IN CLOSE & GREAT FUN!

Let's look at some of the interesting and exciting things that are available to The Fulton House guests within two hours driving time.

First of all, it's the only place in the country where you can ski and surf any day of the year. Summer skiing and snowboarding is on one of Mt. Hood's glaciers and, on a warm day, many of the young ladies ski in bikinis and the men in bathing suits. The Mt. Hood Lodge, which was constructed during the Great Depression years by the W.P.A. and the C.C.C., helpfully provides a telescope in their great room so you can easily observe the downhill skiers.

You'll need a shortie wet suit to surf any day of the year in the chilly Pacific, but at several places along Oregon's north coast the waves are super. Dozens flock to these prime spots to catch the "big ones."

Oregon's most popular natural attraction is only about 25 miles east of The Fulton House. It's 620 foot-high Multnomah Falls, one of more than 6 dozen waterfalls along the Columbia Gorge Scenic Drive.

Every County within 2 hours of Portland contains a Historical Museum, and don't forget that Lewis & Clark traveled their historic route just north of the City, much of it on rafts in the West's greatest river, the mighty Columbia. Today, you can rent kayaks or canoes at several marinas and explore some of the many sloughs and creeks and wetlands that the two explorers who surveyed the Louisiana Purchase for President Thomas Jefferson passed by or through. For those who prefer not to get their feet wet, there are numerous state parks on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the river, places to just wander and remember the past.

Maya Lin, architect of the incredibly moving Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., is just now finishing what Sunset Magazine calls "an astonishing new work that pays tribute to the human spirit." It's called the Confluence Project, and it stretches some 470 miles along the Columbia all the way to the Pacific. This amazing attraction is far too detailed and complex for me to properly describe here, but you can get further information at www.confluenceproject.org

Portlanders can also be zany and creative, and many of the City's multiple attractions to out-of-towners are offbeat. For example, there's the Hat Museum, diplaying some 700 pieces of headwear from across the globe of every conceivable size, shape and origin. Then, on Friday and Saturday, there's the walking tour of the City's Pearl District, which offers tastes of freshly baked artisan breads, hand roasted nuts, unusual soups, special mustards and preserves and, because this is Portland, tastes of at least 30 local wines and microbrews.

So come and enjoy Portland this summer, when the weather is warm and wet days are few, and the hospitality at The Fulton House is in full swing.