Leaving on Friday, May 1st, Mary's mom and dad drove out West for an adventure of their own and to swing in to see us!
Here are a few captured moments of their road trip out prior to Portland:
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| Twin Falls, Idaho: considered to be the "Niagara Falls of the West" |
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| After an exciting drive through eastern Oregon, a dip into Nevada and a forest service road, they arrived at Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon. It is the 5th oldest national park in the U.S. and the ONLY one in Oregon! |
They arrived in Portland on Wednesday, May 6th with great stories of their trip so far.
We relaxed that night and enjoyed a lovely homemade Hawaiian dish prepared by Mary's friend, Dana. It was delicious!
On Thursday, May 7th, we took to explore Portland! First, we grabbed breakfast at the well known brunch spot Pine State Biscuits - very tasty! Afterwards, we drove up to Washington Park as the haze of the morning began to burn off.
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| We figured we were about 2 weeks too early for the roses to be in full swing at the International Rose Garden. But, the few early bloomers were beautiful and fragrant. |
We walked about the Park a bit more, checking out the statue of Sacagawea and the chiming fountain before heading up the hill to the Japanese Gardens.
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| The ponds at the Japanese Gardens were filled with Koi fish, all very unique and spectacular looking! |
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| Very serene gardens included several waterfalls. |
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| An interesting display here with, what we think, depicts the ripple effect. |
After the Japanese Gardens, we cruised up to Pittock Mansion as the clouds were nearly gone. We had the most clear view of 4 mountains: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Saint Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood. From up here, it's also a lovely view overlooking Portland.
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| In the center of the picture, just above the rolling mountains, you can see Mt. Hood! He's a favorite. |
With that, now we had a beautiful, blue-bird day. We decided to "Go by Tram" up to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) Hospital for more view of the city and surrounding mountains.
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| On the Tram, heading up the hill! |
After our busy sight-seeing day, we decided to treat ourselves to Salt & Straw. They are known for their unique concoctions - and allowing any customer to try as many as they wish!
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| Ice cream for lunch :) |
Friday, May 8th we headed further West to the Pacific Ocean. On the way, we stopped in Elsie, Oregon at Camp 18 Restaurant and spotted several Sasquatch carvings.
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| Dad and a wood carving of a logger/lumberjack. |
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| Mom and one of the many, many Sasquatch carvings. |
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| At Cannon Beach, next to Haystack Rock. Beautiful weather for the Coast! |
We then drove up the 101 Hwy toward Astoria, OR and into Washington state, with plans to stay near Olympia, WA tonight.
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| Monkey puzzle tree! They are pretty rare, and so cool looking - once you've see one, you'll always be on the look-out. |
We grabbed dinner at River View Dining in South Bend, WA. The server (and likely owner) was very helpful in our ordering of fresh, grilled oysters! Great, local flavor and cuisine.
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| The smoker to grill the oysters for our appetizer. |
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| Very tasty oysters with unique flavors and toppings. Dad and I took the plunge and were very pleasantly surprised! The rest of our meals were also of great flavor and unique, delicious taste. |
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| Tons of oyster shells! We were hoping to grab a few to add to the collection of 6 that we ate ... but, on closer inspection, we quickly learned of their incredibly pungent and strong stench. We opted out. |
Once in our Tumwater, WA hotel, we relaxed for the night to prepare for our next, busy day.
In the morning, on Saturday, May 9th, we decided to drive up the West side of the Puget Sound, to Bremerton, WA, and take a ferry across into Seattle! And, what a gorgeous morning for it.
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| Mom and Dad awaiting to drive up on our incoming ferry in the distance. Bremerton to Seattle: 1 hr 15 min. |
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| Our ferry: Kitsap, named after the peninsula where Bremerton is located. |
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| Dad and I enjoyed the wind in our hair and the beautiful morning air on the deck of the ferry. |
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| Our destination: Seattle, WA. |
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| Mt. Rainier was visible through the hazy morning! And, huge. |
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| Mom and Dad on the deck of the ferry with Seattle in the background. |
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| The industrial and shipping district and bridges with Mt. Rainier. |
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| With the Olympic range and Olympic National Park to our backs. |
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| Could not have asked for a more perfect morning ferry ride into Seattle. |
After deboarding our ferry, we found parking and headed into the famous Pikes Place Public Market to see what goodies we could find!
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| Beautiful, fresh, fragrant and colorful flower displays - too many to chose from! |
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| We successfully found the Gum Wall ... |
After his 4 hr trip via Amtrak, we met up with Sam at the Belltown Inn, our favorite Seattle hotel. From there, we walked to the Space Needle for our 1:15 PM reservation at the Sky City Restaurant at the top. It is a revolving restaurant that offers a 360 degree view of Seattle and surrounding mountains, bodies of water, islands, etc. - fabulous!
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| From below the Space Needle. |
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| Puget Sound and Olympic National Park in one direction. |
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| Glorious view of downtown Seattle and Mt. Rainier in another direction. (Not pictured, but we could also see Mt. Baker in the north direction!). Perfect day. |
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| Amazing dessert options. We chose all three :) |
Our Saturday ended with the Seattle Mariners vs Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field! Beautiful night for a baseball game.
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| Thanks for the fabulous seats, Mom and Dad!! |
Sunday, May 10th = Mother's Day!
We treated Mom to a tasty Mother's Day Brunch at the Tilikum Place Cafe while entertained by the massive amounts of participants in the Color Run outside our window.
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| Mom and Dad sipped on fancy French Press coffee for their brunch beverage. |
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| Mom ordered a delectable Dutch Baby pancake in her very own cast iron skillet. Mmmm! |
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| So happy to be able to be with my amazing Mom on Mother's Day :) |
After brunch, we packed our things into Godfrey and headed toward Mt. Rainier! More cloud cover today, but we got some great views on the drive.
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| Pulled off on a Mt. Rainier mirador. He's fantastic and everyone wanted a picture. |
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| Dad and Mary. |
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| Sam and Mary. |
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| Mom and Dad. |
With our direction set toward Yakima, WA, our next destination was one of the many wineries of the area. We drove by the various fields of fruits and nuts in this beautiful valley.
Then, we drove to the top of a hill overlooking the valley to find the picturesque Wilridge Winery and Wines of Washington tasting room.
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| We all participated in the wine tasting at the first stop. Our gentlemen opted out of the second wine tasting and chose craft beers instead. |
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| Fancy wine people. |
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| Peaceful porch and comfortable weather. |
Once settled in to our hotel in Yakima, WA, we walked a few blocks to grab some dinner at Second Street Grille. Nice, local spot. On our walk back to the hotel, we heard the tunes of the community Ice Cream truck and couldn't resist a few treats.
On Monday, May 11th, we headed back toward Mt. Rainier to enter the National Park as we made our way back to Portland.
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| Mt. Rainier National Park entrance. |
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| We stretched our legs on this loop hike "Grove of the Patriarchs" to stand among trees over 1000 years old and, added bonus, cross a suspension bridge. |
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| Mushrooms are cool. |
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| Forest canopy waaaaay up there. |
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| Mountain fresh river running along the trail. |
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| Wild. |
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| Tried to get me up there, but it was a little too high and too awkward. |
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| Suspension bridge! |
We made it to the Grove of the Patriarchs. We tried, but pictures do not do these trees justice - they are so big!
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| Exemplary "nurse logs" (see Olympic National Park blog post for more info) |
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| Sooo big! |
After our refreshing hike, we took the scenic route along Mt. Saint Helens. Unfortunately, the weather stopped cooperating, so it was too cloudy to see the views. But, it was a nice, mountain-y drive back.
Taking the WA side of the Gorge back to Portland, we stopped for an ice cream treat at Little Viking Drive-in in Stevenson, WA.
It was a fabulous weekend filled with adventure. We were so happy to spend time with Mary's parents and explore more of the Pacific NW!
