overnight in Portland and drive northwest to the coast and south to Eugene

Longview Bridge over the Columbia River as we head towards the coast

Historic downtown Astoria

Cannon Beach on our way down the coast

Looking down Cannon Beach through the haze

Haystack Rock off Cannon Beach

Tillamook Cheese Factory.  The tour was good and the samples were even better

Looking down at the coast from the Oregon Coast Highway

The grey skies didn’t stop us from walking on the beach

Cook’s Chasm with the waves crashing in

Cook’s Chasm Blow Hole at high tide

Heceta Head Lighthouse in Yachats

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area

May 22
Overnight in Eugene and explore the inland area east of the city

Belknap Bridge, one of the many covered bridges in central Oregon

Koosah Falls with spring flow, luckily the road was open for the spring

One more covered bridge, in Stayton park

Where Christmas trees come from

South Falls, one of eight in Silver Falls State Park

May 23
After overnight in Portland back to Toronto via Vancouver and Ottawa