Oregon Vacation Day 7 - Disappointment, Sunshine, and Celebration

The last day of our vacation we woke to the rain which we had now become accustomed to. The television weather guys had forecast the passage of a cool front accompanied by a line of rain. We had no plans for this day of our vacation because early snow in the mountains and passes had forced us to scrap plans for a day hiking at Crater Lake and a visit to Government Camp and Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood. Cars without chains were being stopped and turned around just past Welches where we were staying.

I'm not going to lie, I was very disappointed that we didn't get to go to Crater Lake. But I recognize that we are "flat landers." We don't drive in snow and ice and we don't drive in, over, or around mountains. The rental car we were in didn't have chains and, even if it would have had chains, we would not have tried it.

We decided to just take it easy at the condo, take advantage of the washer and dryer so we would come home with clean clothes, and make a trip into Troutdale for a visit to the Columbia Gorge Outlet Malls. Since we would be traveling the next day, on our 38th wedding anniversary, we would end the day by celebrating with a nice dinner.

As we lounged in our pajamas that morning, we had a lovely view of the front passing.

It was still raining a couple of hours later, after lunch, when we decided to go to the outlet mall. As we drove out of Welches, we were delighted to see the sun coming through the clouds. By the time we got to the outlet mall, it was a full-out sunny day. But, with the sunshine, came the cold. The temperature dropped quickly and we had to get our coats out of the car.  We bought cute little, lightweight, fake fur jackets for Our Little Princesses. Grandad and I both bought a few things at the outlet stores.

We headed back to Welches for dinner where we decided to go back to The Rendezvous for our anniversary dinner. Since it was a Thursday night, business was very slow and we were seated in the bar area. We were the only customers right up until we were almost finished with our dinner. We were lucky enough to have the same waitress we had earlier in the week. She was very friendly and we enjoyed chatting with her throughout our dinner. I commented to her about how nice it was to finally see some sunshine. She seemed shocked and asked where we had seen sunshine. When I told her just a few miles up the highway at the outlet mall, she reported that it had rained all day long in Welches.

I ordered the fondue as my meal. It was delicious. Among the dipping items were slices of a pink pearl apple. Neither of us had ever heard of nor seen a pink pearl apple before. The flesh of the apple is a dark pink. In the dimly lit restaurant, I actually thought I was biting into a carrot. I was pleasantly surprised. You can see a photo here. I've looked all over for a source to buy these apples, but I haven't had any luck. Apparently, they have a very short season and are sold in a very limited area.I will try again next October.

Grandad had the wild salmon fish and chips which came with a homemade remoulade sauce. It was really good, not your usual fish and chips.

We took our dessert to go, because we were too full to enjoy it immediately after dinner. We split a slice of cheesecake, which had a base layer of candied pecans and was topped with dark chocolate. Oh my goodness, it was so good. I can't even begin to tell you how good it was.

We packed our bags and settled in for our final night in Oregon.

Our trip home on Friday was mostly uneventful. But, what Grandad thought was a non-stop flight from Portland to San Antonio was actually a flight from Portland to San Antonio via Albuquerque and Dallas. No plane changes, just one long time on the plane. We grabbed some snacks in the airport in Portland and made it all the way home. Katy picked us up at the airport and had dinner waiting. Red beans and rice really hit the spot.

Our vacation was wonderful. It was the first time we've ever been to the Pacific Northwest. I hope we get to go back some day. I still want to see Crater Lake. I'm thinking we might be able to combine that with a trip to northern California in a few years.

We spent the night in San Antonio with Katy and Travis. On Saturday, Katy, Travis and the princesses headed out early for Dallas. Both of the princesses were flower girls in a wedding on Sunday. Before we left San Antonio, Patrick and I met two of my sisters for lunch to celebrate both of their birthdays. Then we drove the two hours home.  It was so wonderful to sleep in our own bed. We rested up on Sunday and went back to work on Monday.

On a side note, after my conversation with the waitress about rain, I did a little research. Welches, Oregon has an annual rainfall of more than 68 inches. Corpus Christi, Texas, where we live, has an annual rainfall of less than 32 inches. That is quite a contrast. Welches has almost ten inches more rain per year than Portland, Oregon. The lesson I learned is that I should check the weather for our destination more carefully.The first week of November is not particularly rainy in Portland, but it is almost always rainy in Welches. A fact I could have learned from the internet when I researched our destination.

Also, I could have gotten a clue when we arrived because every single thing outdoors was covered with moss and lichen. It truly is a rainforest. This is the roof of our garage, the roof of our condo, and a tree limb. You can see what I mean.

Look at me, I'm a grandmother and I'm still learning.

Oregon Vacation Day 6 - Columbia River Gorge

On Wednesday it was raining yet again. We decided to take the Historic Columbia River Highway Scenic Drive anyway. This turned out to be my absolute favorite day of our vacation.

We picked up the historic highway 30 at Gresham and traveled east which was uphill to Crown Point. Construction on this highway started in 1913 and finished around 1922. When you think about that and look at how the highway is engineered to create as little disruption of the landscape as possible, it was an amazing feat of engineering.

The drive up to Crown Point takes you past orchards and vegetable farms. I haven't mentioned it before, but I was very surprised by how much farming takes place in Oregon. I knew that grapes, apples and evergreen trees grew here, but I had no idea how many vegetables are grown here, especially this late in the season. We also learned that Oregon is the grass seed capital of the world. I had no idea it was so verdant and green this late in the year. I guess all that rain is good for something. It was interesting to see farms with rows of vegetables interspersed with rows of Christmas trees or willow trees.

The last part of the trip to Crown Point is again very steep with a sharp drop off on one side of the highway. Once we could stop, I took over the driving for the day. This time I did not let Grandad drive again that until we were safely out of the mountains. Vista House sits atop Crown Point and boasts a breathtaking view of the Columbia River Gorge. It was built in 1916, at the same time as the highway to provide a rest stop for travelers. I thought it was interesting that the architect was Edgar Lazarus, brother of Emma Lazarus, who wrote the poem on the Statue of Liberty.

Vista House was not open while we were there so we didn't get to go inside, and, as you can see, the views in every direction were limited by clouds and rain. There was, however, a very nice park ranger there who gave us lots of helpful advice and directions. I did not get a good photo of Vista House from the bottom of the gorge, but it's really striking to see how high this point is. There is an excellent photo that will give you a great perspective of where the Vista House sits. I highly recommend that you click here and go see it.

Next, we continued down the highway which took us down the mountain, still on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The highway winds down the side of the mountain into a fifteen mile long area that contains some of the most spectacular waterfalls that you will see anywhere. The entire gorge contains some 77 waterfalls. Many of them are visible from the highway.

Our first stop was Latourell Falls which plunges 249 feet down the cliff-side. It is accessible by car, and you can hike to the top. We hiked about halfway up to the first overlook. It wasn't a hard climb at all. We imposed on a stranger who was hiking down the trail and he took a really nice photo of the two of us.My husband thought the cliff had been defaced with paint, but a little research explains that the large patch of yellow is actually lichen. I also learned that that patch of lichen makes this one of the most popular waterfalls for professional photographers.

Next down the highway is Bridal Veil Falls. It's a 2/3 mile round trip down a mostly paved trail down to the falls. Because of his arthritic knees and his fear of heights, Grandad elected not to make the climb down to see these falls. I went by myself. Part of the trail is paved and part of it has steps, so it's a fairly easy hike, although in places the incline is steep. I did question the wisdom of making this hike alone, but there was a young couple near me on the trail. I was pretty sure they would have helped if I'd needed it. It's definitely worth the hike. Bridal Veil Falls is a two-tiered fall with a total height of 112 feet. The tallest drop is 78 feet. You can hear this waterfall for a long time before you can see it.

The next falls were Wahkeena Falls. These falls are especially beautiful because they have both falls and cascades that fall in tiers down the side of the mountain. It's easily accessible from the highway and there is also a scenic overlook where you can see the gorge below.

Last stop for us on the Columbia River Gorge Historic Highway was Multnomah Falls. This is the most impressive of all the falls we saw. It's total drop is 611 feet. The top falls drop 542 feet and the bottom falls is 69 feet. At the base of the first falls is the Benson Bridge. You can walk up an inclined path and cross the bridge. More adventurous hikers can go beyond the bridge up a very steep path to the top of the falls. Grandad climbed the stairs to the viewing area at the base of the falls. I made the hike up to the bridge. It's not a hard hike, but it is fairly open on the side. If you have a fear of heights, this climb is probably not for you.

And this stop is the site of my absolute favorite photo from our trip.

That's me standing on Benson Bridge looking down. This photo was taken with Grandad's Samsung Galaxy S-3 telephone. I love the depth of this picture. I think it's beautiful.

By the time I finished the short hike up and back down, it was time for lunch so we stopped at the nearby Multnomah Falls Lodge for lunch. It's a beautiful old lodge built right at the base of the falls. There's a beautiful view of the falls from the cozy dining room. For some reason, I did not take a photo of the lodge. I did, however take some food photos. I had the roasted turkey sandwich with Washington grown cranberry sauce, cream cheese and arugula. It was very good. Grandad had the meatloaf sandwich on a cheddar brioche roll with onion catsup. I tasted both of them. Mine was good, but that meatloaf sandwich was awesome. I also loved the beautiful china it was served on. I was disappointed that they didn't have split pea soup the day we were there. I've been told it's the best split pea soup anywhere.

By the time we finished our late lunch, the light rain had turned to downpour. Our next stop would have been the Bonneville Lock and Dam, but it was still raining when we got there. We were wet, cold, and tired so we headed back to the condo.

Oregon Vacation Day 5 - Portland's Pearl & Books

Tuesday was another rainy day. We decided to head back to Portland for a trip to the world's largest independently owned book store, Powell's City of Books. Powell's sells both new and used books. The store is in two buildings that cover one entire city block and part of another with more than a million books. It's huge! I could wander the shelves and stacks for days and days and never be bored. It's so big that I was afraid that Patrick and I would lose each other. They even have an app you can download that will give you turn-by-turn directions to any book.

We were there for a couple of hours and bought some new story books for Our Little Princesses. We could have stayed longer and bought more books, but the reality of carrying books back in our luggage kept my usually voracious appetite for books in check.

When we left Powell's, we went in search of The Nuvrei Patisserie which is known for its macarons. When we got there, they were already out of macarons. I was very disappointed. So instead of macarons, we walked around a while and chose Noodles and Things for a late lunch. We shared an order of pot stickers and an order of lettuce wraps. The food was delicious.

The Pearl District of Portland is an amazing mix of old and new. It represents urban renewal at its best. This was once an industrial district but now is a beautiful mix of living spaces, tourist spaces, shopping, dining, and cultural experiences. It is full of upscale shopping and hidden spaces. My second favorite stop, after Powell's Books, was Penzey's Spices, an entire shop of spices, herbs, and seasonings from around the world. I would love to live in an area like the Pearl District.

Next we had to find our car which was harder than it should have been. In the future, we should definitely make note of where we park our rental car. We had to go back to Powell's to get our bearings. By then it was 4 o'clock and we were committed to getting out of downtown Portland before rush hour. The traffic there is crazy. We saw on the news this week that Portland has the eighth worst traffic congestion in the nation. I would agree that it's pretty bad.

We did accomplish our mission and made it out of Portland before the gridlock set in. Tomorrow, we'll drive the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway.

Oregon Vacation Day 2 - Trees, Cheese, and Beaches

On Saturday, we woke up to drizzly rain and temperatures in the forties. After checking the weather forecast, we decided to just do what the locals do, just get on with our plans. As we drove away from Welches, near the base of Mount Hood, the weather warmed slightly and the rain became patchy.

We found a Starbucks about fifteen miles down the road in Sandy, Oregon. After we fortified ourselves with coffee, we started our drive to Tillamook. Our drive took us through Portland and then out Highway 6 right through the Tillamook State Forest. This is a 364,000 acre forest located between Portland and the Pacific coast. About an hour west of Portland, we stopped at the Tillamook Forest Center, honestly, to use the bathroom. But it was a real treat. This is a beautiful visitors center with hands on educational exhibits perfect for kids and adults. Grandad was very excited to see that the exhibit includes a forest fire lookout tower that you can climb.

The exhibits teach about this forest from the time when it was inhabited by Native Americans up until today. This entire forest was destroyed by a series of forest fires in the 1930s and 1940s. More than 550 square miles were blackened by the fires. The loss of this timberland had a tremendous economic impact on the entire state. The State of Oregon undertook the largest reforestation project in history. In the 1950s and 1960s the forest was replanted by hand using volunteers, paid workers, and prisoners. More than 72 million saplings were planted. The site where the Tillamook Forest Center sits today was entirely planted by schoolchildren.

My favorite part of the exhibit was a place where people who helped plant the forest, most of them as children, can write down their memories. They are collecting and compiling those memories as part of the exhibit.

A walk through the TFC and out the back door takes you to a suspension bridge across the Wilson River which leads to a series of hiking trails and camp sites. We considered the 3.4 miles round trip hike to University Falls, but took a shorter hike instead. That turned out to be a good thing, because just after we returned to the Forest Center building the light rain turned to hail. We spent a little while in the gift shop waiting for the storm to pass.

Next stop Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Ever since we decided to visit Oregon, Grandad has been excited about visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory. There are few things in this world that Grandad loves more than cheese. You may remember that last year when we went to New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine, a stop at Cabot Cheese was among the highlights of the trip. I've teased him since then that he ate so many samples they probably forwarded his photo to all other cheese factories with a warning to keep an eye out for him.

The good news is, we didn't get kicked out for over-sampling. There really isn't much to see. It's a self-guided tour with a small sampling table at the end. The tour takes you upstairs to a viewing gallery located above the factory floor. They were not making cheese while we were there, but they had one line open where they were cutting and packaging cheese. They have an impressive company store with lots of different cheeses. My favorite was the Garlic Chili Pepper Cheddar. We left with several varieties to eat this week.

They also have a cafe and ice cream counter. We had a late lunch of beef barley soup with ice cream for dessert. I also picked up a couple of Christmas gifts in the gift shop.

We left Tillamook and drove to the coast in search of one of Oregon's lighthouses. The weather had warmed into the upper 50s and it was still raining off and on. It's only a short drive from Tillamook to the coast. We were delighted to arrive at Cape Mears and Symons State Scenic Viewpoint. We pulled off the road into a parking lot to take pictures. Some other beach visitors encouraged us to walk down the beach and go through a short tunnel to a hidden beach. We were intrigued enough to give it a try. About half of the tunnel is paved, after that it's rough going with rocks and standing water. It ends with a steep rocky path that you have to climb down. That's where we stopped. But, we could see the back side of the rocks, so we stood there and snapped some photos before turning around. We were struck by the differences between this rocky coastline and the sandy coast of Texas.

We drove on up the coast a little bit to find the Cape Meares light house.

It was almost sunset when we got there, but we decided to walk down the path anyway. When you approach the lighthouse from the path, you are at the same level with the light because the lighthouse is actually built down the side of the coast. The path winds all the way down so you can stand at the base of the lighthouse. Another couple kindly took a photo of us. After snapping a few pictures, we headed back up the trail. We got pretty soaked by the time we got back to the car which made for a pretty cold drive back to Welches, about two and half hours away.

Tomorrow, we'll spend a day in Portland and have lunch with Grandad's cousin, Cielle, and her husband, Jerome. We can't wait to see them. They're both Texas kids who are living in Portland. I think they miss being close to family.

Oregon Vacation Day 1 - Travel and Time

We have arrived in Oregon safe and sound. Our trip was long and uneventful. Thank God.

We were on the ground, changing planes in Denver, when we heard about the shooting at LAX. We were not able to get any details at that time. When we arrived in Portland, there were three local news stations trying to interview arriving passengers. But none of us knew anything about what was going on, so they weren't having any luck getting an interview.

It was cold in Denver, we could see a few snowflakes falling, but it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick.

We drove out of Portland toward Mount Hood, less than an hour away. This was our view from the highway.

We are ensconced in a lovely condominium in the shadow of this beautiful mountain. Today it was in the upper 50s and mostly sunny. They are expecting a winter storm tonight which will last the next few days with high gusty winds and a wintery mix of precipitation including snow at the higher altitudes. The locals tell us that we shouldn't have any trouble driving back towards Portland and over to the coast because the weather is expected to stay above freezing. If it's too bad, we'll just cuddle up in front of our wood-burning stove and watch movies over the weekend.

Speaking of the locals, we took the advice of the front desk clerk and went to dinner at a local place called The Rendezvous. It was great! I started with the soup of the day which was a harvest squash soup. It tasted like Thanksgiving in a bowl. I had Grilled Trout Almondine which was served over jasmine rice with a delicious mix of root vegetables on the side. Patrick had grilled local salmon in a white wine sauce with chanterelle mushrooms and the same mixed root vegetables and jasmine rice.

The food was outstanding, but the people there were what made it so special. We arrived at 5 o'clock local time and we were the first customers of the evening. Everyone went out of their way to be friendly, to recommend the best dishes, and to give us tourist advice. Even the chef was out in the dining room checking on customers. After we settled our bill and went out to the car, the host came running out and tapped on my window. He just wanted to be sure and thank us for coming in and to wish us a great vacation. How nice is that? I think were going to go back for dessert and coffee one evening. It should be wonderful.

I'm having a little trouble staying awake tonight. The local time is 9:35, but in Texas it's 11:35. I'm afraid it's going to get even worse tomorrow night when the time changes back to standard time and the clocks "fall back" an hour.

I'm not sure what's on tap for tomorrow. We had planned to drive to the coast, but we'll have to see what the weather is like before we make a final decision. If it's rainy and cold, it might be a good day to visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory or we may just hunker down and cuddle up.

I'll let you know what we decide.