Portland, OR -and- Vancouver, WA

Ross Island!  The Island is off the I-5 near Portland, OR.

Ah Portland....where bicycles rule the road and anything with 4 wheels is frowned upon.

The line outside of Portland's famous VooDoo Doughnuts - it was about a 20 minute wait....but worth it.  We should have come at 3am and I bet there wouldn't be a line (they are open 24/7) - though 3am in downtown Portland would be VERY sketchy.

Watch the hilarious and spot-on IFC show "Portlandia" and you will appreciate this sign.  Rent the first season - you will then understand some of what we experience here on the left coast.  This sign is close to VooDoo Doughnut.

Ross elected to have a jelly filled treat and I went with a small cinnamon sugar cruller - with milk of course.  Yum.

Voodoo Doughnut is known for its "unusual" (and a few scandalous) doughnuts, the eclectic decor of its shops and its iconic pink boxes which feature the company's logo and drawings of voodoo priests. In addition to doughnuts, Voodoo Doughnut offers legal wedding services, complete with doughnuts and coffee for the reception.  Over 100 varieties of doughnuts are offered on a daily basis.  Two of their doughnuts, the NyQuil Glazed doughnut and the Vanilla Pepto Crushed Tums doughnut, are no longer available by order of local health officials. Voodoo Doughnut has been featured on the Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, Man v. Food, Doughnut Paradise, and was a destination in the season finale of the 13th season of The Amazing Race.  

Union Station in downtown Portland

Portland is sometimes known as "Bridgetown" due to the number of bridges that cross its two rivers.  Portland has a total of twelve major bridges, many of which lift in the center to allow boat traffic through. Ten bridges span the Willamette River, and two cross the Columbia.

Only in Portland can one find a combo waxing salon / pizza shop.  Bless their hearts.

Random "run pic" from Ross while he was out jogging.

Boat garages

House boats

One of a million bike paths in Portland

Columbia River

Looking over the river to Washington - where you may pay 10% sales tax but you can pump your own gas.

In Oregon, a law was passed in 1951 that rationalized the prohibition of "any person other than the owner, operator or employee [of a dispensary where class 1 flammable liquids are dispensed at retail]" from using "pump, hose, pipe or other device for dispensing the liquids into the fuel tank of a motor vehicle or other retail container." Violating this law will get you slapped with a $500 fine.  In plain English: New Jersey and Oregon don't trust people to not blow themselves up while pumping gas, and would rather leave the job to professionals (gas station attendants), who undergo "rigorous" training where they learn that it's bad to smoke while pumping gas, bad to leave the car running, and bad to put gas anywhere except a car's fuel tank or other approved containers.  One can wait several minutes for an attendant to come to your car window, take your credit card, and fill up your car (or RV).  Sigh.

Maxie's favorite perch / sleeping position

Mount Hood is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc of northern Oregon.  In addition to being Oregon's highest mountain (11,239 feet), it is one of the loftiest mountains in the nation based on its prominence.  The peak is home to twelve glaciers. Mount Hood is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt. The mountain has six ski areas: Timberline, Mount Hood Meadows, Ski Bowl, Cooper Spur, Snow Bunny, and Summit; Timberline offers the only year-round lift-served skiing in North America.

Ross loved this little "beauty" parked near a northeast Oregon gas station.  She was only $2,000 and scrawled across the windshield was the reassuring claim that she "runs and steers".  Very close to "looks good, runs great".

Lunch at a local marina on the Columbia River.  Within 5 minutes Ross gets that "I need a boat" look in his eyes.