Day 263 of 365…

It is my pleasure to announce that Lindo Mexico has opened their doors again for business. The inside is all new and fresh and the food is still just as good as it was. Lindo Mexico has always been one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Vancouver. It is located up in the Cascade Park area.

While I enjoy the spice of life, I don’t enjoy spicy in my food. They make the perfect salsa for me. It’s full of flavor and not spicy. I can actually scoop it up with their tasty chips and eat it without burning my mouth. I can add it to the rice or beans and enjoy the added flavor bonus.

My family has been eating here for years and we all really enjoy it. I love their Carne a la Tampiquena meal. It is awesome and quite filling. You get rice, beans, enchilada and their uber tender skirt steak.

Lindo Mexico is located at 316 SE 123rd Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98683 and can be reached at 360-883-5555. You can also connect to Lindo Mexico on Facebook.

Day 71 of 365…

The time has come to finally talk about Top Burger located up by Crown Park in Camas. When this whole “little” project was announced Top Burger had to be one of the most recommended places to cover. I couldn’t do all the most obvious places all at once.

Let me back up a bit for those who are new to the area or are looking at moving this direction. Top Burger is a little burger & shake place that has been operating in Camas, WA since 1951. That’s right; they’ve been serving all of us for almost 60 years. Whether you’re planning to stay in and eat there or grab your food and cross the street to play in Crown Park it’s always great.

Their burgers and chicken strips are always tasty as is everything else I’ve tried there. But for me, it’s all about their seasoned fries or tots and a real ice cream milkshake. My personal favorite there is chocolate banana (with real banana of course). The combo of hot seasoned fries and the ice cold milkshake is the best. Warning: their big order of fries is huge!

If you haven’t been up on the hill to Top Burger I’d say it’s time to get there! Another fun thing is to swing through and get your food & shake and head further north up Everett and enjoy Lacamas Park and the hike around Round Lake.

Top Burger is located at 1436 NE Everett, Camas, WA 98607 and can be reached at 360-834-3867. They also have a great fan base on Facebook. Why not join in?

Day 59 of 365…

Did you know Earth Day turns 40 this year just like I did? I had no idea it was that old. Wait, 40 isn’t old… The idea for Earth Day was hatched in 1969 but the first official day was in 1970. I happen to think 1970 was a great year to be born.

Earth Week is from April 16th to the 22nd and locally we have a great event happening at Salmon Creek Park at Klineline Pond Saturday April 17th. This Eco-Fair will be taking place between 10AM and 2PM. It is free to attend and will feature children’s activities, informational booths, salmon habitat tours, live music, a birds of prey wildlife show and more. I’d recommend you head down to Klineline Pond to check out the festivities. If you’re hungry you can purchase lunch provided by our own Burgerville USA or feel free to bring your own picnic lunch.

This event is sponsored by Clark Public Utilities Stream Team and Vancouver-Clark Parks & Recreation.

You can find all the information over on the Facebook event page. Why not stop in sometime tomorrow and learn some new things, meet some new people and enjoy this naturally beautiful area.

(Klineline Pond video to follow later)

Day 51 of 365…

Kalua Pork Bento, Teriyaki Chicken Plate, Hula Boy Burger, Kalua Pork Burger, Teriyaki Spam Bento… These are just a few of the items you’ll find on the menu at Hula Boy Charbroil Hawaiian Style Restaurant. I’ve eaten here on several occasions and have always been pleased. The atmosphere is fun and the staff has always been pleasant and the foods been great. Not only do they have the main restaurant but they also have the Hula Hut. In the Hula Hut you’ll find happy hour from 4:30 – 6:30 Monday through Saturday.

Hula Boy Charbroil has two locations in Vancouver. I’ve only been to the downtown Vancouver, WA location at 1109 Washington. They can be reached at 360-859-3952. Their Orchards location is at 11820 NE 4th Plain Road, Suite G and can be reached at 360-896-3355. Hula Boy is closed on Sundays.

Looking for a caterer for a party or meeting? They do that too! Head to one of their two locations and check them out.

Day 49 of 365…

As a recipient of blood and platelets myself this “Thing To Do” in Vancouver, WA is near and dear to my heart. Please take a minute to listen to a snippet of my story…

We have a wonderful American Red Cross Donor Center right next to Vancouver Mall just waiting for you to come in and donate. Some will donate whole blood, some platelets, maybe a few of you would step up and do Apheresis (those donation stations are pretty cool with laptop computers and DVD players). This is such a needed “Thing To Do” and I really hope my video and the following video will encourage you to consider blood donation if you have never considered it before. If you have donated, when was your last donation? Is it time again? Be a hero!

The donation center is closed on Thursdays and Sundays but open the other days of the week. You can find their hours on the Clark County Blood Donor Center website or you can always call them at 360-695-8522. Get out, explore and give back to our community!

If you would like to schedule a community outreach event or sponsor a drive please contact Darren Goan at (360) 989-2921 or email him at goanda (at) usa.redcross.org. Tell him you heard about this on “365 Things”.

Thank you all so much!

Day 46 of 365…

If you’ve been in Vancouver for any length of time you likely remember Plush Pippen. Plush Pippen was created in the early 1970′s by past Clark County Sheriff Frank Kanekoa. For a while it became Tee Dee’s and is now the Peach Tree. Peach Tree Restaurant and Pie House has been serving pies and good old fashioned food to our community for decades. They feature over 35 different homemade pies to choose from. They serve breakfast, main menu items and pie all day long!

Maybe you need some pies for Easter? Why not stop by and pick some up to serve. Peach Tree Restaurant & Pie House is located at 6600 NE Hwy 99, Vancouver, WA 98665 and can be reached at (360) 693-6736.

Today I’ll be highlighting something in the Ridgefield, WA area. Ridgefield is just north of Vancouver, WA and not a very far drive at all…

Day 39 of 365…

Who has heard of Lewis and Clark? Anyone know they spent a good amount of time here in our Clark County? Well, they did. Back in the very early 1800′s they spent quite a bit of time in the Ridgefield area. Tomorrow, March 28th, 2010 is the season opening of the Cathlapotle Plankhouse which is a replica of a Chinookan plankhouse like Lewis and Clark would have seen over 200 years ago.

The plankhouse is open on weekends for tours between noon and 4PM all the way through November 5th. Tomorrow (March 28th, 2010) Lewis and Clark living history re-enactor Tom Wilson will be on-site during the season opening to answer questions and share some of the areas history. There is a $3 fee for parking and you not only get access to the Cathlapotle Plankhouse but to the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. The vast amount of wildlife you can spot while in the refuge will blow your mind. The refuge is over 5,100 acres.

To get to the Carty Unit of the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge head North on I-5. Take the Ridgefield exit and head West through downtown Ridgefield (Fun Fact: Ridgefield is the birthplace to U-Haul). Once you reach the far West side of downtown you’ll get to Main Street. Turn right (North) on Main and follow it up about 5+ minutes and you’ll see the Carty Unit sign on the left (West) side of the road. It is worth taking a drive out to experience this amazing land and interesting part of our local history.

Day 30 of 365…

Perhaps you need some local historical data. Maybe something from the 1600′s. Where would you go? Google? Probably not. We have our very own Google right here in Vancouver, WA. That’s right, the Clark County Historical Museum is our local resource for all historical data dating back to 1200 A.D.! That’s a long time ago!

The museum opened in 1964 and is located in Vancouver’s 1909 Carnegie Library at 1511 Main Street. It is operated by the Clark County Historical Society which dates back to 1917. The museum houses all sorts of local artifacts, photographs, documents plus a museum store. Currently the main exhibit is “Expressions of Community: Women Embracing Art” which is housed on the entire lower floor. Stop in Tuesday through Saturday between 11AM – 4PM and check it out.

You can support our Historical Museum a number of ways… First, GO THERE! Second, purchase an annual membership. Third, maybe volunteer? Fourth, get down there and find out how else you can support them…

You can find the Clark County Historical Museum on Facebook as well. Stop on by and “fan” them up.

Here we are three weeks into this “365 Things” adventure. For those who’ve been here since the beginning, thank you. For those just discovering this site, welcome and I hope you enjoy this. The whole point of this is to highlight things to do in (AND AROUND) Vancouver, WA. My hope is for people to get up, leave their computers and get together with friends and family and discover the things that I believe make this a wonderful place to live…

Day 21 of 365…

If you haven’t yet been to Big Al’s you are missing out! Big Al’s is a fabulous bowling alley. It’s not just any regular bowling alley though… It’s so much more. They feature 30 traditional bowling lanes, 12 lounge style bowling lanes, a 4,000 square foot arcade with 100 player positions that is fun for kids of all ages. This place is fun, fun, fun! The food is great, the atmosphere is great, It’s worth the trip. Plus, Big Al’s actually has a guest appearance in my video on the top right side of my blog. See that big yellow box with my face on it? Click that and you’ll see!

Big Al’s is located at 16615 SE 18th Street, Vancouver, WA 98683 and can be reached at 360-944-6118. They also have a Facebook page you can become a fan of.

Day 7 of 365…

Well, the rain has returned in true February fashion. The sun was an awesome treat and I’m so thankful I was able to share some great outdoor Vancouver spots with everyone. But now that it is back, what’s a place to go be recreational but indoors?

Firstenburg Community Center is just such a place. Looking for a place to go swimming, running, walking, working out, dancing, rock climbing, maybe some friendly basketball? The list goes on and on… It is an 80,000 square foot facility designed for our community. You can find all their fees and hours here. You can also call them at 360-487-7001.

UPDATE: Firstenburg Center has graciously made available to the fans of “365 Things” the following:

You can also fan Firstenburg Center up on Facebook.

Today’s Monday market statistics are brought to you by the numbers 9-8-6-6-4.

It is Monday and that means we get to look at some more of our Vancouver area market statistics. A few weeks back we looked at the Fishers Landing and Cascade Park areas of Vancouver. This week we’ll work our way West and head into the Vancouver Heights area. Specifically we’ll look at zip code 98664. As always, I’ll post the statistics with a link to go see them much larger and easier. They’ll give you the December snapshot showing things like number of new listings, number of sales, average days on the market, rate of appreciation, average sales prices, etc.

(You can click on image for full size)

As always, take a look at all the numbers. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to shoot me an email, make a call or send me a text. If you want more detail of a more specific set of market data, let me know!