After Portland, we headed east. We visited the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center in the Dalles. We had a lot of fun there with the hands on exhibits. We learned about the Lewis and Clark expedition through the Gorge and how they survived and traded with the natives. They also had the history of the county from the Ice Age to the present including all the animals, plants, and people, which was fascinating. There was a raptor presentation where a red-tail hawk and a kestrel were brought out for us to admire up close.
After that we drove through the farm area in Hood River and stopped at a couple of places. First was an Alpaca farm. The man who raises them showed us how to spin yarn on a spinning wheel from their coats. The yarn was softer than wool, and water resistant too. So we bought a skein of natural colored yarn. Then we went outside and saw the babies and fed some alpacas too!
Next we stopped at an apple/pear orchard. We bought some fresh apple/pear cider and some cinnamon/sugar dried apples. They were both absolutely delicious!
Our next stop was at a country store and bakery. They sell jams and jellies made from local berries. We tried them all, and bought a jar of Bumbleberry Preserves. It is a mixture of Blueberries, Marionberries, and Huckleberries. We also picked up a jar of freshly made applesauce, which we ate for breakfast the next morning! I wish we had an oven, because they had take and bake pies that looked so yummy!
We also went to Multnomah Falls. It is the second highest falls in the USA, behind Yosemite. We hiked up to the famous bridge at the break in the falls. Even though it was raining, we loved it!
From there, we headed across the Columbia River to Washougal, Washington and visited the Pendleton Mills. We were too late for a tour, darn it, but picked up two pair of wonderful cashmere gloves for a great price!
We headed back through Portland, and stopped at the Waffle Window one more time (they had given us a coupon for a free waffle). This time we had one with fresh fruit, granola, and vanilla yogurt. It was scrumptious!
Then we headed west through the Tillamook State Forest, and down into the city of Tillamook. It started to snow as soon as we arrived into the city. We got a lot of snow!! The weather man said it was 4-8 inches. We have learned that this is a very unusual occurance for snow to pile up, since this is on the Oregon coast. In the morning, I had to dig out the car!
Then we headed to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company, which was recommended to us by the motel host. There we tasted different kinds of Brie, jams, jellies, mustards, and dips and had some lunch.
After a filling day, we headed back to the motel for some R&R!
Mmmmm these posts made me suuuuper hungry!! What great locations you mapped out to tour. The kids and I heard about the Voodoo Donut place on Food Network!! I know they were yuuuummy!! It looks like your experiencing all winter can bring:)
ReplyDeleteWe are definitely eating great at these stops! We have become masters on the George Foreman grill too!
ReplyDeleteThe snow was unexpected, they had only predicted rain! We have had rainy days for 4 days now. But we expected that up here. There is supposed to be a couple days of sun, we shall see!