We had a wonderful spring break, and I got to cross some things off my bucket list. I have been planning every detail for the past month or so. We found a place to stay in Gresham, Oregon and then spent the week with my parents exploring the Columbia River Gorge. We saw so many waterfalls and so many beautiful things. We loved our time together and our prayers were answered with beautiful, sunny weather. I had a detailed document with each day and the meals. I spent quite a bit of time and color coordinated locations together, so I knew which things were close together. I wanted to make the most of each day and I can say we did that! It was a wonderful spring break!
We started off Tuesday morning and drove for 3 hours to Beacon Rock State Park. I knew this was going to be the coolest day of our vacation, but when we got out of the car, it was windy and that wind was sure cold. I'm glad that Nate suggested at the last minute that we bring our coats. Nate had already looked at pictures and knew his fear of heights would not allow him to hike the rock, so he was happy to stay down with McCall and Baylor. They had fun exploring and climbing rocks at the bottom. So, Paige, my parents, and myself climbed up the 52 switchbacks to the top of Beacon Rock. This was one place on my bucket list and it met all my expectations. The switchbacks, the incredible views, and the whole experience going up and back were worth it. And the lucky part was that the part of the rock we were climbing up, blocked the wind so it was actually a pretty nice walk up with not being too cold.
Then we went to this grassy area along the Columbia River that is also a part of Beacon Rock State Park to enjoy a picnic for lunch. It was a beautiful way to start our spring break, starting off with an adventure and then some good food. The girls had fun picking flowers and running around in the grassy field.
Then we made the 40 minute drive to Fort Vancouver. Our family has been there before, but I knew it was a stop that my parents would enjoy. It was much warmer here and the wind died down so it was perfect jacket weather. We enjoyed exploring the fort, listening to the volunteers and learning about the fort when it was in its prime back in the day.
McCall was very excited about the lookout tower. She was hoping for some Paw Patrol to be in there. :)
These girls got put in jail for being so cute. :)
Then we enjoyed walking on the trails alongside the fort, and we even got to see a few airplanes take off from the small runway that is right next to the fort.
Then my parents had to run to the store really quick so we stopped at the playground near the fort so the girls could have some fun while we waited. Then we went to a family friend that was so kind to make us all dinner. We enjoyed visiting them and my girls loved playing with their girls, especially their little one year old. We are a baby loving family. Then we checked into our Airbnb which was a perfect place and location for our stay.
Wednesday, we had a slow start, but our first stop was Multnomah Falls. This has been on my bucket list for years and it sure is beautiful. We ended up paying more than I would like for parking, but it ended up working out since we just stayed there for the day and walked to wherever we needed to go.
On our way to view the falls, we found a wooly bear caterpillar which of course is always exciting to my girls and McCall held it for the first time ever. She is not a fan of bugs, so this was a big accomplishment for her.
The beautiful falls with the iconic bridge in the background.
Then we made our way up to the bridge to get a closer look of the falls.
Once Nate got to the bridge, he said nope. He didn't trust the bridge one bit and the heights aspect didn't help so he took Baylor and McCall back down and they played in the stream nearby while we did more adventuring. My mom crossed the bridge and made it a little ways up and also decided to go back down so it was up to Paige, my dad, and I to scale to the top of the falls.
It was about a mile hike to the top with 11 switchbacks and I'm so glad I didn't have the younger two girls. It was steep and it was quite the trek to the top. The views of the Columbia River on the way up were incredible and the pictures don't do justice of what it is like to be at the top of Multnomah Falls. I'm not scared of heights, but it was unnerving for me. You could see this tiny bridge and tiny cars in the parking lot down below, and it gives you this view that is breathtaking. There is a small waterfall right before Multnomah Falls and a river where we took a little break and had a snack before scaling our way back down the mountain.
Then we enjoyed a picnic by the stream before making the 1/2 mile to the parking lot of Wahkeena Falls.
Along the trail there was a small amount of water coming off a cliff side and so we took the opportunity to go behind it and feel the water flowing off the rock.
Then we got to the base of Wahkeena Falls and then there is a short trail that takes you up to the base of the upper falls to a bridge. You can also go right up to the waterfall and feel the mist on your body.
Then we were going to drive to one idea on my list but as we drove past this bridge over the river, I made the spontaneous decision to stop. It ended up being Lewis and Clark State Park and it was such a great stop. We walked on the bridge and then spent some time down by the river, enjoying the sand, climbing over rocks, and putting our feet in the cold water. It was a wonderful way to end the afternoon before heading back to the house to make dinner.
Thursday was a day filled with waterfalls and beautiful creations. First stop was Bridal Veil Falls. It is a short walk down to the bottom of the falls. It was fairly steep but had stairs and other things that kept the younger girls walking on their own. The falls were beautiful, not as tall as other ones we saw, but the river and bridge at the bottom of the falls were stunning.
Our next stop was Latourell Falls. You can see this one from the parking lot. It is a very tall waterfall which is always stunning and has huge rocks at the bottom that was fun to watch as the water hit them.
We decided to take the trail down to the bottom of the falls. It was a very short and easy walk down to the bottom. This one you for sure felt the mist hit you as you got closer to the base. It was a great view of the falls and had a bridge right at the bottom.
Again, we parted ways since Nate didn't trust the old bridge along with the cars driving over the road. So, Nate took Baylor and McCall and went back on the same trail. The rest of us looped around, walking along the river, and made our way to the top so we could walk across the bridge.
We actually drove past these falls on the way to Latourell Falls. It was on my list, but I was kind of confused by the map. So, we backtracked for a couple of minutes since there is just a small pull off on the road to get to these falls, Dell Shepherd's Falls. This one was a beautiful one, with lots of different falls as it made its way down the mountain into the river. You can walk down a short path to a viewing point and can see the top of one part of the falls, rushing over a cliff. We then drove to a park that is by Latourell Falls so that we could have a picnic for lunch.
Then, just another 10-15 minute drive, going on a very windy road, to the top of the mountain, we stopped to see Vista House at Crown Point. It is a gorgeous, historical building. It is only open Friday through Monday, so it wasn't open, but we could look in the windows, and it has the most incredible and iconic view of the Columbia River. A small airplane flew right by us, at eye level, as it soared along the river. It was pretty windy, since we were so high up, but it was worth it all for the most incredible view.
This cutie was tuckered out and fell asleep within seconds of getting in the car. Since we still had a good part of the afternoon, we decided to go see more waterfalls, and I'm sure glad we did because it ended up being my favorite waterfall of the entire trip. These falls are close to Multnomah Falls but there was a road closure which is why we didn't see them yesterday afternoon.
This stop is Horsetail Falls. You can park and you are right at the base of this magnificent waterfall. It is a gorgeous one!
Then we made the 1/2 mile hike to Upper Horsetail Falls or also known as Ponytail Falls. The hike was a bit steep, but Baylor was able to do it. McCall was still asleep at this point, so I carried her halfway up until my biceps were burning and then I handed her to Nate, and she woke up and was happy to ride on his shoulders. This waterfall was so cool because you could walk behind it through this cave in the hillside.
Then we made our way back down the hill to go get one more look at Horsetail Falls before heading to the house.
Nate and I walked down to the base of Horsetail Falls to try and get as close as possible. I loved it! These falls were my favorite because of the combination of the two falls together. Horsetail is tall and magnificent, and Ponytail Falls as the cool aspect of being able to walk behind it.
This bunch found a good place to rest while we were exploring the base of the falls.
Then we made it back to the house for dinner, time to relax, and my mom brought some Easter eggs for the girls to find in the backyard.
Friday was another day filled with adventures and exploring something a little different than waterfalls. Our first stop was at a marina park to get a good view of the Bridge of the Gods. I would have spent more time at this park, but there was a trail run event happening so the parking lot was very full. So got a few pictures and then paid the $2 toll to drive across the bridge to cross the Columbia River. There wasn't much nearby that I wanted to see on the Washington side, so we drove across and parked to get some pictures of the view and then drove back to Oregon.
Then we made our way to Bradford Island to see the Bonneville Dam. It was only a few minutes from the Bridge of the Gods. They have an excellent visitor center with an incredible view of the dam.
The visitor center had a movie you could watch which Baylor only lasted a few minutes and then we went to the bottom floor to view the fish ladder from under the water. Our timing was off for fish going through. It would be cool to see all the fish going through in the fall and we were lucky that we got to see two fish swim through. There were also some incredible views of the dam with binoculars at the top of the visitor center. The girls got some squished pennies and post cards at the gift shop before going to our next stop.
We were driving to a different part of the island to find a good place to have our lunch and decided to stop really quickly for this viewpoint of the dam. I'm so glad we did! As we were parking, Nate said he saw something dark in the water and as were looking closer, there were sea lions! It was such a cool and unexpected surprise! There were so many swimming up and down through the water, as they were catching fish. They had to swim upriver, around 150 miles from the ocean! That is pretty amazing, but they know have a great spot to catch lots of fish.
We ended up going to Robbins Island for our lunch. They had a really nice pavilion and playground for us to take some time to eat and play on for a bit. Then we went to the fish hatchery which I would highly recommend to anyone to go to it. It was so serene and so well done. It was large and spacious and there were so many different fish to see at different stages of life.
We walked along the various tiny fish and could see them jumping out of the water, and then we went and saw the sturgeon. I've never seen sturgeon in real life before and they are literal dinosaurs or at least a mix between a shark and a dinosaur. :) There is an underwater view which was so cool. They can get huge and people catch them in the Columbia River which is even more scary that that type of fish swims in the river.
The girls also spent some quarters buying some fish food to feed the trout. They all loved it and there were so many fish in the pond.
The property for the fish hatchery is huge and has fun little statues and things to look at. It is so well done!
Then we made our way to the gift shop and found big foot right before going in.
Then we learned all about the real Big Foot and stopped at the North American Big Foot Museum. It has all sorts of evidence, video, plaster castings of footprints, handprints, and even a bum print. There was a huge nest that Big Foot made. I may believe a little bit more because of the museum and Nate was already a firm believer before now. He saw Big Foot as a teenager, and I have always had my doubts. It was a cool museum and had a little gift shop with a map of all the Washington and Oregon sightings.
As we were driving back to the house, the rain showed back up. Perfect timing! One more place on my list of places to go was Gresham Japanese Gardens. It was raining pretty hard, so my mom stayed home with the girls and when we arrived, there was a sign that said it was closed due to upgrades they were doing. So, the island was closed but we could walk around. It was a bit disappointing but still a good little walk in the rain. I'm glad the girls didn't go with us since that would have been even more disappointing to them. They had fun with Grandma!
The rain continued to the next day when it was time to check out. There were a few outdoor spots near Portland that I wrote down but we will save that for another trip. We stopped at the Vancouver Goodwill Outlet, then got some In and Out for lunch, and then stopped at the Tacoma Goodwill Outlet all on our way home. It was a great spring break! We saw so many beautiful waterfalls, breathtaking views, and enjoyed time together as family.
