Washington Oregon Trip

During May Gary had a business conference in Portland, Oregon. I flew out and met him and we spent 6 kid-less days exploring. We spent a day on the coast of Oregon driving from Tillamook to Seaside (in the rain) but it was still beautiful. Day 2 we drove north to Astoria and crossed the bridge into Washinton and drove up the western coast. We stopped at several state parks and saw some cool lighthouses and scenery. That night we made our way into Seattle. We stayed for 2 nights and toured most of the popular sites. We also took time to drive by the house where we lived in Kirkland and checked out the neighborhood. Not exactly like I remembered it from 30 years ago.... Day4 we drove to Mt Rainier from Seattle. It was the only day it did NOT rain on us, we had clear beautiful skies. We drove around the mountain counter-clockwise and had to go 1 1/2 hours out of our way on the south side as Steven's Pass still was not opened due to snow. We stayed the night on top of the mountain at Paradise Inn. It was a cool hotel built during the Depression and had just reopened after being refurbished for the past 2 years. Our room was the size of a closet and it had no phone or TV but it was still a really cool place and they still had so much snow it was hard to believe. Day 5 we drove back to Oregon and traveled along the Columbia Gorge. It was so beautiful, there was just waterfall after beautiful waterfall. We stopped at all the scenic views and took little hikes and I took lots of pictures. Our last stop was Multnomah Falls, we hiked all the way to the top and it was a hike...UP!! Then we at the restraunt at the Falls. The next day we got up early, turned in our rental car and spent an entire day flying back to Michigan and our dear lovely children! Kyle says we are never to leave him again! Even so the kids had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Handley and are now wondering when they are coming to stay again?!?!?

You can click on the title if you would like to see my photo album of this trip, but be prepared it contains lots of pictures!