Ainsworth State Park is a small park nestled in the Columbia Gorge, less than an hour outside of Portland. There is a small loop of RV sites and a small loop of tent sites. The sites themselves are also small. We were closer to our neighbors than we have been anywhere else. We were also next to a highway and a train track.  The trains didn’t blow their horns but they did come by in the night. I imagine the Parks Department was trying to fit as many sites as they could into the available area, with a mountain to the south and a river to the north, with waterfalls on either side. On the plus side, the park offers full hookup and is surrounded by beautiful trails to giant waterfalls. We are also very close to Hood River, one of our favorite towns in Oregon.

The Columbia Gorge is famous for lots of things, on of which is windsurfing. The Gorge formed by the Columbia River creates a sort of wind tunnel that makes for incredible wind surfing. Or so I’ve heard. We haven’t actually tried it. I’m guessing the water is still pretty chilly. We came here because we knew it was beautiful, close to home, and actually had a spot available at the last minute. Yay! Continue reading “The Columbia Gorge” →

We recently had the pleasure of hosting both of Brandon’s grandmothers at the same time. They became very good friends after his parents got married and really enjoy traveling together. They are currently on a roadtrip through the western United States. They came to visit us after driving through California and before heading south again to visit Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park.

I have known Brandon’s maternal grandmother for years now. We all call her Nina. But this was my first time meeting his paternal grandmother. She goes by Oma. It was so much fun to finally meet her! This was thier first time visiting Oregon so on Saturday we took them to one of our favorite towns, Hood River, and one of our favorite wineries, Marchesi’s Vineyard. On the way there we stopped at Multnomah Falls. Overall, a fantasic day. Continue reading “Oma and Nina” →

Silver Falls State Park has been recommended to us over and over again. The park is about an hour and a half south of Portland and is supposed to be beautiful, but also very popular. As usual, we didn’t plan far enough in advance to get a reservation. We arrived around 7:30 pm and got the very last spot available. However, this spot was their “emergency overflow” spot and they would only let us stay there for one night. We would know the next afternoon if there was a cancelation and we could stay a second night. We took Rudy for a walk, made dinner, and got some sleep. If we were only going to have one night at Silver Falls we would need to make the most of our day on Saturday. Continue reading “Silver Falls State Park” →