This is a nice little marina in a nice little town. I've never camped there or rented one of their…read morecabins and I don't have a boat so my perspective is that of a photographer. The folks who run the place keep everything sparkling clean. There is a huge restroom and a smaller one and they are open year round and are very clean. The slips seem to have all the amenities and a number of people live on their boats there year round. Always enjoy talking with the people there and taking pictures of any new vessels that look interesting. It's a very short walk to town where there are places to eat and shop. Cathlamet is a nice little town with mostly friendly people (the local cops excluded). The cabins have been there for a long time and look to be cozy enough although I am not one who would enjoy neighbors so close to me if I went there specifically to get away from people. But I rarely see any vehicles parked there off season so I'm guessing you would mostly be by yourself if you rented one. The view up river is nice and on a warm, sunny day it can be quite pleasant just hanging out there.

This place was a treat!! We ended up staying for 4 weeks we loved it so much!! Bruce, the camp host…read moreis super nice. The marina is quiet and I felt very comfortable there. They have very nice showers and laundry facility's. My only issue is that the sites have no sewer hook ups. The day before we were leaving we did notice that there are 3 sites that have sewer but they were all full. The town is adorable and it is close enough to a town and all amenities. 100% will be back.

"The Gateway to the Gorge," Troutdale is near the confluence of the Sandy and Columbia rivers, 17…read moremiles from downtown Portland to the west and 14 miles to iconic Multnomah Falls to the east. if you head south, you are on your way up to Mt. Hood. Troutdale is in the center of it all! Whenever I drive to the Columbia Gorge, which is frequently, I can feel my breathing relax as I pass through Troutdale and the immense beauty of the Columbia River and basalt cliffs of the Gorge immediately unfolds and surrounds me. I'm in my happy place! But there is more to Troutdale than passing through! The quaint town whose first settlers arrived in 1850, still has some of the historical buildings. There are several antique shops, art galleries, boutiques, restaurants, pubs and coffee shops. The town hosts an art walk on the first Friday from May through September and has several other festivals throughout the year. The tree lighting in December brings all the residents together. Glenn Otto Park, a 6.38 acre park off the East Columbia Highway, is super popular. With riverfront access, the warm months are filled with lots of activities: swimming, rafting, picnicking and walking the trails. There is a playground, a covered picnic area and restrooms. The Sam Cox Great Room and the covered picnic areas can be reserved for parties & picnics. Important to note - no pets or alcohol allowed at the Park. While at the park or in Troutdale, stop at the Sugarpine Drive-In, a popular restaurant and ice cream shop with a drive through and walk up window. The newly opened Troutdale Station is a huge food cart pod that has indoor seating with air conditioning and heat. You can enjoy a variety of food from the dozens of food carts, most a branch of popular food carts in Portland, and adult beverages from the huge bar that lines the back wall. The Columbia Gore Outlets are right off the exit and while it's a pale shadow of its former self, there is a drive through Starbucks, a Coach outlet, Eddie Bauer, Levi's, Rocky Mountain Chocolate, Lane Bryant, Torrid, Rue21, Jockey, Fashion Footware and several others still in business. And of course, you can and should drive the scenic highway From Troutdale up to Crown Point for sweeping 180 degree views of the Columbia River then back down along the row of 7 waterfalls, including Multnomah Falls. it's a spectacular ride in all seasons. Troutdale is the gateway to the Gorge and also a destination!

As a resident here for 6 years, I'm very pleased with the changes in the downtown area. The variety…read moreand quality of restaurants is improving and although parking is becoming more of a problem, I always can find a spot somewhere. Glen Otto park is a delightful spot in the summer (and next to SugarPine!) and LoLo's pizza is the best! City Hall has been responsive to my questions, and my specific neighborhood (near Kane and Sunrise Park) is safe, with friendly neighbors, and well managed landscaping. Being so close to the hospital, Safeway, and I-84 are also pluses.

Portland is still a dump. Downtown is full of empty businesses and zombies doing the zombie…read moreshuffle. NW is full of tents. The fred meyer on Burnside always has people hanging out there that are not in their right mind and not sober. It doesn't feel safe and is not an inviting place. The main library is a day shelter. The Safeway by PSU is even worse. People should be more diligent about who they vote for and what they are voting for. Or just move.

The Portland City Hall building seems so out of place! This four-story, Italian Renaissance-style…read morebuilding is the only building of this style in all of Portland, maybe the PNW. With the rotunda entrance flanked by a multitude of pillars, and its pink color, it's a very distinctive building. And it's quite large! City Hall takes up and entire city block between Fourth and Fifth avenues at Madison and Jefferson Streets. Completed in 1895, it was one of the first large buildings to have electricity, central heating and elevators. Now it also has central AC! The building has undergone several renovations upgrading it to modern code and safety standards. It was put on The National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Inside is light filled with beautiful marble floors, most of it original, with the lobby flanked by two stunning staircases that really make a statement. Don't worry, there are also elevators if the stairs are too intimidating. Lots of beautiful iron and wood work. Art is everywhere so definitely pause to take it all in. The artwork was chosen to reflect Portland through various exhibits like The Evolution of the City on the first floor. Loved all the old photographs depicting the various stages that have transpired. Of course the real purpose of this building is to serve as the headquarters for Portland's city government including the Mayor's Office and the city council. While the building and grounds are beautiful, it's located in the heart of the city and is surrounded by tents and homeless. This is the Portland of 2020+, unfortunately. For history buffs, and those who love to educate themselves in the city they live in or visit, it's a must see.

Portlandia...I actually think I have heard of the TV show of the same name before hearing the…read moreexistence of this statue. But the statue definitely came prior to the show. The trident wielding woman is enormous and is awe inspiring and beautiful and perhaps to a certain kind of man perhaps intimidating but that isn't necessarily a problem there. This statue is on the Portland Building and if you simply wall by or near it's nearly impossible to miss. This is also an attraction where there is no fee to take a look at it as it can literally be seen quite easily from the public sidewalk. Yet another iconic downtown Portland landmark that is not to missed!

Using imagination Portlandia emerged from the sea - all copper - and crouches vigilant on the…read morePortland building. Watching us! Her captivating eyes draw you to a closer look. With one hand reaches out to us. In a way we are like her as we all emerged from the sea (water) from our mothers womb. She reaches for us to live as one in peace the way John Lemon wrote is his song "Imagine" - "Imagine all the people livin' life in peace." In the one hand Portlandia holds a trident, perhaps symbolizing protection for the city dwellers - for Portlandian's. Portlandia reminds me we are one city! One people! One earth! That's just my spin of this beautiful copper lady.

The City of Olympia's new Rental Registration for rental homes is 100% provable city corruption…read more It's only about making money for the city. There are already housing codes in place to protect and keep everyone safe. Call in a complaint and code enforcement can inspect the living conditions and force the landlord to make corrects or suffer fines. Other cities with similar registrations always increase fees and have yearly inspections where inspectors are paid several hundred dollars, but never inspect the homes. Hence, the provable corruption.

I'm at a football practice and this BBQ truck catered the after practice shin dig…read more $5.00 for a plate which consist of a pulled brisket sandwich, cornbread, salad, choice of a cookie and a bottled water!!! What a steal!!! The sandwich was on buttery Hawaiian type bun and I chose the Cajun sauce to place on top of mine! Oh my word!!!!! Absolutely melt in your mouth delicious!!! I would have paid $5.00 for just the sandwich because it was absolutely smoked to perfection!!! I didn't try the salad, it looked soggy and I was full from the brisket sandwich! I picked up their flyer and business card because I would definitely hire them to cater an event for me!

I could write a novel about how terrible my experience was with BDS. Highlights are an inspector…read morebreaking the law by demanding we apply for permits we didn't need, the two week wait between responses regardless of whether you respond within a minute, and the review process being so never ending that a reviewer started correcting his own corrections a year after he issued them. We applied for one small permit to switch out a urinal for a toilet while redecorating and our due diligence cost us an additional $350,000 in unnecessary renovations as well as adding a year to our construction. I cannot stress enough that this process punishes anyone who attempts to do things on the level, and that logically, no one should ever apply for a permit in Portland unless they are a depraved masochist.

This bureau's "compliance services" (aka "CodeC / Code Coverage") is like the property code…read morepolice. They can't be trusted to provide fair and equitable service. It is one of the services provided by this government agency to customers. They refuse to enforce nuisance property code when it does not go along with their political agenda even those owned by the city itself, which are not exempt from the code. The concerns on this bureau's inaction (from customer perspective, providing enforcement service to maintain our city beautiful and livable is something to be expected from code enforcement) on city owned property next to Swan Island boat ramp involving the use of the property as a stash spots for stolen bikes, establishing camps without having zoning approval as camp ground predates the pandemic. So "pandemic" is not the excuse. This bureau had every authority to order the property owner (another city bureau) to cause violations to be cured by abating the campsite, clearing trash, and keep camps from re-establishing but they didn't.

This is a fabulous little county park. It's located right on the Columbia River. During season…read morethe banks are filled with fisherman because there really are fish to be caught here. The RVs back into sites along the river for great views of the river and ships traveling up and down. There's restrooms and showers. Sites have 30 AMP hookups with water and dump at the west end of the park. In years past we had stayed at this park many times but hadn't stayed in the last couple years or so. However, things have changed and this last trip wasn't as pleasant as the ones before. Well, the park hasn't changed. It's still fabulous. However, there's been a change in host and that did make a difference. Signs are posted all over the park that dogs must be on leash. Dogs off leash make it difficult for others with or without dogs. Plus, little droppings are missed when the owners aren't with the pets. We could no longer use the beach area when the weekend rolled around with our dog. When one dog is on leash and others are off, it's difficult. The tenters never leashed their dog either. However, when the host's dog is ALWAYS off leash, it's not possible to enforce the rule on others and it wasn't. We used to feel this county park was definitely a 5-star. I'm still giving it 3 stars because of the location. The location is fabulous.

I love this little RV Park. Great prices, I stayed two days but would loved to have stayed longer…read moreif time allowed. Its not a full setup site, but the do have a dump and water station and it's more for smaller RV's, mine is a 1989 Class C. It comes with 30 amp electricity. Great areas to walk my two dogs and they have pet cleanup locations, everyone was very pet courteous using leashes and keeping their pets in line. Right on the Columbia River, small beach and great fishing. I was woke up one night around 4am from a ship horn. I thought a semi truck was plowing through to kill everyone. Nope just very foggy I will come back as much as possible. Call for reservations.

I recently travelled through the PDX airport. At the security checkpoint I forgot a denim jacket…read morethat was a long time favorite of mine. By the time I realized that I didn't have it, my plane was boarding. I contacted them through the lost and found email system they have a week later. I was contacted the next day by Mandy who asked for more details. The next day she told me that they had my jacket. I had offered to pay to mail it back to me as I didn't want to drive to the airport again. She told me that the Port of Portland would pay to have it sent back to me. I received it the very next day, no worse for wear. I have nothing but thanks for Mandy and the Port of Portland for making this experience a good one. I had lost some jewelry before at PDX and wasn't so lucky to get it back so I'm glad for a positive outcome this time.

I just had to pay $27 for one hour of parking because I lost my ticket. I can't explain what…read morehappened to it. I remember putting it in my back pocket as I struggled getting my three year old out of the back seat. All of the signs instruct you to take your ticket with you so you can pay at the meter while coming back to your car, increasing the odds you will lose it and be forced to pay them their maximum daily rate. No exceptions. Had I left the ticket in my car it would have been exactly where I needed it to be when trying to escape their clutches.

It's kind of a blink-and-you-miss-it sort of town. Which is great! I love these little towns, and…read morethis was my first trip up from Portland so I had no idea what to expect. We only made one stop in Clatskanie, and that was for gasoline. It wasn't the nicest gas station, but it did have a great view of the river. The whole town does. It's a river town, and we gazed out upon it. I could get used to a view like that; there are about 2,000 people who do that every day. A few food spots, some gasoline, there's enough here to do some exploring. You don't have to blink, maybe next time through I'll see what those little nuggets of gold are?

I haven't been here long term before, but we pass through year each year on our way to Astoria…read more Theres about 1,800 people that reside in Clatskanie. There's not a whole lot to do, but a few notable areas to check out would be the Clatskanie City Park(if you have children they can play around, or just a good spot to get out and stretch), and Air Pirates Kiteboaring which sells various types of kites. From what I remember they have a Fultanos pizza here so if you're looking for a pizza stop thats the way to go. Overall it's a pretty solid area. Theres a few attractions, and some tasty restaurants to try.