Over 4th of July weekend we headed back up to Oregon, whilst we were posted up in Portland (this time we stayed at Kennedy School) we rented a car, so we were able to adventure all over the state.

A group of my friends were staying up in Government Camp again, so we went to join them for the day at Trillium Lake, pie, beer and a float, fine American traditions. After the lake we drove out the other side of Mount Hood and headed to Hood River for dinner, with a phenomenal view.

Oregon really is the most sensationally beautiful part of the USA. It reminds me of home (Devon) but on the grander, more magnificent scale. My breath is taken away at each turn and each visit a little piece of me get’s left there.

Trillium Lake

Mount Hood to Hood River
The Gorge

The Columbia River Gorge is sensationally beautiful. We drove in the general direction of the gorge with little in the way of a plan and entirely unsure what to expect. Google Maps landed us riverside, but not at the Columbia River, at Sandy River. The area was quiet, at the intersection of urban and rural, with a fantastic railway bridge, we pottered up and down the river before heading back into the car in the general direction of some waterfalls.
I took us the long way round, through some darling small villages, woods and farmland, all of which left Scott and I fantasizing of country life once again. We even spotted an old inn for sale, right near the river. I could quite easily live the Lorelei Gilmore life, country town innkeeper next career?

We stopped by Horsetail Falls and Oneonta Tunnel. Multnomah Falls seemed like a really bad idea, given the holiday weekend, and the traffic leaving Horsetail Falls and the difficulty parking validated that decision.

After the falls we jumped into the car in search of a snack and a bathroom, we found both, on accident, at Vista House. Vista House is a small observatory, built in 1918 (beautiful Art Deco stylings) with simply incredible views, the kind that provide you with awe-filled pitter patters for years to come.