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Portland: From Tillamook we drove east along highway 6 to Portland and booked into a very average hostel. Parking in Portland was an absolute nightmare and it took us forever to find a spot. We were however lucky to have found a spot in the hostel as they only had 1 room spare. As Portland is well known for its micro breweries it was a good excuse for me to stop at a bar for some beer tasting. The beer is usually served in small glasses which are placed on a paper displaying their names – a rather pleasant activity indeed! Dinner that evening was equally nice as we bought pâté, salami and salad to go with our Tillamook goodies of strong cheddar, smoked brie, blue cheese dressing and French stick.
As we only stayed for one night we took off again the next morning and stopping at Voodoo Doughnuts on our way out of town. A friend of ours, Kyle, told us it is a must-do thing while in Portland. We knew the doughnuts were going to be good because when we turned up there was a queue stretching all the way out of the shop and into the car park! They had a massive array of doughnuts on offer and even had a coffin size box for greedy people! We opted for a Bacon Maple Bar, a Voodoo Doll, Grape Ape and 3 others to fill our box of 6. Kyle was right, the doughnuts were to die for and didn’t last long especially with Gillian and her sweet tooth nudging me in the ribs “come on, let’s have another one Roo”.
Columbia River Gorge: Charged with a sugar rush from the doughnuts we set off to the Columbia River Gorge along the scenic Route 30. As it was raining we did Japanese style touring: rush out of car, snap snap and rush back to car. Even so, the scenery along the way was breathtaking with multi-colored lush trees and steep cliffs dropping into the river. At times the trees were so green that they almost seemed to glow especially seen through my polarized sunglasses. Along the way we saw many waterfalls, the Bridge of the Gods and many windsurfers due to the strong winds blowing down the valley. I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the Columbia Gorge as for some for reason I originally didn’t expect to be blown away.
The Dalles: We booked a room in the cheapest motel in town which was owned by an Indian guy. He complained about people crashing into his balcony posts and had a sign displaying “No backwards parking” which made me smile. The whole town was very quiet as it was a Sunday and Gillian’s wine tasting wasn’t going to be as the tasting room had closed down due to divorce. Instead we found a friendly bar where Gillian could sample wine and I could sample beer. Our waitress was very friendly and kept having us sample different drinks, none of which we were allowed to pay for. We were both a little tipsy when we left for a dinner in our motel room although that didn’t stop us from going out to another pub. Of all the beers I tasted the one I liked the most was called Mac and Jacks African Amber.
Vancouver: We left The Dalles the next morning after Gillian posted her wooden bear which she’d bought in Oregon. We crossed the Columbia River and entered the evergreen state of Washington. As there was a Stonehenge up on the hill we took a detour to see it. The USA version is a replica of the Stonehenge in England and is a war memoral. From there we drove west along the northern bank of the Columbia River and made our way to Vancouver (Washington) where we stopped in to say hello to a photographer I’d met online called Tammy. She gave us a few tips for which we were both grateful. Thanks Tammy!
Mount St. Helens: We left Vancouver via a Taco Bell for lunch and from there drove to a campsite near Mount St. Helens called Seaquest State Park. That night we made a big campfire to ward off the cold and cooked a chicken stir-fry for dinner. Our first stop the next morning was at the Visitor Centre which showed a video of what exactly happened when the volcano erupted back in 1980. I found it all very interesting and it was a bleak reminder of the destructive powers of Mother Nature. The drive up the valley towards the volcano was slightly eerie as we could easily see the devastation left behind 30 years ago! At one point I had to slam the brakes on when a herd of elk crossed the road without looking left or right. Unfortunately we couldn’t drive all the way to the base of the volcano as there was still too much snow in the area. We did get fairly close though and at least had a clear day for taking a few shots of the snow covered sleeping giant. 
Lake Quinault: It took us many goes to finally find a camping spot near Lake Quinault as most were still closed for winter. We finally found a spot in a private RV campground next to the lake at half price as we were the only crazy ones camping. It was once again very cold so we spent most of our time in the warmth of the nearby bar restaurant only leaving to cook our dinner. My hands felt like blocks of ice by the time we were finished cooking our salmon and mashed potatoes. The extra money we paid for our waterproof tent came in handy as during the night it started raining and didn’t stop. Fortunately there was a cooking shelter which I could back our jeep into so we could at least have a dry, although still very cold, breakfast. It was time to pack our very wet tent (never fun) and drive onwards the see the Olympic National Park. 
Hoh Rainforest: Our drive up to the Hoh Rainforest Information Centre was very scenic, seen through the rhythmic strokes of the wipers as we drove through the lashing rain. It seemed that the whole road was one long tunnel - trees from either side leaning over to hug each other while their long green beards hung down in wisps. The rainforest seemed almost magical and slightly eerie with fingers of fog creeping between the gnarly tree branches. The Hoh Rainforest is one of the few temperate rainforests in the world. Most of the trees were covered in moss, even the telephone booth outside didn’t escape! As it kept raining hard that day I ran a lot: from car to toilets, from toilets to Information Center and from there back to car.
There was no way we were going to go for a walk in the pouring rain so instead we headed off to find shelter in a backpackers back along the main road. On our way there we stopped at little Coffee shop which ended up being a blessing in disguise. The woman at the shop told us that she had had disgusted guests from the hostel buying detergent to clean their sleeping quarters as it was so dirty! Apparently the hostel owner also gave guests jobs to do around the house while he stood next to them to make sure they did their job properly. Needless to say we gave that one a skip and drove to the nearest town where we didn’t mind paying a little extra for a decent and clean room. 
It turned out to be a nice day with the sun making an appearance – a rare occurrence!. We stopped to have a picnic next to Lake Crescent where we had uninvited company: a grey jay was very interested in our picnic and we had to keep a constant lookout for the blatant thief. Other than the jay, we saw many deer roaming around the picnic site - luckily they weren't interested in our food. As there was a trail leading to a waterfall we decided to stretch our legs. The waterfall was nothing to write home about although we got to experiment with our digital SLR trying to capture the ‘smoky’ effect, as per Tammy’s instructions. 
Hurricane Ridge: The next morning we set off to see the views from snow capped Hurricane Ridge. From the top we had a beautiful view over the Olympic Mountains and also watched a movie about the areas flora and fauna in the warmth of the visitors centre. The previous day we’d bought ingredients for making a full English breakfast. We found a nice spot halfway down the hill with a great view over the sea and started cooking on our camping stoves. What happened next was almost like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds”. As wafts of sausage fat filled the air the trees started filling with grey jays. It started with one cheeky bugger but soon there were a total of 8 eagerly eyeing our food from the trees! Eating our breakfast was very interesting to say the least as kamikaze jays dive-bombed us from all angles trying to steal our food - I was amazed at just how cheeky and fearless they were.
As our time in America was coming to an end we had to use up as much of our food as possible. I decided to make a chili con carne for dinner loaded with lots of fresh veggies. We were right next to the ocean so I found a nice spot to cook dinner. Unknown to me a homeless guy also found the same spot and came to join me. As we had a box of cheap red wine to use up I offered my new companion some red wine and soon the two of us were sharing stories like old friends. I also shared our dinner with him and felt like I’d done my good deed for the day. I also left him with the rest of the red wine which sure put a big smile on his face!
Bainbridge Island: To reach Seattle we had to take a ferry from Bainbridge Island. As we arrived there early we had time to visit their farmers market as well as do some more wine tasting. The wines were nothing special but still a nice experience. As we had leftover chili from the night before we found a nice spot on the beach where we heated our food on our camp stove. It was lunch with a view although we couldn’t hang around too long as we had a ferry to catch.
Seattle: As staying in the city was going to be expensive we decided to give Couchsurfing another go. A guy called Chris emailed us back and told us he was happy to have us for the 3 nights. We've heard many good things about Seattle and were looking forward seeing the city. Entering Seattle from the sea was pretty cool as we had a nice view of the city while standing on the deck of the ferry. Meeting a stranger from the internet is always a little strange but Chris couldn’t have been nicer. Not only was he an interesting and intelligent guy, he was also an extremely passionate cook who took cooking to new levels. He offered us his spare bedroom and made us feel welcome right from the start. As we had to return our rental car Chris even offered to take us to the airport and gave us a lift back - we couldn’t have found a nicer person to stay with. 
On our way back we stopped off at an Asian shop to pick up seafood for dinner. I’ve bought exotic spices and foods while in China Town in London but the Asian shop in Seattle was a lot more interesting. Not only were we the only white people there but they also had an array of live things moving around in tanks such as crabs, lobsters, prawns, clams and fish. Chris chose 3 Dungeness crabs and a fair few spotted prawns for dinner – seafood couldn’t come any fresher than that! I felt a little bad sitting back and sipping wine while Chris cooked, but he assured us there was nothing we could do to help. To accompany the seafood he grilled cos lettuce with olive oil on the BBQ and topped it off with crumbled blue cheese. The prawns and crabs tasted really good and eaten with good wine and good company, our first night in Seattle was great! The only work I had to do was pitch our tent in his back yard to dry it out as it was still wet from camping next to Lake Quinault.
After the Space Needle, we met up with Chris again and went for lunch at a Sushi restaurant and then for a stroll in Freemont. We also saw the Troll underneath the bridge and were glad that we didn’t end up being his lunch. On the way home we stopped at Gas Works Park and we also went for a stroll to see the floating homes on the water. Seattle sure is a very interesting city! For dinner Chris vacuum packed veal cheeks and placed them in an immersion bath which kept the water at a constant temperature. He had them going for about 6 hours and the end result was melt in the mouth meat and yet again a very nice dinner. The side dishes he prepared were potato puree and wilted chard, while for snacks he made fava bean dip – delicious! He also introduced us to Hairy Pig fat. The pigs are originally from Hungary and their fat is sliced into blocks and then cured. Sliced thinly and placed on top of toasted bread it was a treat!
After 3 lovely days we took a taxi downtown and from there a train to Vancouver to start the Canadian part of our adventure. It was sad saying good bye to Chris as we really clicked with him and felt that we’d made a new friend. I really loved our road trip through the USA as it had everything to offer: beautiful and diverse nature ranging from deserts to forests, oceans to stretching plains and to top it off, friendly people. One day when I’m grown up I would like to take my time and explore more as I feel I’ve only scratched the surface. The end
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