The hotel pool, located on second floor, is huge and popular, surrounded by deck chairs that invite vacationers to sit and relax after a busy day in city. Spa services are available at Serenity Spa Hawaii at Outrigger Reef.

Grab a quick bite to eat at pool bar or enjoy great pastries and delicious sandwiches at Patisserie & Deli. Add a little spice to your meals at Chili's Grill & Bar, then kick up your heals with some terrific country-western music at Nashville Waikiki within hotel.

The first order of business for me on premier day of my Hawaii visit was a trip to find closest grocery store. Fortunately, there was one located directly across street from Ohana Waikiki West that had all that I needed and it was open 24-hours daily, offering necessary items as well as postcards and island souvenirs. Although price of a box of cereal gave me sticker-shock ($6.50!), many of groceries were more moderately priced, and I left store with an excellent supply of fruit juices, bread, and lunch meat, pasta and fresh fruit. That's beauty of Ohana Waikiki West - with a kitchenette, hotel caters to budget-minded tourists like myself. There's also a full service pharmacy on property.

The location of Ohana Waikiki West is ideal -

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Laura Romano, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com

Once I had a chance to freshen up, I went to below deck dining room to meet other passengers. Jeremy, master chef for our cruise, had outlined entrée choices at hospitality meeting before boarding. In no time, we were delighting in a wonderfully basted and broiled salmon. At each and every meal there was a choice of surf or turf or you could order a special diet selection. Menus were well balanced and planned and diners were informed at end of each sitting what would be in store for us from Jeremy's galley upon our next visit. I was not disappointed in kitchen staff professionalism.

Then it was time for a long deserved rest as our skipper, Captain Kitt, no not Kidd, took Spirit of Discovery out for journey north up Willamette River. We passed along Portland's waterfront and beautiful homes nestled amongst shoreline. Sometime during night we connected up with mighty Columbia River and cruised eastward, back along same route that Capt. Robert Gray, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Sacajawea explored in early 1800's at request of President Thomas Jefferson. Their adventure was called "The Corps of Discovery."

The Columbia River is boundary separating states of Washington and Oregon. This massive body of water serves both states equally and provides a thriving livelihood on both sides of river. Throughout night, we passed beneath several spans of bridges and passed through first locks along Columbia. I awoke rested next morning to find we were moored alongside Bonneville Dam, deep within Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, before starting ascent through Cascade Mountains.

After a hearty breakfast of "Jeremy's Best" — traditional eggs, potatoes, a meat side, juice and coffee — we debarked awaiting motorcoaches for a tour of Army Corps of Engineers Bonneville Dam. We drove a mere 3 minutes from dam island they'd built, across dam bridge, with a dam escort, and onto other shore where we were met by dam guides who would give us a dam tour. Now you really want to pay attention during this guided tour because this isn't like just any dam tour. This dam also has another responsibility other than creating hydroelectric power.

Bonneville is first of many unnatural obstacles for various migrating chinookand coho salmon. The salmon die after their journey, but steelhead trout, shad, lamprey, and sturgeon migrate annually from sea to their spawning grounds as well. At various times of year, different types of fish attempt an old pattern of returning to their hatcheries, but man-made spillways and dams hinder their progress. (For more information on this situation tune into controversy brewing in Washington D.C. over removal of all dams in Snake River, a main tributary to Columbia.)

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Hooter, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com