This year Washington State enacted the Foreclosure Fairness Act which will provide assistance to those families and individuals who are struggling to make their mortgage. If you have fallen behind or are looking at the need to begin falling behind this video will be a huge help to you. It will explain your rights and the services available through the Foreclosure Fairness Act.

If you live in Clark County, WA and would like additional assistance please feel free to reach out. We’re here to help. While you likely feel like you’re the only one struggling to make the mortgage, rest assured, you’re not. Many times every single week we meet with families and individuals who for one reason or another find themselves at that crossroad of what to do regarding their house payment. Let us help you wade through these murky waters and help you get to the other side as smoothly as possible.

Wow! Vancouver, Washington is having their very own marathon THIS Sunday, June 19th, 2011. Yes, that’s on Father’s Day. I can tell you that this father won’t be out on the course because I’ve already ran the race! Check it out…

On Sunday at 7am the first ever Vancouver USA Full Marathon will kick off. In addition to the full marathon Vancouver is also offering a half marathon that kicks off at 8:30am. You can register for either event in person at the Fit Right NW Sports and Fitness Expo taking place all day Saturday, June 18th at the Vancouver Hilton.

This is a great exposure for OUR Vancouver, WA and guess what? The Vancouver USA Marathon IS A QUALIFIER FOR THE BOSTON MARATHON! I love that the start and finish line for the marathon and half marathon is at the beautiful Esther Short Park. You can get all the Vancouver USA Marathon Course Information here.

If you’d like to follow along in a very high tech way you’ll be happy to know that they have created a Vancouver USA Marathon iPhone app. It gives course information as well as bio info and you can track your favorite runner.

Hopefully you head down and sign up to do this great course or go and root on your favorite friend or family member! I know I will.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.
~Lee Greenwood

I love this song and the lyrics that go with it. It makes me choke up every time I hear it. Especially if you really stop and listen to what is being sung. This tribute is one of the best I’ve seen to go along with the song. Please watch it all the way through and remember those who’ve given it all for our freedom. Also, don’t forget those who still live while continuing to die a little each day from their service to our country. Hug a veteran!

As a society we remember all those who’ve passed on on Memorial Day but let’s not forget what it was originally established as…

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.

Rather than go on with words, I’ll share some photos…

To the men who gave their lives in Vietnam November 8th, 1965…

To my dear friend Robb Needham. Your sacrifice and smile will never be forgotten.

I’m so excited! It’s been way to long since the Liberty Theatre in downtown Camas, WA has been open. Liberty has been a staple of the City of Camas since 1927 and deserves to be the local public movie house.

I’m very happy to share that the Liberty Theatre is open for business. They kicked things off tonight for St. Patrick’s Day with the Grease Sing-A-Long movie and the place was packed. I was having dinner at Twilight Pizza and the line at Liberty wrapped around the corner. I walked in front of the theater as they were getting out and everyone was laughing and talking about how wonderful it was to be back in this 350 seat venue.

The following comes from their website describing what you can expect to see happening at Liberty Theatre…

There are varied of tastes and diversity in this area and we feel an assortment of film genres and categories are the key to our success. The Liberty programming will be more “repertory” style, with different movies and different times and more turn over. On most weeks, you’ll get a choice of at least two movies and sometimes more. The Liberty will be showing films off of the National break, meaning that new films will show up at the Liberty 3 to 7 weeks after they are released nationally. This means we don’t have to run the same film for several weeks on end to satisfy studio requirements and can provide a wider variety of films for you to see. It also means we can keep our prices more economical; you’ll be able to see a first rate presentation at the Liberty for only $3.50.

In addition to reasonable movie prices you’ll also find family affordable prices at the concession stand. With the economy like it is this is a most welcomed addition to have a night out. Make sure you head down to Camas and enjoy a movie or two!

Liberty Theatre is located at 315 NE 4th Avenue, Camas, WA 98607 and can be reached at 360-859-9555. You can also connect with Liberty Theatre on Facebook.

Reflecting on the Liberty Theatre…

This week’s Clark County WA Neighborhood of the Week is Arnada. I thought it would be nice to highlight Arnada Park as a great outdoor place to go.

Arnada Park is located just south of Fourth Plain on the far east side of Arnada. The park is about 3 acres and a great little community park. Today the sun was shining and the park had several groups in it. There were a bunch of guys shooting hoops on the basketball court. The large play-set had a bunch of kids running around playing on it. Everyone was having a great time. There is also a cool gazebo with picnic tables in it. This park has had a ton of work done to it over the last 15 years to really dress it up. There is a nice walking trail through it as well as a large open grassy area to play on.

Today is the day. I launch my new little “project” by highlighting a new neighborhood in Clark County, WA each week. As I mentioned last week I’m sure it will morph as time goes on and I get into a normal routine. Let me get right to it. I figured that I might as well start with one of our oldest neighborhoods in Vancouver, WA.

Arnada neighborhood

Arnada is one of our oldest neighborhoods in downtown Vancouver and one of my favorites too. It is bounded on the east side by I-5, on the south by 15th Street, Main Street is the western boundary and Fourth Plain tops it off on the north. Here’s a little video snapshot of Arnada.

Please check back throughout this week as I share about this great neighborhood.

It should be no secret by now that I love my hometown of Vancouver, WA. I love everything about Clark County, WA (yes, I also love Clark Co, NV. Viva Las Vegas!).

As I was nearing the “end” of 365 Things To Do In Vancouver, WA I decided I should figure out how to expand what I spent a year doing. I wanted to do something that would allow me to continue highlighting great things to do all over town and also re-share all the things I wrote about last year. I want to continue promoting our local businesses, events, parks, trails and activities. I also want to share details about the neighborhoods these wonderful places and events “live” in.

So, today I introduce my next “project”. Beginning on Monday, March 7, 2011 I’ll begin spotlighting a Clark County, WA Neighborhood of the Week. Each week I’ll focus on one particular neighborhood. I’ll share general information, demographic data, school data, etc. about that neighborhood. I’ll highlight local parks, restaurants and activities. I’ll likely share a “Home of the Week” as I preview homes for sale in the neighborhood. I’ll also be creating a map of all the homes for sale in each neighborhood. This map will also include the “365 Things To Do In Vancouver, WA” posts I’ve written over the last year. My hope is to create a complete Clark County, WA neighborhood resource guide for those who already live there plus share it with others who might like to make that neighborhood home.

Having listed and sold single family and multi-family real estate in Clark County since 1994, I’ve learned that people buy neighborhoods. This guide will help share the great things about each neighborhood as well as continue to promote supporting our local businesses. We all must work together to help keep our local economy strong and thriving.

This newest “project” will be a constant work in progress. I’m sure as it begins I’ll tweak and modify it as necessary to hopefully make it better each week. Of course, there is also a Clark County WA Neighborhood of the Week Facebook page where each post will be shared with a larger audience. Please feel free to “Like” it.

If you have neighborhood information to share please send me a message through the “Meet Up With Dale” box on the sidebar. I’d love to hear from you. Let’s all work together to make this the best site possible.

See you all 3-7-11!

The Mission: February 17th, 2010 through February 16th, 2011 write one blog post each and every day highlighting something to do in Vancouver, WA (& surrounding cities).

Status: Task completed on schedule. Every single day one blog post was written. Almost every post included a video from on location as well as photos from each location.

All blog posts lived here on the Clark County Real Estate Guide. The permalink to each post was then placed on the 365 Things To Do In Vancouver, WA Facebook Page. Over the course of the year the Facebook page grew at a very steady pace. At the end of the 365th day there were over 14,000 “likes”. I’ve been so thankful for the wonderful reception this page got.

67% of the fans are women. The fan base spans over 19 countries all over the world. Approximately 75% of the fan base is from the Vancouver/Clark County/Portland area. The next largest group represented is in Seattle. 83% of the fans are between the age of 18 and 54.

Over the course of the 365 days 8,281,995 post views occurred on Facebook! A post view is defined by Facebook as “the number of times people (Fans and non-Fans) have viewed a News Feed story posted by your page”. This blows my mind!

Approximately 100,000 visitors stopped here at the Clark County Real Estate Guide throughout the year. The most viewed post of the year was Day 295: Magical Lights On 63rd Street with almost 1,200 visitors!

As I mentioned on Day 365, this “project” is not done! There are still lots of wonderful things to share about Vancouver and Clark County, WA. I will not continue daily but will continue regularly. I’ll also be adding content to the site that I believe will enhance and improve upon what is already here.

I’ll be announcing these changes on 3-1-11. Please stop in then to see what is coming and I hope you’ll either subscribe to get these posts via email or via an RSS feed.

If you have any stories of new places you’ve discovered or enjoyed during the first 365 days I’d love to hear about them. I’d love it if you’d leave a comment below. Please share this site with your friends and family who may not be aware of it. It’s a great resource from a native Vancouver guy whose family has been in Clark County since 1893. Remember, you can type anything into the search box on the top right side of the site and it’ll find all posts with whatever keywords you desire (i.e. pizza, wine, hike, theater, etc.)

Day 363 of 365…

I’ve been hearing about how great Lapellah Restaurant is for quite some time. I decided it was finally time to “check it out” myself. I’m glad I did.

They have a very hip decor to the place. I loved seeing the huge wood stove as I entered. I’m sure they cook lots of tasty foods in there. I’ll look forward to going back to explore more. I decided to sample some of the Happy Hour menu tonight. I chose to have the Wedge Salad and an order of their Calamari. Both were excellent. A typical Wedge Salad comes with Blue Cheese and crumbled blue cheese but I’m not a huge fan. They were kind enough to dress up one with some Thousand Island for me. The salad and calamari were both excellent. The calamari were lightly battered and very tender. There were also huge chunks of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese shaved on top of the sauce and calamari. I found this to be a very nice addition to this item.

Lapellah Restaurant is located at 2520 Columbia House Blvd., Suite 108, Vancouver, WA, 98661 and can be reached at 360-828-7911. You can also connect with Lapellah Restaurant on Facebook.

Day 362 of 365…

Looking for a wonderful meal with a great lodge like atmosphere? Look no further than Hudson’s Bar & Grill inside The Heathman Lodge. This place has the coolest vibe about it. Complete relaxing, rustic flair with some wonderful gourmet food.

From the moment you enter you feel a relaxing calm. The pace is slower and the memories deeper. I’ve eaten here several times and never been disappointed. They prepare everything with the freshest ingredients and do a marvelous job of integrating the specialties of the Pacific Northwest alive on their menus.

You’ll also find daily their Hudson’s Hour specials. It’s their version of Happy Hour and it runs from 4pm to 6pm daily. It’s a great way to sample a variety of their food and drinks.

Hudson’s Bar & Grill is located in The Heathman Lodge at 7801 NE Greenwood Drive, Vancouver WA 98662 and can be reached at 360-816-6100. You can also connect with Hudson’s Bar & Grill on Facebook.

Day 361 of 365…

We are so fortunate to have the Columbia River running along our entire southern border. It provides a beautiful scenery, great playground and wonderful opportunity to grab some fabulous fresh seafood. Thankfully we have some terrific locations to enjoy the beauty of the Columbia River from inside.

One such place that has been providing this opportunity since 1960 is the Quay Bar at the Red Lion Hotel along the Columbia River at the I-5 bridge. This place is just cool. I love the nautical theme of the inside. It makes you feel like you are on an old pirate ship. I remember going here all the time years ago with a bunch of fellow co-workers. We would enjoy their awesome Happy Hour menu, great atmosphere and wide variety of drinks. Nothing’s changed. They still offer all those things plus awesome views of the river. Amazingly, the Quay Bar Happy Hour is 7 days a week from 4pm to 7pm.

You’ll also find a wide variety of live music playing throughout the week. Make sure to check the Quay Bar calendar to see who’s coming up.

The Quay Bar at the Red Lion Hotel is located at 100 Columbia Street, Vancouver, WA, 98660 and can be reached at
360-750-7941. You can also connect with The Quay Bar on Facebook.