Portland...Day 3, Hood River Site Seeing

Left early this morning to do the scenic Columbia River Gorge drive on our way to Full Sail Brewery in Hood River. Along the gorge there are AMAZING waterfalls and sites to see. Oregon is absolutely beautiful and the state does a great job in keeping eveything up. Multnomah falls was breathtaking - maybe on our next trip here, we'llventure up to the first pool - I can't imagine what that will be like if the base was awesome. Had lunch at Full Sail - finally, some good pub food!

After lunch we stopped at Big Horse Brewing, a small brewpub in Hood River. We only had 24 minutes on the parking meter, so we ran in and ordered the sampler. The IPA was great, but the joint totally smelled like fish...kind of overpowering...and gross. Thank God we only could stay 20 minutes or I would have hurled. Went back to Full Sail for the 1 o'clock tour and to buy some swag! The tour was actually really good for a commercial brewery. We liked it!

One odd thing...every where we went we were surrounded by flies. In Full Sail, at the stinky place. What the hell? And it wasn't me. I got a little freaked out. I'll have to not have it sully my impression of Hood River.

We drove the hour back and FINALLY about 15 minutes from Portland, I yelled, "THERE IT IS!! IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR! MOUNT HOOD!" Yes, the illusive Mount Hood was there in the rear view, so we got off the freeway and drove back east for a few miles to see it. Again...AMAZING.

Finally, tonight we went to Deschutes Brewing for dinner - good food again, maybe Saturday just wasn't our time. I can't believe I'm going to say this...hold on to your hats...I'm so sick of drinking. I can't wait until tomorrow when we are salmon fishing to just drink water!! There is so much good wine, beer, and liquor here, how can you not be shitfaced all the time?? But alas...that time is over. Thank Christ.

We're checking out of the hotel tonight at 3:00 AM because we have a 2 hour drive to Astoria and our salmon fishing charter. I'm not going to lie...I have some anxiety about this. I'm not sure if it is being on a boat near the ocean in the giant Columbia River, thinking about the prospect of getting sea sick, or thinking about hauling in a 40 pound salmon. In any case, bravery is needed. At some point we'll figure out how to post pictures on this stupid blog. Maybe in Seattle...

We'll miss Portland - we've loved our stay here and know that we'll be back. Highlights were the Willamette Valley, dinner with Kristi and Matt, and the Columbia River Gorge. See? I didn't even mention beer. There is something wrong with me...