Up and at it early with a lovely big breakfast in Big Wave Cafe - it was very good but Dan's was better and I had food envy!!
Anyway, off we properly set and partway along I made a snap decision to come off the Sat Nav route and take an alternative route. It was an actual scenic highway and a known route (I'm not that good to come up with new ones of my own!) but we hadn't actually known about it! So glad we took it as we got to see some beautiful views of the Columbia River Gorge with some really interesting stops along the way. It started in Troutdale and we also got to see 'Vista House' which gave some history of the place and also provided amazing up high views (733ft above the river in fact!).
We soon found the waterfalls - not that you can actually miss them! The first one was Latourell Falls and this was where the boots came good! We started off on the hike up to it which is actually broken into 2 stops. Dan stayed at the first stop whilst I pushed on to the top (not mentioned this actually but he has a stinking cold that developed when we got here. It's gone to his chest to so he is struggling to breathe at the best of times so hiking up a mile to the top was not going to happen). It wasn't the hardest walk I've ever done, but it wasn't a summer stroll either! I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was great to reach the top waterfall. Not only was it stunning but it was nice and cold too!!
Spot the waterfall pixie
I also saw a couple taking their cat for a walk up there. Yes..Their cat! I shit you not and I have a picture somewhere to prove it!
From Latourell we pushed on and stopped at a little random one that no-one was bothering with - the falls were quite busy as this is a bit of a popular area for both the falls and the many, many hiking trails around them/the forest/the river. This one was really pretty - Shepperd's Dell - until Dan suggested I look over the bridge to it and I nearly cried at the height I was at!!
The big ticket item is Multnomah Falls and we were planning on seeing Wahkeena Falls then hiking over to Multnomah but by this time it was getting horribly busy and we couldn't park anywhere so we drove on to Multnomah Falls itself and thought to hike the other way. Holy shit, M. Falls was crazy busy and it was just mental trying to park. I was getting a bit fed up as I thought i was actually going to miss my chance and then someone pulled out and I was in their spot before they even had their seatbelt on!! It was all worth it as it is breathtaking however the crowds put us off walking over to Wahkeena Falls as well as the fact we were both ravenous as it was now after 3pm and we'd not eaten since breakfast.
So we just headed on... we did stop off though at Bonneville Dam & Fish Hatchery which was interesting..
Set off then for Hood River having agreed we would pull up at the first place we found in town to eat. Then Dan suddenly says ' hmm why don't we just come off at this exit and eat somewhere here'. (They have signs showing you what food places & gas stations are at certain exits. A bit like our service stations really). Normally we would never bother as it's often like our service station food so I was surprised. Then I saw a sign that showed there was Thunder Island Brewing company there!! Hahaha. Caught you out Dan! Anyway, it was fine by me so we did and it was a good move.
Talking to the guys on the table we shared, this was a bit of a secret spot that even they hadn't known about until recently and they have lived around there for years so they were gobsmacked that 2 people from the UK had rocked up there! V small beer and a wrap later and we pushed on to our hotel in Hood River.
We were a bit out of town really but walkable at just over a mile, though the receptionists were horrified by that! Headed to Full Sail Brewing and had 2 fab seats found for us on their heated terrace overlooking the river. Had a few in there (and a bowl of CheesyBeer soup?!) and moved on to Double Mountain Brewery for more beer and a pizza. A pizza with no tomato sauce on... it was weird but nice weird!
Decided to head back around 11/11.30 (we think) given we had to walk back and then I spotted a bar along the way that 'looked nice'! So we barged in and were the only people in there. Never mind we thought and we got the drinks in. And more drinks and then were given HUGE shots and then a couple arrived and we had another drink and then the last thing I can remember is the guy apologising to me for Trump being president and then walking back in the rain convinced we were lost....
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