PNW Escapes

PNW Escapes Hidden gems. Scenic drives. Local adventures.

🍦 Custard King in Astoria looks like it’s been there since shortly after Lewis and Clark left town.Not quite. It opened ...
09/05/2026

🍦 Custard King in Astoria looks like it’s been there since shortly after Lewis and Clark left town.

Not quite. It opened in 1951, serving burgers, fries and frozen custard from a tiny walk-up stand. Seventy-five years later, it’s still there.

No parking. Walk-up window. A half dozen roaming security pigeons. Great view of the mighty Columbia.

And then there’s the custard. Frozen custard isn’t just ice cream with a fancy name. To legally qualify as frozen custard, it has to contain egg yolk. It’s also generally made with less air whipped into it, giving it that dense, silky texture.

Custard King serves vanilla, chocolate and twist, with plenty of toppings to make things interesting.

Over on Kim Roberts, I’m dealing with the fact that I somehow made it this many years without ever trying frozen custard.

PNW Escapes

🌊 The best half of Hawaii is underwater. That was the Lahaina Divers slogan for years.I was the writer. Blain was the ph...
09/04/2026

🌊 The best half of Hawaii is underwater. That was the Lahaina Divers slogan for years.

I was the writer. Blain was the photographer. These are his photos, and I think they make a pretty good argument for the slogan.

The enormous silhouette cruising beneath the surface is a whale shark, the largest fish in the world. Despite the name and intimidating size, whale sharks are filter feeders.

Then there’s the Hawaiian octopus, or heʻe. Smart, curious and remarkably good at disappearing into the reef, they were always one of Blain’s favorite encounters.

That brilliant red ribbon that looks like someone dropped a piece of fabric on the reef? Those are eggs. A Spanish dancer is a large red nudibranch, named for the way its body undulates through the water. It lays thousands of eggs in a spectacular rose-shaped ribbon.

And then there’s the lionfish, looking like someone decided a fish needed feathers with syringes on the ends.

Big things. Tiny things. Strange things. Beautiful things.

We spent years showing people Maui from the surface down. I still think the best half is underwater but topside is glorious, too!

Do you recognize the octopus photo from a famous, award-winning wine label that was once served at the National Christmas Tree Lighting?

Over on Kim Roberts, I’m talking about the slogans we use to sell places—and why some of them stick.

PNW Escapes

🍕 Never judge a pizza joint by its graffiti.Tie Dye Pizzaria in Lincoln City looks like somebody handed generations of c...
09/04/2026

🍕 Never judge a pizza joint by its graffiti.

Tie Dye Pizzaria in Lincoln City looks like somebody handed generations of customers a box of Sharpies. Here’s a pen. Take a whiff. Drop the cap and let your feelings flow.

The sentiments remain. The diners dash and dine.

Kites overhead. Checkerboard floor. Biker in the kitchen.

Oh yeah. Pizza.

Handmade dough, tons of toppings and enough heft that a large can last for days.

Then you spot the pastry case.

Chocolate Ă©clairs. Cream puffs. French bakery fare hiding in a graffiti-covered pizza joint.

Whatever you do, save room for dessert.

Over on Kim Roberts, I’m speaking French with a biker.

PNW Escapes Explore Lincoln City

Have you ever thought about taking a 50-foot boat from the mainland to Hawaii and, somewhere along the way, hopping into...
09/03/2026

Have you ever thought about taking a 50-foot boat from the mainland to Hawaii and, somewhere along the way, hopping into 20,000 feet of water for a swim?

Blain has.

In 1988, he came to Westport to build a charter boat for Lahaina Divers at the Westport Shipyard.

His was one of the last charter boats built there as the shipyard transitioned from fishing and charter boats to luxury yachts.

Much of the project was assigned to a young architect doing consulting work at the shipyard.

Me.

I even christened the boat in my classic big hair, tight pants and heels.

We met. We hung out.

Then one morning after breakfast with Blain and my friend Doll, she said, “He’s in love with you.”

I argued. I was, after all, still politely stalking my ex.

A few days later, Blain was leaving to run the new boat to Maui. Before he left, he told me Doll was right.

When he reached San Francisco, he sent me a dozen red roses.

They arrived on a day when the boat I was running had crapped out in the fog and drifted into waters closed to salmon fishing.

Meanwhile, one of my art gallery employees had gone to Seattle for supplies and gotten into a wreck with a Seattle police officer.

I got my boat repaired and back into port, marched down the street to my gallery, and there were the roses.

Blain and his crew made it to Maui eight days after leaving Westport.

He wrote me a letter every day of the trip and mailed them when he arrived. I had been writing to him, too. Our love letters were like ships passing in the night.

His mother died while he was somewhere out on that ocean. When he reached Maui, he called and asked me to move there.

Thirty days later, I had quit my jobs, rented out my house, sold my businesses, packed everything I owned into boxes and mailed them to Hawaii, put my car on a barge, and bought a one-way ticket to Maui.

That was 1988. Ever since, Blain’s the only one I stalk.

Want to try his Westport-to-Maui travel plan?

âś“ Run the boat 24/7 down the coast to San Francisco.

âś“ Put 30 55-gallon drums of diesel on deck.

âś“ Talk three friends into coming along and eating MREs for a week.

âś“ Point the boat toward Hawaii.

âś“ Somewhere over 20,000 feet of water, stop for a swim.

âś“ Eight days after leaving the mainland welcome to Maui.

Which part loses you: the MREs, 30 drums of diesel, or swimming with 20,000 feet of water underneath you?

And if you like love stories, I have another one over on Kim Roberts.

That relationship started in third grade. I still have the love letter. ❤️

🌊 They call it the Graveyard of the Pacific. Stand near the mouth of the Columbia River and you can see why.More than 2,...
09/03/2026

🌊 They call it the Graveyard of the Pacific. Stand near the mouth of the Columbia River and you can see why.

More than 2,000 vessels have been lost in these waters. One of them is still sitting on the beach.

The Peter Iredale ran aground on Clatsop Spit in 1906. Amazingly, everyone aboard survived.

More than a century later, its rusted remains are still lodged in the sand, the way certain songs embed themselves in your mind.

Its rusting hulk should feel ominous, but it’s strangely reassuring to see it still holding its ground against the ocean.

Go at low tide and you can walk around—and sometimes right inside—what’s left. Check the tides before you go. What you can see changes dramatically with the water and sand.

Have you ever visited a shipwreck?

Over on Kim Roberts, I finally went to see my first real one.

Tom Petty provided the soundtrack.

PNW Escapes

Wanna see the Devil’s Washbowl? Is it too on the nose to scream, “Hell yeah!”?Malad Gorge sits just a mile off I-84 near...
09/02/2026

Wanna see the Devil’s Washbowl? Is it too on the nose to scream, “Hell yeah!”?

Malad Gorge sits just a mile off I-84 near Hagerman, Idaho.

The Malad River plunges 60 feet at Devil’s Washbowl before running through a gorge up to 250 feet deep. Water carved the canyon through layers of volcanic basalt, and the gorge stretches another 2½ miles to the Snake River.

And you barely have to work for the view.

There are overlooks, picnic areas and a bridge across the gorge. No hiking boots, four-wheel drive or ambitious trail plan required.

Kim Roberts has a slightly different perspective on the bridge.

Apparently “easy access” and “easy to cross” are two entirely different things.

Are you crossing that bridge or staying on my side?

PNW Escapes

For most people, costumes are strictly for Halloween.Not me.I created the International Mermaid Museum with imagination,...
09/02/2026

For most people, costumes are strictly for Halloween.

Not me.

I created the International Mermaid Museum with imagination, glitter and a still-missing cell phone.

The idea began after Blain and I attended the funeral of the man who created the NW Carriage Museum. Driving home, we started talking about what we had collected over a lifetime—and what we could share with our community.

Fishing and diving friends contributed artifacts. Blain contributed his underwater photography. I brought design and storytelling.

Then came the alchemy of ten women who directed the nonprofit and helped turn the idea into something real.

The mission was to teach ocean ecology from seashore to sea floor, immersed in mermaid mythology and the oceanic cultures of the world.

The result is a museum like no other.

Part natural history. Part mythology. All heart.

The International Mermaid Museum is on the grounds of Westport Winery Garden Resort, between Aberdeen and Westport, Washington. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The museum was my legacy project. I’m no longer involved with it, but one part of it came with me.

Friends.

Crystal and Una are two of them.

You can meet them—and PNW Unicorns Sky and Blue—over on my personal page Kim Roberts.

A tale of two tunnels. One punches through a headland on the Oregon Coast. The other through a pali on Maui.Before Highw...
09/02/2026

A tale of two tunnels. One punches through a headland on the Oregon Coast. The other through a pali on Maui.

Before Highway 101, travelers actually drove the beach south of Cannon Beach, timing the tides to get around Hug Point.

But the headlands eventually got in the way. So, they blasted one. Today, Highway 101 runs 1,228 feet straight through Arch Cape.

More than a decade later and 2,500 miles away, Maui got its own solution: the 315-foot Olowalu Tunnel on Honoapiʻilani Highway.

Its project had a much better name: Operation Puka-in-the-Pali.

Basically, hole in the cliff.

Oregon's tunnel is nearly four times longer. Maui's has palm trees at the entrance.

I’m calling that a draw.

And one of them had a strange ability to wake sleeping children.

For that story, take a drive over to Kim Roberts.

PNW Escapes

Some stories come with a surprising connection.At Lighthouse Park in Warrenton, Oregon, a pair of bronze hands rises in ...
09/01/2026

Some stories come with a surprising connection.

At Lighthouse Park in Warrenton, Oregon, a pair of bronze hands rises in prayer beneath a gazebo. Known as the Remembrance Sculpture, it honors fishermen lost at sea.

Chuck Thompson was a prominent local fisherman who, along with Bud Charlton, helped create Lighthouse Park and its replica lighthouse as a tribute to generations of people who made their living from the sea. Chuck also commissioned the original, smaller bronze of the praying hands as the model for the larger memorial.

Years later, his son Terry donated that original bronze to the International Mermaid Museum. So there are two sets of those hands in the Pacific Northwest.

One stands in Warrenton, Oregon, remembering those who didn't come home from the sea. The original traveled north to the International Mermaid Museum at Westport Winery Garden Resort, between Aberdeen and Westport, Washington, where it sits among the museum’s fishing exhibits along with the newspaper story that helped preserve its history.

Lighthouse Park is a small stop with a lot of local fishing history packed into it. You’ll find the replica lighthouse and the gazebo at Harbor and Main streets in Warrenton.

And now you know the rest of the story.

But if you're wondering how on earth we got onto this subject in the first place, head over to Kim Roberts.

It started with a mattress from Costco.

PNW Escapes Oregon My Oregon

08/31/2026

🌊 Depoe Bay's claim to fame is that it is the world’s smallest harbor.

Picture about four football fields. Now put 70 boats in there.

Then give them one tiny opening to the Pacific with a nifty dog leg for extra points.

The rockbound channel is just 50 feet wide and 100 feet long. You know, in case the ocean meeting rock wasn’t interesting enough.

Years ago, I saw a video of Endeavor, a 50-foot boat we once owned at Lahaina Divers, bouncing off the rocks as it came through that slot.

Yes. A 50-foot boat through a 50-foot-wide channel.

From the moment I saw that video, I wanted to take the ride. I’ve been lucky enough to come through it a few times now.

Leaving in the dark is its own kind of hold-your-breath hide-and-seek.

Today, the ocean was calm. Coming home in daylight, I still never lose the awe.

Would you take this ride?

Then go to Kim Roberts to see what I was doing in Depoe Bay in the first place.

PNW Escapes Discovering Depoe Bay Oregon

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