The Goondocks

After staying in awful, depressing Seattle for the past several weeks I thought it might be nice to head down to Seattle's poor cousin, Portland. I am kidding, of course. Portland is a fantastic city with one of the most interesting downtown areas of any city I know. It is hard to really describe - it is a relatively small area but it has retained a lot of its old buildings. It also has a surprising number of homeless people.

This weekend Portland played host to the Daveco-Billco Classic, a world-renowned golf tournament. Actually, it a annual golf tournament/get-together started by Margo's step dad Dave and her Uncle Bill. Portland is also home to her cousin Per, who I never saw while I was there (I did see her cousin Dan, Per's cousin). Saturday night was a big dinner before the final round and the excitement was palpable. Unfortunately I had to get on the road Sunday morning so I am still unaware of the final results.

Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning I had the opportunity to visit with my friend Trina, a recent graduate of GW Law. She has long-standing connections to Portland; the federal courthouse is named after her grandfather. A long-time Maryland resident, she and her husband Armando decided to heed the exhortation of Horace Greeley and they went West. Trina is currently studying for the bar and is taking the Barbri class and Lewis and Clark Law School - what a cool campus (but very small - see picture).

Departing Portland, I thought I would take the long-way home. This meant going northwest to the coast, through the Tillamook National Forest. I know you may think all these forests would get old but I assure you, they don't. On the Oregon coast, IK stopped at Fort Stevens, a now-abandoned military outpost. It has the distinction of being the first mainland U.S military facility attacked after the War of 1812. A Japanese sub surfaced off the coast and fired several rounds from its deck gun. No fire was returned from the Battery Russell (the Battery Russell - that is right, its not the Russell Battery). The nearby beach has a pretty cool skeleton of a shipwreck still on the beach.

One of the more exciting parts of the trip was my time in Astoria, Oregon. I guess it is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies. What many of you know Astoria for is that it was the location used for The Goonies, one of the finest examples of American cinema in existence. The Goondocks is the neighborhood where they all lived. I am happy to report it was indeed saved from becoming a golf course. The house featured in the movie is still around (see accompanying photo). Astoria was once capital of the fur trade and is still a major logging hub. Apparently a few years ago it was voted "Best Place to Retire." Now people move in, can take the weather and leave, leaving real estate prices elevated.