Some people are really good at leaving the house in the morning when they set out to and arriving just a few minutes shy of the estimated GPS prediction.

We are not those people. We usually leave at least an hour later than anticipated, and we really do just love taking our time and enjoying the day of travel.

On our way out from Klipsan Beach at the Long Beach Peninsula, after a low-key morning of packing, working, putting Connor the Crab in a jar, and watching 8 Below, we stopped by the Cranberry Museum. We got to see a real-live cranberry plants and their fields. Although they were just harvested in October, we were able to see pictures and imagine what it would have been like to flood the bogs and wet harvest the cranberries. Note that “wet harvesting” is different from “dry harvesting.” (I just learned that 😉 The best part of this visit was buying some Cranberry Ice Cream! Seriously, we might make a trip back up to Long Beach one day just for this dreamy ice cream.

We moseyed our way down through Astoria,where we’d just read was the city where Lewis and Clark sighted the Pacific ocean for the first time. We received the BEST TIP from Nell, our cool friend from Austin, to “climb the column.” What? Sounded entriguing. So we followed the signs (and our GPS) to “the column” and climbed the 164 steps to the top of the column. Gorgeous sunny day + highest point in the city = Amazing Panoramic View! Add a great cup of coffee from Columbia River Coffee Roasters and an achievement of Gabe’s 200th geocache, and it’s a recipe for a most memorable day!

We finally arrived at our destination of Portland at around 6:30, a full three hours later than the driving time! I like these road-trip days.