It's home to loggers and environmentalists, ultraconservative voters and hippies, deserts and rain forests, beaches and volcanoes. There's a big city full of high technology and progressive ideas. There are throwback ranch towns that seem closer to the 19th century than the 21st.
Oregon's variety is especially good news for vacationers. Where else can you go skiing in the morning (even in the summer) and whale-watching or deep-sea fishing in the afternoon? Where else can you recover from a llama trek by doing a little windsurfing?
Oregon's countless opportunities for outdoor recreation top the list of reasons to visit, but you don't have to leave with sore muscles. Its cities and towns are rich with history, art, culture and shopping. Sightseeing is as near as the closest highway. And more than anything else, it's the feel of the place that makes Oregon special: It's a combination of West Coast laid-back and small-town polite. All that, and it's just plain beautiful.
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