The Columbia River Gorge has been somewhere I've been wanting to go for a while, and it's not too far away so definitely do-able in 1 and a half days, which is precisely what we did!
My au pair friend Teddy and I took off on Friday evening at 5.30, after she had finished work. We tore down I-5 freeway, stopping on the way to buy the biggest sandwich the world has ever seen from Safeway for a grand total of $5.00. Using all the strength I could muster, I ripped the sandwich into two for us to eat. There was so much stuff in that sandwich, it was incredible! It was so big that Teddy actually lost a piece of her tooth while eating it. It was the story of the night!
My au pair friend Teddy and I took off on Friday evening at 5.30, after she had finished work. We tore down I-5 freeway, stopping on the way to buy the biggest sandwich the world has ever seen from Safeway for a grand total of $5.00. Using all the strength I could muster, I ripped the sandwich into two for us to eat. There was so much stuff in that sandwich, it was incredible! It was so big that Teddy actually lost a piece of her tooth while eating it. It was the story of the night!
The plan was to go to Portland, check out some of the nightclubs (my first time doing so in the USA!) and then sleep in the Stallion at a truck stop and spend Saturday cruising through the Columbia River Gorge, which lies east of Portland. By and large we stuck to this plan, we got to Portland at around 10.20pm, parked the car and had a wonderful time walking around the central city, seeing the buildings, looking for interesting bars with good music and no cover charge. There were street performers and all sorts of things to feast our eyes upon. We ended up going to two different nightclubs but we were not impressed with the music at either of them. Despite the lack of good music, we had a great time in Portland.
We left around 12.30am, drove to our truck stop and were walking through the convenience store going to the bathroom when we stumbled upon a little local bar, filled with 10 rather drunk older people singing karaoke. The music was good, the surroundings hilarious - now this was my type of place! We danced the night away, we even sang a duet on the karaoke, then joined the locals for a soaring (if not out-of-key) rendition of 'total eclipse of the heart'. It was fabulous! We were there until just after 2am, until a waitress asked us for ID - which we did not have - I literally only had toothpaste, a toothbrush and car keys! We were not drinking, but fair enough that they ask for ID. We left to get it, the locals begged us to return, but by the time we got to the car, I looked at the time and realised that we needed to get to bed to have a good rest for the next day! So we did not return to the bar (they probably thought that we were underage since we did not return! haha!). We set up our car bed and snuggled down for a good nights sleep.
The next morning we got up and freshened up then headed on the road to the gorge! The gorge stretches a long way, we only visited a small portion of it - but oh how beautiful it was! All in autumn colours, we visited 5 stunning waterfalls and the Vista house - perched atop a large cliff with spectacular views. My favourite place was the Oneonta gorge, where we were able to walk in between large rocky cliffs, over logs and through rivers and saw some amazing scenery. It will forever stand out in my mind, partially because of my frozen cold bare feet, sore from the river rocks and cold water; and partially because of the sheer beauty of the place and that 'I can do anything' feeling! We stopped along the way at a quaint little roadside hamburger stall where they made the largest soft serve ice creams I have ever seen in my life - so big that when a man ordered a large one, they had to re-do it three times because it was so big it kept toppling over onto their floor before they could even pass it to the customer!
Our Oregon leg of the journey ended in Hood River - a cute and extremely windy section of the gorge. We stopped at the riverside and watched windsurfers and kiteboarders flying across the water in the immense winds. Driving through there, the wind was so strong I thought it would blow my car off the road! It was so powerful!
We crossed over a bridge back to the Washington side and passed through Vancouver Washington on our way back to the interstate to Seattle. The views were so special. It was absolutely beautiful and we had perfect weather. It was amazing! I arrived home so happy and rejuvenated!! Boy I love travelling :)
We crossed over a bridge back to the Washington side and passed through Vancouver Washington on our way back to the interstate to Seattle. The views were so special. It was absolutely beautiful and we had perfect weather. It was amazing! I arrived home so happy and rejuvenated!! Boy I love travelling :)
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