And so it begins...: A Weekend Away for My Birthday (and stuff)

In the newfound tradition of baby-moons, combined with our desire to get away and coincidentally it being close to my birthday we decided to do just that and go away.

We headed out to Cascade Locks.

It was great to get away and focus on each other and we are so lucky to have a mother willing and capable of watching the kids for us for an entire 3 day weekend.

We were going to head to Portland via way of Hood River, that way we could stop and check into our hotel. We had a prenatal appointment the evening we left, in downtown Portland.

That morning I got ready and documented the bump!

We dropped the kids off at school and then made our way over.

Unfortunately with all the planning we had to come to terms with the fact that Brent woke up sick. Still we tried to make the most of it.

We stopped right away to eat breakfast. Brent was so sick I decided to drive the rest of the way...

Poor sick Brent...barely touche his breakfast!

Taking our time and enjoying little stops along the way. Of course it couldn't be helped that most of our stops were due to my shrinking bladder space...

Of course one of the campgrounds we pulled off at to use the restroom we ended up having to wait for a train to pass before actually making it to the restroom...

By the time we got close to Portland we decided to eat at the place where we go after picking the boys up from camp...the Tippy Canoe.

Brent was feeling better and was actually able to eat.

That night when we returned to the hotel it was late and we simply enjoyed a nice soak in the jetted tub...and sipping tea on the balcony.

The next day we decided to check out the dam near our hotel. It was actually a really fun place I'm excited to take the kids to soon. We also worked in one of the hikes up the falls.

The day after that we did a bunch of hiking. We also spent a good amount of time soaking in the tub and swimming in the hotel pool.

Here are the RANDOMLY uploaded pics...

Need to stop taking pictures while I'm walking

close up of a map of the area and all the rivers you can raft. I noted one of our favorites...

Again with the walking and taking pics...whoops!

We actually got to see some fish, apparently the fall is the time when there are high numbers going through...

My favorite part! The tub that actually let me submerge my whole entire belly!
The tub at home had failed to do this for some time now...

Each morning we got vouchers for the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was cafeteria style with some pretty interesting decor...lots of trains and stagecoaches.

Still it is always nice to have actual conversations with each other, especially with the baby coming. We were able to get a lot of planning out of the way.

I kept trying to photograph the rainbow forming on the water. Out of the breakfast nook diner.

Here starts some of the hiking pictures. We ended up hiking up/around four different waterfalls. All in all we probably ended up doing between 6-8 miles that weekend.

I was happy to get to explore the tunnel. I usually want to but never actually stop to do it!

we didn't venture down this staircase because it was leading straight into the water...we want to go back and do it though

Had to crawl on hands and knees up this, so I wouldn't fall. This was the (supposed) 3 mile hike...it felt much longer

That girl down there had just fallen straight on her tailbone after trying to take some crazy swimsuit picture...I literally JUST missed it with this shot. At least she was laughing about it. It sounded so painful.

Random picture of Mt. Hood coming the Hood River side

Baby and a waterfall

The room overlooked the Bridge of the Gods and there was a really cool mural right under the bridge. In addition there was a really interesting story about how the bridge was formed and got its name...

One variation of the legend...

About the Bridge of the Gods legend
According to Puyallup tribal lore*, "long ago a huge landslide of rocks roared into the Columbia River near Cascade Locks and eventually formed a natural stone bridge that spanned the river. The bridge came to be called Tamanawas Bridge, or Bridge of the Gods. In the center of the arch burned the only fire in the world, so of course the site was sacred to Native Americans. They came from north, south, west, and east to get embers for their own fires from the sacred fire.

A wrinkled old woman, Loowitlatkla, 'Lady of Fire,' lived in the center of the arch, tending the fire. Loowit, as she was called, was so faithful in her task, and so kind to the Indians who came for fire, that she was noticed by the great chief Tyee Sahale. He had a gift he had given to very few others—among them his sons Klickitat and Wyeast—and he decided to offer this gift to Loowit as well. The gift he bestowed on Loowit was eternal life. But Loowit wept, because she did not want to live forever as an old woman. Sahale could not take back the gift, but he told Loowit he could grant her one wish. Her wish, to be young and beautiful, was granted, and the fame of her wondrous beauty spread far and wide.

One day Wyeast came from the land of the Multnomahs in the south to see Loowit. Just as he arrived at Tamanawas Bridge, his brother Klickitat came thundering down from the north. Both brothers fell in love with Loowit, but she could not choose between them. Klickitat and Wyeast had a tremendous fight. They burned villages. Whole forests disappeared in flames.

Sahale watched all of this fury and became very angry. He frowned. He smote Tamanawas Bridge, and it fell in the river where it still boils in angry protest. He smote the three lovers, too; but, even as he punished them, he loved them. So, where each lover fell, he raised up a mighty mountain. Because Loowit was beautiful her mountain (St. Helens) was a symmetrical cone, dazzling white. Wyeast's mountain (Mount Hood) still lifts his head in pride. Klickitat , for all his rough ways, had a tender heart. As Mount Adams, he bends his head in sorrow, weeping to see the beautiful maiden Loowit wrapped in snow."