Multnomah Falls, Oregon (Day 1)

For day one of our Oregon trip, the first stop was Multnomah Falls. It was a really quick drive from Portland, just about thirty minutes. Really it took longer to get to our rental car at the airport than it took to drive to the falls! It drizzled on us the entire way there so when we arrived, we bundled up and walked through a little tunnel, up and over to the falls. 

I think these falls were the first thing in Oregon I ever saw that made me want to visit. The little bridge that crosses in front of it reminds me somehow of Rivendell in Lord of the Rings. Absolutely stunning and like something out of another world!

We grabbed some pictures at the bottom then began making our way up the trail to the bridge. At some point I decided to run back down and go all the way back to the car so I could grab my mom's rain boots and the other pair of trekking poles I'd brought--we'd only taken one pair out and the walk was hilly enough that I felt having the second pair would be helpful.

When I got back to the falls, mom and dad had made it up to the bridge so I got a few pictures of them... though you can't really see them! Then I made my way back up the trail to the bridge. Dad decided he was done at the bridge and started to make his way back down, but mom and I continued our way up. It turned out we couldn't go much farther; they had closed the trail maybe 50 feet beyond where we were, so we turned around and started our way back down. 

I was so happy to find that we made it just in time to see some of the last fall leaves on the trees--and plenty on the ground. The colors were STUNNING! And the sizes of the leaves, amazing. Mom was particularly fascinated with them and insisted that we needed pictures with the leaves. The wet leaves really made the trail colorful and beautiful.

When we got to the bottom we checked out the gift shop, pressed a penny, then headed back to the car. On our way to Salem where we would spend the night, we stopped at Corbett View Point so I could take a few pictures. Around then, I realized that we were basically on the border of Oregon and Washington, with the river diving the two states. So I decided to take a page from my friend Hajar's book and go have a meal in the state (her rule when visiting states, has to eat a meal for it to count). We found a place called Elmer's and drove into Vancouver, Washington for dinner.

For dinner (at 5:30 pm in the dark, thanks, Daylight Savings) mom and I basically ordered Thanksgiving dinner: a plate with turkey, dressing, cranberries, vegetables, mashed potatoes and bread. A weird order for me since I don't really crave these things, but since we won't have them for Thanksgiving this year, I really wanted the dressing and cranberries. After dinner we used our phones to find a place to stay in Salem, Oregon for the night and headed there.