A Gorge-ous Weekend in Hood River, OR {and Washington}

The city that put Oregon on our radar was not hipster Portland, although its beautiful too, but a smaller destination along the Columbia River Gorge, called Hood River.

I can't remember where I first heard of this adventurer's mecca, but what I know is as soon as I learned about it, it was ingrained in my mind as THE place we should be.  Can you imagine my excitement when I met one of Roger's high school classmates who was living there? And then my shear joy when we befriended a young family (the W's) who recently moved from Hood River to San Jose?!!

As our move to Oregon became more of a reality than a pipe dream, it was clear that Hood River was a bit too far outside of the comfortable commute.  But that didn't stop us from wanting to check it out as soon as we possibly could. And this last weekend was the perfect time, since we got a long weekend and the W's were up visiting their true home.

I imagine  that if San Francisco and Tahoe had a love child, Hood River would be it.

It's a darling little community with a rustic downtown and charming houses stacked on hillsides but its got that crisp, clean, wildly free feeling that comes from being nestled between crystal clear water and a snowy mountain (Mt. Hood).   Dreamy.


We stayed at the Best Western, which allowed us to bring this guy (and might I add, we got upgraded us to a waterfront view!)


Did some exploring of the riverside on our own on Saturday morning.



Our first hunt turned out to be a bust, but the second one yielded a fantastic "treasure"of stickers, keychains, erasers, and other bobbles of kid joy.  We put some of our own trinkets in for exchange and signed our names.  Mission accomplished!  I'm still on a high.
The way back down the trail was no less fun. The locals led us to a little stream full of tadpoles, which the kids got to catch (and release).  We followed the stream all the way down, finding frogs and flowers and all sorts of nature goodness along the way.


Couldn't have asked for a better day.

We weren't stranded for Easter either.  Since this is a fantastic little community, the W's friends invited us to join their Easter brunch and egg hunt.  Clearly, generosity and friendly nature abound in this small town.

It already feels kinda like... home.  And we don't even live there.

Not only will be soon be downloading the geocaching app that led us to our first find, we've permanently marked Hood River as our go to family adventure destination.

Thank you Hood River and a BIG thank you to all the families that made us feel like one of their own!

~Sarah