We had a pretty insanely awesome weekend.
Eric and a few classmates had to give a presentation in Portland on Friday morning, so we, along with our pals, the Bloems, planned a full day’s adventure in Portland and Hood River.
While the boys presented, Megan and I enjoyed the perfect weather (mid-70’s and sunny!) and walked around Portland a bit. We found a few gems in the southwest area (Bridge & Burn, Canoe, and Alder & Co.), and found ourselves wishing all Oregon homes came stocked with an assortment of Pendleton blankets.
We enjoyed a delightful food cart lunch (Nong’s Khoa Man Gai for the win) before heading east to the Columbia River Gorge and Hood River to enjoy the bounty of the Hood River Fruit Loop.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m obsessed with Hood River. It’s adorable. It’s scenic. It’s full of tasty fruit. What’s not to love? (And how excited am I that we will soon live 45 minutes from this glorious place?)
We had to be selective about our Fruit Loop stops, since we had a long drive home, but I think we managed to squeeze in some high quality stuff.
We started with a walk through the flower fields at The Gorge White House. It’s hard to focus on flowers when you can see both Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams, but somehow, we managed. We were a little early for prime flower season (our trip last summer was pretty spectacularly timed), but it was still beautiful.
Next up was a wine tasting at Mt. Hood Winery, which has an equally spectacular view. The building is beautiful too, and after enjoying our tasting indoors, we took in the sights from the patio.
From there, we headed up to Hood River Lavender Farms. We were a bit early for the U-pick lavender time, but it still smelled delightful.
We headed back into town for dinner overlooking the Columbia River at Full Sail Brewing Co., and then took the scenic way home around the back of Mt. Hood, stopping briefly at Timberline Lodge to show the Bloems some incredible views of the mountain and the historic lodge. Unfortunately, there are very few photos to commemorate this particular moment, as the 45-degree temperatures and insane wind tunnels left our dresses flying high above our waists, and it turns out to be very difficult to take a photo while both hands are (unsuccessfully) fighting the wind. At least we gave the woman sitting in the car near us a good show.
Here’s to a fantastic day in Oregon!
-Ally
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