The previous post has today's date but is actually about yesterday and the day before -- I've had bad luck with internet access. Here's the ACTUAL post from today:

Today we drove to Portland, got a delicious Vegan breakfast, and strolled the shops on Hawthorne. Then we took off for the town of Hood River, which is situated in the lovely Columbia River Gorge. 4 of my predecessors are buried in the cemetery there -- Elwin, Sherlie, (my dad's grandparent's) and Elmer and Ethel House (my dad's aunt and uncle). Pretty cool to see the town where there's some House history. We toured the town itself a bit, following a pamphlet on the historic buildings, most of them from the early 1900s. Then we cut back towards Portland and southwest, through Corvallis where Dad went to college, and had a DELICIOUS dinner of steamed mussels and salad (Alexis had couscous) and a shockingly decadent bread pudding, in Newport, Oregon. We finally stopped in Reedsport, Oregon -- not as far down as we'd hoped but we were tired from all the sun we got walking around. We lucked out anyway, since it's the weekend and there's been a hotspell inland, so the coastal towns are PACKED. The hotel we're staying in just happened to have a room open up just as we called. The 101, our trusty highway, remains simply gorgeous -- a winding, hilly, tree-framed, rocky road along the ocean.

Best Names: Bridal Veil, OR; Zigzag, OR; Rhododendron, OR; Boring, OR (a REAL town name!!); Marmot, OR.
Most Beautiful: Mount Hood -- gorgeous; and the Columbia River, which is itself fairly pristine, has carved a colorful and textured gorge.

Tomorrow we hope to hit the Redwood National Forest -- in Cali -- pretty solidly, get in a good long hike. Just about 2 days until we get in to San Fran!! I hope everyone else's June is wrapping up so well!