It was very nice waking up on a real bed this morning, especially after 9 days straight of camping! After we had breakfast with my family, Joey and I went to one of Portland’s REI stores to partake in their Garage Sale (if you like the outdoors, REI can be your best friend). We lucked out and found two new Thermarest self-inflating sleeping pads and an Osprey day pack for me! We got each item for more than 50% off (their garage sale is awesome!).
After our first successful REI Garage Sale, we headed towards The Columbia River Hatchery to meet up with my family. On our way there, we stumbled upon Horsetail Falls, which you could see from the side of the road!
After making sure to take a few pictures of the beautiful falls, we got back on the road to get to the Hatchery. Here, they raise thousands of trout and salmon, and also have some ridiculously large sturgeon. Each tank houses fish in distinctive life stages, so we were able to walk around and view these different stages…it was pretty neat!
We also stopped at the Bonneville Dam, which harnesses hydroelectric power from the Columbia River at two different points, one on the Washington side and one on the Oregon side. They convert enough useable electricity to sell to surrounding states!
Our next stop was Multnomah Falls, which is a very popular sight and trail in Oregon, and we found out the hard way that it’s very difficult to find parking! We eventually lucked out and found a spot and we were able to get a much closer look at the falls!
We had one more stop before we headed to our family BBQ, which was Crown Point. This viewpoint gave us breathtaking views of the Columbia River and the valleys on the Washington side!
We arrived to endless food, drinks and great company! We were so hungry after our eventful morning, so Joey and I were definitely happy campers! It was such a great time for me to catch up with all my cousins…especially after 10 years of not seeing each other! We eventually broke out the beer pong table, and let’s just say Joey and I represented the east coast VERY well!
We left the party for an hour to grab some ice cream with Joey’s friend Greg and his girlfriend. My cousins really hyped up an ice cream shop called Salt and Straw, but we had gotten there 5 minutes too late! So instead they brought us to the Pope House, where we had some homemade ice cream that fulfilled our cravings!
Joey and I were so tired by the end of the night that we went straight to bed as soon as we got back to my uncle’s house! We had a day full of fun activities and family bonding…I couldn’t have asked for a better day! Tomorrow we’ll be heading to Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon, where we’ll get to see the amazing volcanic formation and the bright blue water that now fills it…so stay posted!