Destination Downtown Vancouver
Alternatives to driving have never been easier.
My favorite mode of travel is on my Novara Buzz bicycle. For longer trips or when it will be both dark and wet after work, nothing beats the Bike/C-Tran combo. Racks out front of each bus couldn’t be easier – just be careful not to jump off without grabbing your bike.
Log your trips on the site and compete for rewards.
Worker bees can use the site to match carpools.
http://www.mydestinationdowntown.com/bike/bike.htm
september 2013 william brendgard
Snowgrass Flats in the Goat Rocks Wilderness
Stunning panoramas greet you from all directions in this alpine highland. Encircled by broken rock walls, the meadows are fed pure and clear water in countless streams. Carpets of wildflowers compose new artistic creations around every bend in the trail. 
August is a perfect time to head higher into the hills. The wrinkled volcanic remnants form deep valleys lush with green and colored life.
Marmots own the rock slides. Their three-tone fur gives them perfect camouflage until they signal you with a high whistle-like scream.
Mount Adams holds the southern horizon, toward which rolls the cold waters of Goat Creek melting in its lake bowl a thousand feet above. Highly recommended as a jewel of the Washington Cascades.
Good for a day hike, or camp at the top in one of several cute primitive campsites.
c august 2013 william brendgard
Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway
In June 2013 with hardy members of our Boy Scout Troop we completed a 132-mile tour through the Willamette Valley in Oregon. Twenty miles in a day is easy, but one day was 50 miles. My six-foot tall son on a tall classic Peugeot road bike held the lead most of the way, though it was not a race. We started at Champoeg State Park, camped at Willamette Mission State Park, and then a KOA and the last night at Brownsville city park.
During a major downpour we visited Thompson’s Mills State Heritage Site.
The trip was nicely scheduled for the 4 days of late June rain, which beats baking in 92 degree sun. The scoutmaster’s mother drove a support RV in which she did some cooking at the campgrounds and we had a scout’s mom driving a van for a sag-wagon. No flat tires. Amazing agriculture in the valley – wheat, grass seed, sugar beets, mint. A mile-wide mint field smells great. Some goat bleats and cow moos to greet us along the way. Just riding along and forgetting about the hassles of everyday life. Highly recommended for all levels of cyclists.
Willamette Valley Scenic Bikeway page
Fort Vancouver
Fort Vancouver dates from the 1820s as a fur trading post, and soon became the most important community in the Pacific Northwest. Headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Company and later the Vancouver Barracks of the U.S. Army, it is now a National Historic Site.
National Parks:
http://www.nps.gov/fova/index.htm
History of the Fort to 1860: