Monday, May 20, 2013

Oregon: Round One

From California we headed north to Oregon and Washington, two states that neither Adam and I had ever been to. We landed in Portland, Oregon, and I FELL IN LOVE with this city. We only stayed long enough to pick up the rental car and grab breakfast at Bijou Cafe, but it was long enough to know that we definitely wanted to spend much more time here. Do yourself a favor (I know I say this a lot in my blog, but I really mean it each and every time), eat at this cafe if you ever find yourself in Portland. The food is local and delicious, and it is just a really nice place to chill and watch the world pass you by. No worries, we came back to Portland at the end of the trip, so more in the next Oregon post.

Portland, a beautifully green and active city!

We very quickly exited the city to get our hiking on, and Jeremy found us the most gorgeous place in the world. None of us were planning on the 7-mile excursion we ended up trekking, but the scenery could not be beat. Seriously, enjoy the pictures. Also, if you like to hike and ever find yourself in Oregon, this hike should be at the top of your list. There is a trail that starts at Wahkeena Falls and ends at Multnomah Falls. You could do the trail either way (Multinomah to Wahkeena), but I recommend the path we unknowingly took because there is nothing that beats Multnomah Falls...if you start with that view, the rest of the hike isn't going to be quite as impressive. The way we hiked, it just got more and more awesome.


Wahkeena Falls

The Columbia River basin, view from our hike



 





 










The top of Multnomah Falls

It's a REALLY long way down, Shawna was NOT impressed, but did well




 





 

Weirdos




Afterwards, we kept on our journey toward Walla Walla, Washington. We found this wonderful little town called Hood River, Oregon (home of Double Mountain Brewery, of course we stopped there), that also had a nice spirit about it with wine rooms and such, so we stopped in and decided to come back to it for our unbooked night later in the week. I should mention that Jeremy and Shawna planned this ENTIRE trip and can be thanked for all the awesomeness that it was (THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!). For our stay in Walla Walla, they booked us at Arius Bed and Breakfast on the outskirt of town = PERFECT. Quiet, beautiful, relaxing. Like I said, perfect. The best part was that we were the only guests, so the owner, Dave, let us have the run of the place. If you are looking for a place to stay, you will be very happy here. We were.