The above picture is the gorgeous Columbia River Gorge on Highway 84! As you can clearly see, we visited on an amazing weekend, there was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature was hovering around 75s on both days. Ahh, God is good to us!
My amazing husband negotiate a deal with his supervisor to work 80 hours every 9 days, so he can get every other Friday off so we can have a long weekend to go on trips if we wanted to. This is the very weekend we actually took advantage of this long weekend. I saw a deal on The Fairgate Inn in Camas, Washington on Groupon and immediately called Ri to see if this was a good idea. Hours later, we have booked the Avalon Room in this beautiful mansion for the weekend.
Romantic Getaway? Yes please.
Came Friday morning, we had a scrumptious brunch at the Original Pancake House then we went on the road for 2.5 hours to The Fairgate Inn. We saw so many eagles and hawks all along the highway. The grounds are absolutely beautiful at this Bed & Breakfast. The innkeeper, Sara, was very welcoming and gave us the tour of the house. The owner of this B&B had this house built in 2000 in the plantation style. The inside is just as impressive as the outside. The downstairs rooms are filled with books and leather furniture with a grand piano, and the rooms upstairs are spacious and clean with individual fireplace, and get this, you turn on the fire by flipping a light switch! (Yes, I flipped it a couple of times just for fun)
We headed out in search for food, crossing the State border from Vancouver, Washington to Portland, Oregon. Ri had yelped and found this Southern/Cajun restaurant in Portland called Screen Door, strange name, I thought, however, they had over 1,000 reviews and is rated 4.5 stars. We got there at 440pm, unbeknownst to us, there are already people waiting in line for them to open at 530pm. We waited 50 minutes in the sunlight with more and more people lining up behind us. By the time that the restaurant opened, we were so hungry that we ordered right away and got our food first amongst all the customers. The Crispy Fried Buttermilk-battered Chicken was absolutely amazing, and the Smoke and BBQed Beef Brisket was decent. We sat on the patio with sun shining down on our shoulders, tummies very full, and incredibly satisfied with our lives- companionship of each other, ability to make money so this trip is possible, and physical capability to go places pain-free. Praise the Lord.
We headed to Portland after dinner, and found this cute waterfront park by the Willamette River fulled of rows and rows of cherry blossom trees. People were picnicking under the trees and people were biking and roller-skating on the trail. We played around underneath the falling leaves and watched the sunset. Romantic and blessed (blessed because we had been so lucky in finding convenient parking spaces, and extremely blessed because Ri didn’t complain once about paying for parking).
We woke up the next day, literally, by the smell of breakfast. How awesome is that? We headed downstairs in our PJs and had a very lively conversation with our fellow B&B customers. There was this one couple who are considering the inn for their wedding May of next year. There was this one other Canadian couple who drove 8+ hours from Vancouver, B.C. and got pulled over by a cop because they were lost trying to find the inn. The husband is also a Sheriff from Vancouver. The first couple actually asked him whether or not he is a Mounty, we all laughed, then he explained they do have a horse troop for riot control. Hey, you don’t get to have casual breakfast with a Sheriff everyday. :P
We left the B&B and headed to Multnomah Falls, the 2nd tallest year-round waterfall in the United States and the source of the water is from the underground spring of the Larch Mountain. We made a reservation at the Multnomah Falls Lodge for lunch and then headed for the hike for the top of the Larch Mountain. It is only a one-mile hike, but I am so out of shape, it took us more than an hour to go up and down the trail. My wonderful husband was encouraging me and helping me all the way through, makes me feel spoiled and loved. (we woke up this morning getting ready for Easter Sunday definitely feeling the burns of the thighs and calfs and buttocks.)
After a hearty lunch, we started heading back home, in passing into Portland area, we dropped by a Voodoo Doughnut branch. Their signature pink boxes were stacked everywhere and we got my favorite fruit loop doughnut and got a butterfinger one for Ri. We drove home in 3+ hours sustained by the sugar rush and memories of our trip together.
Ri is such a great hubby, he softly tucks me in when I whine about how the weather changes made my joints hurt all over, and return to being glued to the tv. Ri you are amazing for driving everywhere with me, even when I offer to drive, you always said no. Now, whether that answer is due to fear of me wrecking your car or because you just want to shield me from the weariness of driving long hours is still up to debate. But I do love holding your hand all the way through the journey, in and outside of the car.
(the above picture is Ri’s favorite)
