best food (on the big road trip)

A summary of my family’s culinary adventures on our vacation out west.


Sensory overload and confusion trying to choose among the incredible Portland Food Carts — here’s what we tried (and loved):
Grilled cheese from The Grilled Cheese Grill
Pad Thai from E-San
Fishy Chips from Euro Trash

The real deal — clam chowder from the Chowder Bowl (Nye Beach (Newport))

The ultimate in down-home comfort food (German potatoes–Holy Cow!) from the Otis Cafe (Otis, OR)

Marino’s Pizza and Ravioli (Ukiah, CA). Live-saving goodness and hospitality after a really long day on the road.

Pahgre’s (Montrose, CO). Sofie and Emery declared it to be one of the best restaurants in the world.

Huckleberry ice cream at Tillamook Cheese. Sure it’s kind of weird that a cheese factory is a tourist destination, but the ice cream is amazing.

Smoked salmon at Fresh Seafood NW (across from Tillamook Cheese Factory). Potential for addiction were we closer.

La Providensia Taqueria in Tillamook. Oh yeah, that’s cooking. Get a carnitas burrito, it’ll make you happy.

the coast (from the big road trip)

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We had five days on and in the water, rocks, sands and forests of the Oregon coast. It was incredible. I told Aimee that I want to begin figuring out how to spend more of my days there.

Here’s a list of our favorite spots on the coast — south to north (as we encountered them):

Harris Beach S.P.
Samuel A. Boardman S.P. (Indian Sands)
day use area (Oceanside Picnic Area) south of Cape Perpetua
Beverly Beach
Yaquina Head
Oswald West S.P.
Cape Lookout S.P.

We found that many of the best places were those that had 15-30 minute walks to get there. The walks themselves were incredible (Indian Sands, Oswald West S.P.) and we had the beaches/coast almost or entirely to ourselves when we got there. That may not be such a big deal to someone less antisocial or more used to sharing the beach than I am, but it sure impacted my experience.