SB: Thursday

This is a map of our day...you might want to refer to it later, if you are unfamiliar with the area.

We woke up in Kent at Sharon, John, and Uncle Bill's house. We had gotten there in the dark, so it was treat to wake up and see how truly beautiful all the landscaping and nature was! They made a pond that has big fish in it, and they have just done amazing work all over the entire acre that their house is on.

Zac and I in front of the pond, with the house in the background.

The tallest trees I could ever imagine!!

Good Ole Uncle Bill is still a ladies man, what can I say?

John and Bill took us to this awesome restaurant in Maple Valley for breakfast. It is owned by a few sisters, and I loved the name of it...

We sat on this enclosed balcony that overlooks a salmon-fed river. They said in the summer it is even better, because it's not so COLD! :)

Wow! That is ALOT of food! Haha! I got the special of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and pancakes...it was delicious! Don't worry...I didn't eat it all. I probably didn't even eat half of it.

After breakfast we headed off for Portland, and Luke and Kayla. It was a rainy drive, but we got to see some typical Northwest landscape on the way down "The Five." (Up there instead of saying Highway 5, or I-5, they call it "the five"...we started doing it too!) If you look closely, you can see some bison (or buffalo...is there a difference?) in this picture.

It was so overcast, alot of times you could not even see the tops of the mountains...

We finally got to Portland! We saw Luke and Kayla's cute apartment and then pretty much immediately got back in the car to start exploring Portland, and then head to meet Kim and CreCre for dinner. (FYI-Luke and Zac are cousins because their dad's are brothers. Uncle Richard passed away last spring, but luckily his wife Kim and their daughter CreCre live close to Luke and Kayla so they get to see them often.) On the way to meet them for dinner, we made a few touristy stops. The first place was the Vista House, on the Colombia River. It is an elevated point that gives an awesome view of the mountains and water. It also provided a nice photo op...





This is what the actual Vista House looks like, but my picture doesn't do it justice...it's really neat. If you are interested, you should click on the link above.

The next stop was a little waterfall. I was impressed and thought it was so pretty.

Then we got to Multnomah Falls, and it was indescribable! HUGE, and loud and thundering. It made the previous waterfall seem like a little faucet drip, in compare. I have never seen anything like it!

It was raining quite a bit (look at the drops on Zac's face), so we didn't stay long, but it was awesome!

The drive went really quickly, due to beautiful scenery and great conversation. Before I knew it, we were in Hood River. Kim and CreCre live in The Dalles, so this was a nice meeting place. It was gorgeous too! Hood River is famous for being one of the world's best places to kitesurf and kiteboard due to it's "ideal wind and water conditions." We ate at a little microbrewery that had delicious burgers and a fantastic view...

This is what I got to stare at the entire meal. That little part of the river down there is where the water sports takes place. There were two or three people out on the water. The view reminded me (not completely, but alot) of Lake Louise in Canada. I think it's because the two mountains meet and there is pretty blue water at the bottom...who knows. :)

CreCre has grown so much since we last saw her! It was really fun to visit with her and Kim!

After dinner and a nice long visit we headed back to Portland. When we got back, we decided we all needed a walk. Zac and I had been in the car and sitting all day long. We walked to this famous Portland shop called "VooDoo Doughnuts." It was very funky and kinda gothic, and sorta reminded me of places I have been in Austin. I liked it. Funny fact: you can get married at Voodoo Doughnuts! :)



They are known for having bizarre types of doughnuts. This one Kayla got had maple syrup flavored icing, and big slice of bacon across the top. We were joking that doughnuts aren't healthy, but if you get a piece of bacon on top, the two unhealthies cancel each other out, and it suddenly becomes extra nutritious! :)

That one with the purple sprinkles is called Grape Ape. Half is sweet and half is sour. It was tasty. I think the sour side was because as the icing was cooling, they sprinkled kool-aid powder on top. It was a sweet but sour dusting...pretty good!

Finally, this was the Voodoo doughnut. it is in the shape of a person, with a stick in it. When you take the stick out, you are surprised to see that it is red and gooey on the end...haha, I guess it has some cherry filling. Very creative, people.

After our late snack we hit the sack. I tried to stay awake to watch Obama on Leno (which happens late on the west coast!), but I was so tired I think I fell asleep as soon as I laid down! Good thing I fell asleep easily...the next day was another fun action packed day. Blog to come shortly...