Our first night of car camping on the trip went really well! I slept like a rock. My alarm went off at 5AM and I had a hard time not zipping up my sleeping bag and going back to bed. We quickly transferred our bags from the front seats to the back, which went way faster than setting up camp the previous night. I think the fact that it was so cold helped us get moving that early in the morning! B drove us to the only coffee shop in Boise open before 6am, Black Rock. The coffee was just good enough to wake me up while I uploaded pictures and posted the blog, but not quite good enough to enjoy. We were 'officially' back on the road by 7am, next stop, Portland! I fell asleep and woke up to B dancing in the drivers seat, trying to avoid pulling over to use the bathroom. We got off in Pendleton, Oregon, grabbed a *gasp* gas station coffee, and it was my turn to drive! The scenery during the drive was, once again, gorgeous! Rolling hills at first and then we entered the Columbia River Gorge, driving next to huge cliffs to the left and the river splitting Oregon and Washington to the right! We saw some Big Horned Sheep and also an osprey or two. Peeks of Mount Hood kept coming in and out of view. The first time we saw it, we were turning on the highway, came around a bend and BAM! it was there, glorious as can be. Mount Hood is the tallest mountain in Oregon and also probably one of the most prominent mountains in the country! I've never seen such a stunning and massive sight.. and we were seeing it from a nearly hundred miles away! Looking forward to getting a little closer to it in the next couple days. As we neared Portland, we pulled off the highway to go for a hike and explore Punch Bowl Falls. These falls are responsible for the waterfall classification Punch Bowl, so, we were excited to see the original! This hike might be the one thing I actually planned for the trip. The hike was a little over 2 miles one way. At first, we went to the lower falls and didn't really see what we were looking for. On our way back up, we stopped and had lunch in the woods. Sitting under the huge trees takes your breath away a little! Thinking about something so much older and so much bigger than you.. it reminds me of looking at the mountains. It's natures way of letting you know that your problems aren't so big and your time here is just a little blip. After tuna sandwiches, we hiked up higher and still didn't really get a good view of the falls. We did go to the top of the falls, which was neat because we could see and almost feel how powerful the water was, but we couldn't see anything. I was a little nervous because there weren't any railings or anything and it was muddy and the cliffs were crazy steep! B and I started to head back to the car when we found a tiny little outcrop where we got a pretty awesome picture of the falls from the front! Shortly down the road from the Punch Bowl Falls was the ever famous, Multnomah Falls. These falls didn't require any hiking, just a quick walk from the parking area. Multnomah Falls are the highest falls in Oregon, totaling in 620 feet. We walked up to the foot bridge and got a better view of the upper falls, and got a quick shower from all the mist flying off the falls! Our way back to the car was a little more of a run than a walk, trying to escape the tour buses pouring in. We also drove past at least 5 other waterfalls on the way back towards the highway! B continued with the driving and took us to our AirBnb just outside of Portland. Click the link to see how cute it is! The space is perfect for what we needed. It's essentially a tiny house! We are close to the bus stop but also just a 15 minute drive from the city center! We unpacked some of our things, showered, and looked into a place for dinner. Bollywood Theater was our choice for the evening, just a short drive away. B and I ordered a variety of Indian street food off the menu and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. Our plan was to have ice cream afterwards at Salt & Straw right next door, but the line was crazy long, we will try again tomorrow. I hardly made it back into the house before falling asleep.. but we sat and planned for tomorrow before climbing into the loft for bed. Driving Tally B: 918 J: 382
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |