Gale Creek, Portland, and Oysters

The Bye and Bye's Bar!

After reaching the dunes, we decided to go inland to Portland. We drove through Tillamook, realizing we'd just missed the county fair and the cheese factory's hours. We spent the night at Gale Creek, a remote forest campground that only cost five bucks a night. The creek was dammed by beavers and berries abounded the surrounding area. I found my first ever black raspberry bush and was awed by the berry's magnificent flavour and colour.

Also in Gale Creek was a lovely little restaurant/bakery called Out Aza Blue. We had the best burgers of our trip there and the people working treated us like family. It was an amazing gem.

Out Aza Blue Mushroom Burger

The morning following our stay at the creek we drove into Portland, unsure of our accommodation. We were pleased by the green-lined streets, abundance of food co-ops, cyclists, and the recycling bins everywhere. Most watering holes and restaurants we stopped at offered vegan and gluten-free options (the Bye and Bye and Farm) and the booze was so cheap!

Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut from FARM

During the day, we loitered at Heart coffee and various Vintage stores then hit up Powell's books. In the evening, we drank, ate, drank, ate, and then drank. Farm is the best restaurant I've been to for the prices they were charging. It kind of blew me away! And Happy Hour needs to happen in Vancouver!

After some frantic hostel searching, a friend in Vancouver who is from Portland hooked us up with a lovely buddy of hers. The night was rather sleepless despite the comfortable mattress because we stayed up late watching nerdy movies and talking about our adventures. We were up early anyway, and cooked up the last of our cooler food before driving into Washington and then home to Vancouver, BC.

Samish Bay Oyster with Jicama "slaw"

In Washington we stopped at an Oyster Bar on Chuckanut drive. While the view was lovely and the food rather tasty, it simply did not compare to the quality and value of what we'd been experiencing all trip. In fact, this restaurant rivalled some of the ritzier hotels in Vancouver for pretension and price, though the shucker of the oysters missed some substantial shell flakes and we found a short curly hair in our appetizer. The bed of lettuce used as a garnish was significantly slimy and wilted. The oysters, though, were lovely. Mouthwateringly sweet, our favourite oysters were from Samish Bay, which is in Washington. The crab cakes were fried to a golden glamour and served with curry aioli and rhubarb onion compote- these were divine. So-- food was 4/5 (points taken off for hair, slimy lettuce, and oyster shell despite the excellent flavours of what we ate). Ambiance- 4/5 (view was lovely though I see that every time I go to Peace Arch Park, but the building felt like the 1970s). Service was 4/5 (awkward, older server unsure what to do with up-and-coming foodies that lack cotton tops, though he tried his best). Value 3/5 (unless you think real estate is worth more than food).

(We were basically paying for real estate at the Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive)

The moral of this last leg of the tour was to stay humble; the more honest and earthy I am, the more I seem to enjoy life (and feel less ripped off!).