On our first full day, we crossed The Bridge of the Gods that crosses the river and takes you over to the Oregon side (Skamania Lodge is on the Washington side in the town of Stevenson).  We drove for about 15 minutes and we came upon Horsetail Falls where we parked and began our first hike.

 Horsetail falls is right off the side of the road, no hiking required, but we were going to hike the 3 mile loop that takes you to two more waterfalls and a scenic overlook of the river.

 It was a beautifully sunny, crisp morning and the scenery was so peaceful.

 It is an easy hike, but the first 1/3 mile or so was kinda steep with a lot of switch backs.  The great thing about going early (9am) is you don't see a lot of people and you can really appreciate the stillness and see God's creative design.  

 After about a mile, we came across Pony Falls.  This was our first glimpse as we rounded a corner.  You walk behind this waterfall to cross over to the other side.

 As they say on The Jungle Cruise, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the backside of water!"

 This is the little path we took behind the waterfall.

 This part of the country is usually really wet so moss was growing every where, but they hadn't had any rain since June and the moss was drying out.   Usually the sides of trees and hills that contain this moss are dripping with water.  

 Here is a picture of the side of a hill higher up and closer to the waterfall.  Very lush and water was dripping down the side of the hill. 

This was the last little waterfall on the hike.  Overall, the hike took about 2 hours and was about 3 miles long.  We stopped often to admire the view and take in the beauty around us.  

 Before this trip, we went to REI and we bought these LEKI hiking poles for me.  I loved them.  I would recommend them to anyone who has likes hiking.  At first, I was kind of embarrassed, but then I saw so many people with them and they helped so much, that I just enjoyed them.  They took the pressure off my knee during uphills and helped stabilize going downhill.  They also just helped to propel me along.  They are adjustable to your height and collapse down to about 18 inches for packing.  

Skamania Lodge

We left Seattle and made the three hour drive down to the Columbia River Gorge and the town of Stevenson.  We stayed at this wonderful place tucked into the scenic valley called Skamania Lodge.

The view from the lodge was incredible and something I looked forward to seeing every morning when we went down to the lobby where they had FREE COFFEE!  

 The Lodge was big but cozy.  The staff was excellent and very nice.  

 View from the lodge adirondack chairs

 We would have breakfast in the dining room (pretty reasonable) and dinner in the bar.  There was a stone fire ring with adirondack chairs and more chairs lined up in the back of lodge where you could sit and read and look at this view. There were two weddings while we were there and this view was the view from the little amphitheater where the weddings took place.  We were 40 minutes from Portland and only minutes from various incredible waterfalls and hikes.  There is a Forest Ranger Station inside the hotel that is very helpful and you can buy whatever permits you may need there.  (We only had to buy one for our hike to Falls Creek Falls which was definitely worth $5.00.)

 The rooms all had fireplaces and air conditioning.

The lobby always had a huge fire going and opposite this fireplace where these giant windows that viewed the lawn and river.  You needed your sunglasses in the morning to hangout in the lobby, the sun was so bright!

We loved it here and would go back in a minute.

Seattle - The Giant Wheel

After dinner on our last night in Seattle, we walked down to the waterfront to see the sunset and whatever else might be going on over there.

 There were lots of restaurants, cruises and souvenir shops and then there was The Giant Wheel.

 I'm not into the fly by night ferris wheel, that is rickity and rocks back and forth, but I could handle this permanent Giant Wheel with its state of the art carriages that are stabilized (much to HH's disappointment as he tried to get the carriage rocking by jumping back and forth from side to side). We were anxious that we wouldn't get on the wheel in time to witness the sunset because they were only loading 10 carriages a go round and there was a big line.  

 We went up just as the sun was going down and saw a great dark pink sunset and then the lights in the city came on and we got a great city view.

It was worth the $13 per person to witness such a great sunset and the lighted city. 

Cucina Encoteca

We stumbled on a unique new restaurant at the Spectrum.  It is reasonably priced and very gourmet.  I usually don't like these kinds of restaurants because I am not a very adventurous eater, but I loved the food combinations and the atmosphere of this restaurant.  

 We ate outside on the patio, under this beautiful olive tree filled with lights.  We were able to watch all the people go by and listen to great music played at just the right volume. When you were talking you didn't notice it but when quiet it was pleasant.  The staff was super friendly and knowledgeable about the menu.

 The restaurant is a wine store as well, so if you buy a bottle of wine, you get it at the shop cost and not restaurant inflated cost.   The food was unique and delicious.

 I had a New York steak, with gorgonzola potato cakes, shallots, spinach and a tomato tapenade with a wonderful sauce.

Bob had the wild salmon with cauliflower puree, and this delicious tapenade like sauce.  We also had the creamy polenta and stuffed squash blossoms and finished off with the  tiramisu.  They also had some great pizzas  This is our new favorite restaurant.

Walking around Seattle

 This is the view from the front of our hotel.  

We had a full day in Seattle to explore, so we headed over about 5 blocks to the shopping district and visited the original Nordstroms (which isn't the original store, they closed the original and moved to a bigger space) and then made our way down Pike street to The Pike Public Market.  

 Around all the trees planted along the sidewalk were this beautiful grates with fallen leaves.

 And we arrived at our destination.  I was prepared to be disappointed.  Was the food really that original and fresh, unique and tasty?

 We found a little cheese shop making their signature cheese and serving sandwiches.  

 A little further down the road we found fresh baked bread, vegetables, fruit, treats, and an incredible Italian Deli with a huge cheese counter, deli meat counter, and every kind of sauce, topping, pasta, olive etc. imaginable.  I could have shopped in this store for hours. We shared a yummy panini from this store.

 We then entered the famed Public Market.  It was a mix of fish stands, flowers, crafters, and restaurants.

 What really impressed me were these huge bouquets of flowers for $5 and $10 dollars.  I couldn't believe it.

 View from Pikes Market of the Bay and the Giant Wheel.  We had beautiful 70 degree and sunny weather.

 We bought some Big Ass Grapes, bread, apples, cheese and beef jerky for snacking.

On our way back to our hotel we stopped into a beautiful home store called Watson Kennedy that had all kinds of STUFF.  The Handsome Husband went into a Persian Rug store and it was all I could do to keep him from buying a rug!  

The Pacific Northwest - Seattle

This past week we visited the Pacific Northwest.  We flew into Seattle, drove down to Skamania (40 minutes outside of Portland, and flew out of Portland).  While we were in Seattle, we stayed at the Artic Club by Doubletree Hotels. The hotel has a rich history.   The Arctic Club was a social institution for the men who returned from the Yukon gold rush. Though most who headed north found no gold, a small percentage did return to Seattle with more than just memories. The Arctic Club provided an exclusive social community for those Seattleites who had returned from the Alaska Gold Rush with money in their pockets and a repertoire of stories to tell.

The hotel is located on the corner or 3rd Ave. and Cherry streets.  It is within walking distance to everything.  It was quiet and had a early 1900's feel.

 I loved the Walrus detail on the outside of the third floor, very unique and in concert with the original purpose of the hotel.

Outside the rooms where these wonderful room numbers.

The lobby/lounge area was cozy with a huge fire and a pool table.  The bar food was excellent and it was all half off at happy hour.  We had the most amazing Clam Chowder and Hamburger with drinks for dinner on our second night and it was under $30.  There is a small sign in the lobby on the railing where the bar begins and it says, "No Minors, No Firearms"!

 We took the advice of the Handsome Husband's brother and headed over to the Metropolitan Grill for dinner the first night.  We didn't make a reservation, so instead of waiting an hour, we had dinner at a table in the bar.

 This turned out to be a good thing because it allowed us to see the debate between Romney and Obama.  We couldn't quite hear what was being said, but from Obama's facial expressions and his body language, we could tell he was not happy and losing in a big way!

We ordered the New York Strip Steak to share (boy, it was huge, like 25 oz. or something) and it was delicious, but the highlight of the evening was when this same guy brought over a similar cart and made us Bananas Foster.  What a show and it was amazing to say the least, I would go back just for dessert.

Tomorrow I will show you some highlights of the city.