Cascade Locks

Warning... there are a lot of pictures and photos! Maybe a bit of a long post but I need to put it up for myself so I can always remember this trip!!

Daniel and I have had just one night to ourselves since we started having children and that was over two years ago that we had that. We decided that it was time to have a childless night again and took a trip up the Columbia Gorge to do some sight seeing. It was an amazing trip!! Ben and Meaghan... thank you so much for babysitting the kids for us!

If you get the chance to drive the Historic Columbia Highway (highway 30) go for it!! It was an amazing drive. Slower than the freeway but way more beautiful!

When we go to the Vista House I got a little camera happy so enjoy a lot of pictures/videos of the view!

I kept having troubles with the camera and push the wrong button so here is another video of the view at Vista House.

Daniel and I on the balcony of Vista House.

Daniel... he didn't want me to take a picture of just him. After a guy took our picture I made him stay for a picture of himself.

Daniel wanted a picture of me lounging on this. I kept sliding off until he found somewhere to rest my foot. I am 32 weeks along in this picture. I haven't been too diligent in belly pictures this time around!

This is the Vista House. It used to be a hotel but they have restored it into a Historical Point now.

As we drove along I tried to get some pictures of the falls we passed. I think the only one I successfully got was Multnomah Falls. This one got more of the building at the bottom though.

Daniel slowed down enough for me to get a nice picture of the falls. This is my kind of sightseeing... drive by pictures! Okay, mainly right now it is being pregnant and not wanting to hike but if you know me well enough you know that my kind of hikes have no incline at all so really it's a walk around town!

A tunnel we passed on our way. I missed it on our way up to it so I caught the back end of it.

We stopped at the Bonneville Dam and took a look around. Daniel ran up to show just how big this turbine is. They used this turbine from 1941 until 2000.



It was neat to go in a see the visitor's center there. We watched the fish swim up the fish ladder that helps them get through the dam without getting caught in the turbines! We also went to the top floor of the visitor's center and looked at the view from there. The video is actually of the Spillway, not the dam.

Sorry if you get a little sick watching this one! This is the view as we drove over the dam. If you can't hear what Daniel says he was just saying that just one of the turbines creates enough energy to power 25, 000 houses. That is crazy!

After the Dam we checked into the Cascade Motel. This was our little cottage that we stayed in. It was a one bedroom with a kitchenette. It was really cute inside! After my nap, I really needed one, we went into Hood River for dinner. We ate at a really nice place called 6th Street Bistro and Loft (amazing food).

On our way back to the motel we stopped by the Columbia Gorge Hotel and took a look around. The grounds were so pretty!

Waterfall at the back of the property. This shows just a part of how far it goes down.

Bridge going over the creek that is on the grounds.

I had fun framing Daniel in the tree.

My turn for a picture on the bridge.

This video is a little long but it was such beautiful grounds! Daniel kept swiping his hand across my neck saying cut the video but I thought there was a bug on my neck or something. I finally got the point!

In case we forgot we were at the Columbia Gorge Hotel they made bushes to help us remember. It was really great landscaping!!

The next day on our way home we decided to drive across The Bridge of the Gods that goes from Cascade Locks over to Stevenson, WA. It is a toll bridge and we had enough change to get across the bridge but not back so we drove on the Washington side back to the 205. It was a pretty drive!