Tyler and I decided to head to Oregon to celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary a few months early. Fall seemed like a good time to go and my in laws were happy to come stay with Gretchen for a week. The first two days of our trip were spent in Hood River, Oregon.
Day 1: Flew into PDX on Southwest Airlines (no fee for checked bags, woo! C boarding group, boo!) Picked up our rental car from Alamo (got a great deal through Costco) and drove up towards Hood River. It was 50 degrees and raining lightly so our plan to visit some scenic stops along the way were postponed. We did hike down to Bridal Veil Falls though, not realizing the trail was very steep and pretty treacherous while wet. Also I was wearing a maxi dress and flip flops so not the best hiking gear! Fortunately I had my rain jacket and a husband to hold my hand and keep me from falling! The falls were worth the hike, so beautiful!
Drove on to Hood River where it was not raining, just cool. Still it wasn’t too cool to eat outside so we did just that at 6th Street Bistro. The food and beer were good, nothing out of this world but it was a good meal. After dinner we walked around down by the river and watched the sunset. We got some amazing strawberry and hazelnut gelato from a little gelato stand that used only local and organic ingredients.
Day 2: Delicious breakfast at our B&B, the Villa Columbia, before we left to drive the “fruit loop.” We stopped at several places along the route, including Gorge White House, Apple Valley Country Store, Packer Orchard and Bakery, and some scenic stops along the highway where we got pictures of Mt. Hood. We ate lunch at Solstice and had a delicious cherry and chorizo pizza and salad with local pears, goat cheese, and hazelnuts. In the afternoon we wanted some downtime so we sat on the balcony at the B&B and read books we’d brought along. 
In the evening we went back to Gorge White House for dinner (pear quesadillas, YUM!) and wine/cider tasting. Without the sun directly overhead we were able to walk through the orchard and the flower fields and really take it all in. This place is beautiful. A million thanks to my friend Stacy for telling us about it! It closes at 7 so we went back to the river front park and watched the kite boarders and the sunset.
Day 3: Tyler did a 12 mile run this morning along the closed portion of the scenic highway. We had breakfast at the B&B and checked out and then headed towards the ocean. Along the way we stopped at Horsetail Falls, Multnomah Falls, and Vista House at Crown Point. It was a beautiful morning and not crowded since the holiday weekend wa s over.
Pugs Not Drugs 