We woke up early and headed to the Skibowl Adventure Park on the other side of Mt. Hood. We thought this would be the standout part of the trip for the boys and the one thing that we planned out especially for them. From the second they saw the race car at the entrance, they were in heaven. They must have sat in that car 3 or 4 times.
We spent the morning letting them run wild and trying out all the activities at the park. One of the main attractions was a half mile alpine slide that we rode a few times.
Landon also had his first try of driving a go kart (of sorts) all by himself and we were all shocked when he drove around perfectly in a circle. The best part though was when he tried to stop and didn't know how. His future as a race car driver might be still be possible.
We also took some swings in the batting cages.
And probably the most fun for the boys was the bungee trampoline. They waited very patiently in line for their turn.
They had this great sign at the park that pretty much sums up our morning and this entire trip in general.
Before heading to our next place, we stopped at a nearby restaurant called The Ratskeller to fuel up. It was a fun little place with couches you eat on, a huge projection screen playing the women's world cup final, and had the walls lined with old school arcade games. If the boys had it their way, they would have hung out there all day.
Now awake, the boys were now excited to "take a hike through a creek" and despite the number of cars, I still really wanted to go. It's a short 1/4 mile hike from the road to the waterfall but immediately upon entering the creek you hit what is known as the "log jam". This was the only part of it that I was worried about as people on forums had advised me not to take a kid so young. We quickly realized the logs were not the problem. The people jam though?... that's another story.
I'm so happy we were able to do this hike. It was absolutely beautiful! Adam and I have already booked a trip to Seattle/Portland in April and I really want to do it again, first thing in the morning, hopefully beating all the crowds and allowing Adam to get some pictures that will do it justice. It might not have been exactly what we were expecting, but it was still awesome.
The funny thing is, of the two things we did that day this was everyone's favorite part of the day and one of the boy's favorite parts of the entire trip. They rode back to the campsite in their underwear talking about it the entire drive back. With some snack in their hands, they relived how cool the hike was the whole time in the car. These were some of the happiest moments of the entire trip.
We headed back to our campsite, made some pizza bagels and called it an early night. We made plans to leave Mt. Hood and the campgrounds at Lost Lake in the best way possible, waking up at 4:30am to see the sunrise. It was an early wake up call, but we mustered the strength and pulled ourselves out of our tents. Of course it was completely worth it. Lost Lake and Mt. Hood never did us wrong anytime of day. Sunrise and sunset were by far the most spectacular. I'm happy we saw it at both.
We went back to Adam's spot and watched the sun light the left side of the mountain. We hung out on a log while Adam snapped pictures and tried our best to get the boys to appreciate the beauty before them.
Eventually though, they got a little stir crazy so I took them to another section where they could play in and around the water more without distributing the master at work. Taylor found a rock and some string and made a depth finder which we he had learned all about at Crater Lake.
Landon just played on the logs, watched the fish and salamanders swim by, and was engrossed by a large number of crawfish eating a morning meal of fish (the circle of life).
We headed back to our campsite, made some pizza bagels and called it an early night. We made plans to leave Mt. Hood and the campgrounds at Lost Lake in the best way possible, waking up at 4:30am to see the sunrise. It was an early wake up call, but we mustered the strength and pulled ourselves out of our tents. Of course it was completely worth it. Lost Lake and Mt. Hood never did us wrong anytime of day. Sunrise and sunset were by far the most spectacular. I'm happy we saw it at both.
We went back to Adam's spot and watched the sun light the left side of the mountain. We hung out on a log while Adam snapped pictures and tried our best to get the boys to appreciate the beauty before them.
Eventually though, they got a little stir crazy so I took them to another section where they could play in and around the water more without distributing the master at work. Taylor found a rock and some string and made a depth finder which we he had learned all about at Crater Lake.
Landon just played on the logs, watched the fish and salamanders swim by, and was engrossed by a large number of crawfish eating a morning meal of fish (the circle of life).
We even had a Mama duck and her babies swim nearby out for a morning stroll as well.
About 6am, when the sunrise was complete, we headed back to camp. We had a wonderful breakfast and then packed up all our things and said goodbye to this wonderful lake. It was so enjoyable on so many different levels. I hope one day we can camp here again. It was the most relaxing and refreshing part of the entire trip. We all just loved it!
Once we were packed up, we got in the car and made our way for the coast. On our way toward Portland we stopped at the Columbia River Gorge Scenic area again to see Horsetail Falls.
And Multnomah Falls.
Both were literally steps away from the road and yet stunning. They had been crawling with crowds all weekend so we waited until we leaving to see them. With all kinds of hikes in and around this area and another trip due to Onetona, I know we will be spending much more time here on a future trip. This short little taste only wet our palates for the Columbia River and all it has to offer. As sad it was to leave this area, we were also really excited to see the coast of Oregon and we knew the beauty there would rival this. Boy did it ever!
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