As my beer-in-making burps away in the fermenter and as The Wife tries not to yell too loudly at her beloved Patriots, I am still thinking about the trip to Oregon that I simply must win. Since my self imposed “Food and Travel Monday” has arrived I can reminisce a bit tonight.
So when The Wife and I were in Portland we took the extremely out of the way scenic route to Seattle via Mt. Hood. If you were to look at a map it is pretty obvious that we didn’t exactly take the most direct path to our destination. We were so glad we did and the extra hours spent driving that day didn’t bother me a bit. We did have somewhat of a schedule to keep so we were not able to spend enough time in Hood River to stop at the Full Sail Brewery, but winning the contest would more than make up for that!
The Columbia River (and Gorge) made for the best highway drive we have even taken. It is absolutely beautiful, even in the little bit of rain we had to drive through. I think that I need to take a boat trip on the river or at the very least ride in a car as a passenger to better take in everything that was there to be seen.
Columbia River
Nice even on a rainy day
One thing that you can’t miss and should not drive by without stopping is Multnomah Falls. Thank you to Gregg for throwing that suggestion out there before our trip. It’s not often that a waterfall like that just (seemingly) rises up from the edge of the highway. Just make sure that you stop and take it all in . . . you know you have to go to the bathroom anyway!
Rising from the road
Bring your weatherproof gear
After you stop for the bathroom break, surely lunch will be on the schedule at some point so you may as well earn it by heading up the mountain for your sandwich.
It's good to not run out of gas halfway up
Mt. Hood is home to the Timberline Lodge which many may recognize as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining.” That wasn’t the entire reason that we went all the way up there, but it didn’t hurt and they do have food (and beer) there. We really were looking to see a bit of snow since we have been in Florida for long enough to forget what it looks like.
Dropping in for a pint
Go visit the Columbia River area (and Oregon in general) if you haven’t already. If you have, I am sure you are looking to go back as much as we are. I know that there will be another trip (or more) there in my future . . . I just hope the first one is as a brewing intern!
No fair… you’re making me miss Oregon too. If (When) you win the trip I have a great spot for you and Katy to go visit. It may be a little bit out of your way but it’s only about 10-15 min off of the interstate and was my favorite vista when I was living there (you would also be driving by my old place
).
We would both like to revisit Oregon someday . . . of course winning that internship would make it happen much sooner! Certainly we would ask for your expert recommendations for our next Pac NW vacation.
We all (you, the wife, me, my wife) have to do some training and planning and we’ll summit Hood one of these days. It’s surely on our list.
Sounds like a good plan. We will start with Hood and then move on to Rainier . . . since we will be up there we may as well do both!