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Where to stay, where to eat, recommended shops,
visitor attractions, and getting there and away, as featured
in the TV series Globe Trekker: Pacific
North West USA.
Dialing Code
From outside Canada:
North America add 1
Europe and the rest of the world add 001
Where to Stay
Budget:
Fort Stevens National Park Campsite
Astoria, Oregon, USA
Telephone: 001 800-452-5687
Pitching up a Mongolian-style yurt is an increasingly popular
way of camping on the Oregon coast and most of the national
parks now offer them to travelers. For only $27 US a night,
each yurt sleeps five people and comes with futon, heating,
electricity, and skylight. All you have to do is bring your
own bedding. Most of the yurts are booked up to nine months
in advance, so make a reservation. Fort Stevens was a working
military fort from the civil war until the end of World War
Two. It is the only place in mainland continental America
to be attacked by a foreign power.
White
Eagle
Portland, Oregon, USA
836 N. Russell St.
Portland, OR 97227, USA
Telephone: (503) 282-6810
The White Eagle, in Portland's hip industrial district, is
the city's famous haunted hotel. Open since 1905, stories
abound of its Shanghai tunnels and tales of opium smoking
and prostitutes. Its eleven rooms are basic but have been
restored with vintage charm. On arrival, guests are handed
a key along with a leaflet about the White Eagle, which describes
the hotel as a 'deep well of human sadness.' If the resident
ghosts don't keep visitors awake, the nightly rock and roll
band in the bar downstairs certainly will.
Mid-Range:
Oceanview
Resort
PO Box 67
LA Push, WA
98350, USA
Telephone: 001 360 374 5267
Only four hours from Washington, La Push is an undiscovered
jewel in the wilderness of the Olympic Peninsula. Home to
the Quileute Tribe and their tiny one square mile reservation,
visitors can stay here in simple cabins on the beach. Flanked
on three sides by ancient rainforest and by the wild Pacific
Ocean on the fourth, the tiny enclave of La Push remains isolated
and unspoilt. To ensure pure relaxation for the guests, the
cabins deliberately lack telephones and televisions. Visitors
are encouraged to join in the Healing Circle, a ritual drumming
group held every Wednesday, where local Quileute tribal members
play drums and dance to pray for those in spiritual need.
Photography is not allowed.
Lone
Fir Resort
16806 Lewis River Road
Cougar, WA 98616, USA
Tel: 001(360) 238-5210
The Lone Fir in Cougar, Washington, is the best jumping off
point for anyone climbing Mount St. Helens. This motel is
the closest place to stay before making the early morning
drive up to the Climber's Bivouac and starting the climb to
the crater rim. Hikers should check
the Mount St. Helens website before planning their
visit to be sure that the active volcano is open and safe
to climb.
Adventure
Island
Dive and Watersports
2A Spring Street Landing
Friday Harbor, WA
Tel: 800 303 8386 or 360 378 2772
The waters around the San Juan Islands are renowned for offering
some of the best diving in the world. The diving, deep and
cold, is not for the faint-hearted but the waters, reefs and
ship wrecks reveal a wealth of stunning Pacific marine life.
Divers can expect to see giant starfish measuring up to 2
foot across, bizarre looking wolf eels, rarely sighted six
gill shark, and the world's largest octopus - the Giant Pacific
Octopus.
Sandland
Adventures
85633 Hwy. 101 S
Florence, OR 97439, USA
Tel: 001 541 997 8087
Any travelers who make it to Florence and the Oregon Dunes,
will find 40 miles of dramatic natural sand dunes, some swept
up to 300 feet high. The best and only way to see them is
by buggy. Fly over the dunes at full speed, kamikaze style,
in a 6-seater buggy, or take the more sedate option of a 12-seater
tour and view the dunes without a healthy helping of adrenalin.
Portland
Walking Tours
Telephone: 001 503 774 4522
Portland is a liberal, liberated and quirky city. It is also
one of America's greenest cities, which is best explored by
foot or bike. Portland Walking Tours offers a variety of alternative
tours on foot. Tours led by David Schargel, a fountain of
knowledge on the city's history and cultural idiosyncrasies,
reveal Portland as a unique and culturally rich place to live
that is, without doubt, like no other city in the States.
Hood
River Waterplay
PO Box 1524
Port Marina Park
Hood River
OR 97031, USA
Oregon and Washington offer anything and everything for the
outward bound. The Columbia River, acting as boundary between
the two states, is not only an important economic water way
but a fantastic playground for water sports enthusiasts. The
natural wind channel of the Columbia River Gorge and the meeting
of two weather fronts make Hood River a perfect place for
windsurfing and, for the more adventurous, kite surfing. Only
one hour from Portland, it's easy to make a day trip. But
hold on tight because when the wind blows, it really blows.
Entertainment
Central
Saloon
207 First Avenue South
Pioneer Square Seattle, Washington
Telephone: 206 622 0209
Situated in Pioneer Square, the hub of Seattle's night life,
the Central Saloon is a city institution and intrinsically
linked with its musical history. Taken over by two young Boeing
engineers in the 1970s, the Central Saloon boasts a strong
grunge tradition, hosting such bands as Nirvana and Alice
in Chains before they made it big.
Travel
Fly there with Continental
Airlines
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