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Cannon Beach Guide: Family-friendly picks
Oh, the Oregon Coast — golden beaches, great food, and thriving coastal communities full of art galleries and cool toystores and bookstores. Enjoy a misty morning tidepooling adventure with a hot coffee in hand. Or recline in a beach chair with a new book — while the kids create turreted castles from crystals of warm sand. Your choice. One of my favorite destinations along the Oregon Coast is Cannon Beach, only about an hour west of Portland. Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock offers probably one of the most-photographed scenes in Oregon: Sundown, when the skies turn impossible shades of pink and purple, and the sun sinks behind the basalt monolith. Keep…
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Travel Tip Tuesday: Road trip snacks
Every Tuesday, we’ll chat with experienced family-travel bloggers to discover cool tips and tricks. I’d love to hear your opinions and suggestions as well. Question for this week: Which kid-friendly snacks do you bring on a road trip to fight low blood sugar and growling bellies? Are there any snacks that you avoid at all costs (the problematic snacks cause messes, crazy behavior, and general nuttiness)? Answers: So the snacks changed as my kid got older, but really they fall under three categories crunchy (crackers, pretzels, chips), protein (nuts and cheese), and the occasional cookie, granola bar or chocolate bar. I prefer water as the drink of choice because I hate…
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High Desert, Kid Friendly: Bend, Oregon
Have you been around the Bend? Bend, Oregon’s warm, dry air is the perfect prescription for rain-inflicted doldrums. As a kid, I loved going to Bend and rubbing scented sagebrush between my fingers, riding bikes along flat (flat! really!) paths and hiking the twisted trails by the Deschutes River. So why don’t we ask a local family for their favorite Bend locales? Bend resident Sarah Laufer and husband Justin met while they were both guiding whitewater rafting trips in Colorado. They soon moved to Bend, where they’ve been raising their two kids, 5-year-old daughter Chloe and 3-year-old son Avery. Sarah’s also the co-founder of PlayOutdoors.com, an online store specializing in…
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Daytrip: Olympia with kids
Think State capitols aren’t kid-friendly? Towns plagued by boring subcommittee meetings, too-fancy restaurants and dull plazas, right? Olympia, Washington, may take you by surprise. When to go: Saturday, so you can check out the Olympia Farmers Market, the people-smorgasbord that is Olympia. You’ll see patchouli students from the nearby Evergreen State College, farmers in overalls, embroidered-denim grandmas, toddlers riding on dad’s shoulders. The market’s a nice mix of locally made items:  soaps, herbs, baked goods and of course, tie-dye shirts. Where to eat: At the market, order honkin’ huge sandwiches from Heyday! Cafe and listen to live music on the market stage. As an alternative, go to Meconi’s Italian Subs for the best…
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What to do in Westport, Washington with kids
When you enter Westport, Washington, you’re greeted with this sign: And that may sum it up. There’s a lighthouse, but kids under 40 inches tall aren’t allowed to climb the narrow, steep stairs. The under-construction aquarium offers only two tanks. The whale watching options can’t compete with well-developed tourism in Washington State’s San Juan Islands. The museum is OK (the fresnel light is impressive) but needs an infusion of funding for the kids’ area. The town’s streets don’t boast cute bookstores or toy shops. Most restaurants are iffy — lots of grease and meat for high prices. But still, if you wrote it off, you’d miss moments like this: When…