Wish You Were There!

The first afternoon, Wendy took us up to Troutdale, to a groovy hotel/ampitheater/restaurant complex called McMinnamin's. 311 was playing the venue, but we just went to the Power Station for food and brew. It was after noon!


Then we headed up the Columbia River Highway for waterfalls. The girls and Tom were brave and climbed down by the water pool at Latourell. Although poor Tom is merely washing his face, the photo does speak to his perspective on our visit. Hey, we told him he was in the pit of vipers!




Here's pretty Multnomah Falls. This being our fourth stop, old Lyndy whined so we could head back to Wendy's and clean up. We did get to meet her nice gentleman friend, and he bought us dinner and margaritas. Smart boy!










The next day was big hike day. We headed through Tillamook to the coast, and hiked down to a secluded beach:





Here's a shot of the point about half way down.
Yes, we're headed for all that sand!




But once we made it.... it was SO worth it! Reminded me a of a Corona commercial; light wind, waves lapping in, absolutely empty. We had the entire stretch to ourselves. If we had planned ahead and brought chairs down, we could have stayed all day.

Unfortunately, we still had to head back UP the mountain! OY-- that's all I have to say about that!

A nice surprise was going through the creamery in Tillamook. Who doesn't love super-fresh ice cream and cheese?

Wednesday night, we took the light rail downtown to the nouveau Pearl District. Lots of renovated warehouses now home to high-end bistros and salons. Ate at Henry's, pretty good and not terribly overpriced.

Then over to Dante's for Exotica a Go-Go. The light rail locked up its brakes on the way home, that was an experience.

Thursday was our last full day there. Headed down to the retail district, for shopping, of course! Lots of fun shops, and Wendy's boy came out to meet us for a couple of hours. We finagled another meal out of him, then walked along the waterfront. The soldiers were there for a concert later in the night, when the Howitzers would contribute to the fireworks display.