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Clatsop Loop Trail is an easy loop trail at Ecola State Park in Oregon. Ecola State Park is about 90 minutes West of Portland on the Oregon coast. The state park is just North of Cannon Beach. The park has a $5 day use fee or you can acquire a Oregon State Park pass then you don't need to pay the day use fee. During the weekend, many people come here for photo shoot and picnic. On this beautiful day in March, we decided to do our first hike of the season at Clatsop Loop Trail.
We had the brunch first in the morning before heading to Ecola State Park. On the way there, it was actually raining quite hard in the mountain, but we were glad that it became sunny when we got to the coast. On the way to the main parking lot along Ecola Park Road, there was a huge dip on the road! Be very careful there and don't harm your car! You should see a spray painted messages on the road that says "5MPH" and that is where the big dip is! Drive slowly and watch it for other cars!
From the main parking lot, the haystack rock at Cannon Beach can be easily seen. It looks like it's raining at Cannon Beach and the scenery is just gorgeous. There were several places that are closed off for visitors due to mud slide and slipper trail, so be very careful here. Some part of the trail is very muddy and your foot could sink in.
We wanted to hike to Clatsop Trail from the main parking lot but the Indian Beach Trail was closed off due to mud slide. Thus we had to drive our car to the other parking lot that is right at the trail head of Clatsop Trail.
There are 14 markers along Clatsop Loop Trail so it is very easy to follow and track where you are. The trail is very easy because of how wide the trail is and the trail is placed with gravels on top. Near the loop around point of the trail, we get to hiker's camp. The camp site does not require any reservation and it is first come first server. We did not see any campers this time however.
When we got to the hiker's camp, instead of taking the loop trail back right away, we went a bit further to Tillamook Rock Lighthouse Viewpoint. The view point is only about 2 minutes away. Some part of this trail is quite muddy and there are wooden board to walk on. Be very careful when walking on the wooden board because it is quite slippery. When we are at the view point, we could see the lighthouse very clearly.
Overall, Clatsop Loop Trail is very suitable for everyone to hike. It is short and with minimal elevation gain. It is also open all year round. This trail is definitely a great place to start the hiking season!
Sweet Tomato is a buffet restaurant that offers a huge selection of choice at its salad bar and also offers lots of choice for soup, pasta, and other bakery items. Most of its selections are very healthy and are all vegetable based except on few soup selections. This is a great place to go to after having a great work out. There is a 24 Hour Fitness right next to the restaurant and I have seen many people coming to here for lunch after the work out. The restaurant does not have afternoon break either, thus I can really see myself spend the whole afternoon here to relax.
Sweet Tomato is convenient located right around Highway 26 and Cornell street. (forgot to take a picture of the restaurant sigh this time, but it should be easy to find) Thus it is very easy to get to for people coming for Portland. There is also a lot of seating in the restaurant to accommodate a lot of people. Most of the time you can just sit wherever you want, but if there is too many people, the server will guide you to the table.
On this beautiful Saturday morning after a heavy rain in the Northwest, we decided to pay a visit to Sweet Tomato. We walked into the entrance and the salad bar is right in front of you. First we prepared our salad from the selection of the salad bar and then pay at the register at the end of the salad bar. Sweet Tomato often have discount coupons that is $9.99 for a person with beverages. After we paid at the register, we headed to our table.
Once we sat down at our table, we went to get our drink, soup, pastry, and pasta. The selection of the soup is amazing. It has chowder, chicken noodle, minestrone, and other soup. There are 8 different soup is total. My favorite one is corn chowder, it is just amazing! At the pasta bar, there are 3 different pasta to choose from. All these pasta are freshly cooked on the spot and very fresh! There is also a bar where bakery good is at and it has pastries, baked potatoes, and pizza. Baked potato is really good and you can add sour cream, onion, salsa, and cheese.
After having completing al the main course meal, Sweet Tomato also has dessert bar with ice cream, yellow, and fruit. I like the ice cream a lot. The ice cream has 2 flavors with vanilla and chocolate. I also added some Oreo crumbles on it to have some crunchy texture. In addition, the chocolate brownie is really fresh. It was still hot and crunchy. I really love it. I am not a big fan of small muffins so I did not try any, but it should be very good too.
Overall, Sweet Tomato is a great place to go to for enjoying healthy food diet and try different flavor of soup and salad!
Pho Nam is a Vietnamese Noodle restaurant located at Progress Ridge in Tigard, Oregon. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle that is served in beef soup broth with onions and bean sprout. The beef soup broth has a lot of flavor in it. Other than just selling Pho, Pho Nam also offers other Vietnamese meals such as Lemongrass Grill Chicken.
The restaurant is conveniently located at the popular Progress Ridge plaza. We love coming to Progress Ridge and spent an afternoon here. Sometimes we head to La Provence for brunch and spent the afternoon by the pond and also watch movie at Cinetopia. The New Season Market at Progress Ridge is also quite a large and popular super market that sells organic food.
We came to this plaza today to buy an expansion pack of the popular board game of Catan. When we got to the toy store, there were 4 different expansion pack to choose from and at the end we chose to buy Sea Fare because this expansion can be played with other expansions as well. After we purchased the game, we headed to Pho Nam for our long waited dinner.
We walked in into the restaurant and we were so lucky that there is just one empty table ready for us. We sat down quickly and ordered our dinner right away. This time we ordered a traditional Pho and Lemongrass Grill Chicken on rice.
The first dish that got delivered to the table is Lemongrass Grill Chicken. The grill chicken smelled really good and the chicken is perfectly grilled. It has the sweet taste. The only down side is that there was not a lot of chicken on the dish. I was expecting at least 1.5 times more.
The next dish is the Pho. I asked the server not to add cilantro because I do not like the taste of cilantro. After the Pho is placed on the table, I immediately put the bean sprout into the beef soup to let it cook a bit. I had a sip of the soup and it taste really good. Unlike other Pho that I have had before, the beef soup broth at Pho Nam is a bit sweeter. The sweetness in the soup actually made the soup better! I really loved it.
In general, I will come to Pho Nam again because I really love the beef soup broth at this restaurant, but I don't thin Lemongrass Grill Chicken is worth the price to order.
Kukai Ramen is a popular Japanese Ramen restaurant located in Portland Oregon. Although the restaurant has Izakaya in its name, it is more like a Japanese Ramen restaurant. Kukai Ramen originates from Japan. The first Kukai Ramen was opened in Japan and it has expanded its presence world wide. Kukai now actually has several restaurant internationally outside of Japan.
Kukai Ramen in Portland is a very popular dining restaurant in Portland. Every time I go there, I always had to wait for at least 15 minutes for my table to be ready. The longest time that I have waited at Kukai Ramen was actually 40 minutes! On this very Friday, we got there around 6PM and there were already people lining up and waiting for the table. Luckily, we were told by the hostess that we only have to wait for 15 minutes since a lot of people will be leaving shortly. If I had to wait for more than 30 minutes, I would have gone shopping around in the grocery store first and wait for Kukai to text me when my table is ready.
Once we got our table, we were served with 2 glasses of water. This time we decided to get a Takoyaki as appetizer, a signature Garlic Tonkasu Shoe Ramen, and a Miso Ramen.
The Takoyaki order came with 6 Takoyakis. The Takoyakis seem a little smaller than the one that you would see in Japan, but it still has great taste. One thing to watch out for is that it is extremely hot when it was delivered to the table. So make sure it cools down a bit before you take a bite!
After the appetizer, here comes the main meal. The first one is the Garlic Tonkasu Shoyu Ramen. This is the signature Ramen dish at Kukai Raman and it is amazing! I normally do not like Ramen with Shoyu flavor, however, with the garlic added to the soup base, the ramen tastes amazing! This is definitely a must try dish!
The next ramen is the Miso Ramen. The Miso Ramen is similar to the one at Ramen Ryoma. The ramen is served with miso soup base. Unlike shoyu ramen, miso ramen is not as salty. The only down side is that it does not come with garlic flavor, so I still think the signature ramen taste a lot better.
Having been to both Kukai Ramen and Ramen Ryoma, it is really hard to decide which ramen restaurant is better. I definitely think Kukai's signature Garlic Shoyu Ramen is the best, but Ramen Ryoma is much cheaper and also offer great taste. Overall, both are great in my opinion!
