Hiking the Columbia River Gorge & Touring the Oregon Coast!
Sooooo our month is basically starting to feel like one big blur. A really super fun blur but literally already forgetting everything we’ve done! I obviously LOVE to blog but I am also loving the fact that my blog is kind of “forcing” me to document these amazing memories with my girls. We have done so much so far. Feeling so blessed to experience so much with my two sweethearts this Summer. From playing in the snow to trekking up sand dunes. I can honestly say that we have almost DONE IT ALL!!! And I am definitely feeling it! Zzzzzzz…
Last Friday, well basically two Fridays ago now, my mom made the trek across the country to come and pay us a visit! She has LITERALLY been planning my entire trip for me for probably close to six months now. Maps upon maps and folders upon folders of information on what to do and where to stay. Seriously don’t even know what I would have done without all of her research! I obviously get my love for travel from her. So she flew out to stay with us for a week and had every day of it planned out to a “T”!
On the first full day of her trip, we perused the Columbia River Gorge. Truly one of the most beautiful sites here in Oregon and somewhere that I would DEFINITELY encourage you to visit if you are ever out this way! Our first stop on the River Gorge journey was the Portland Women’s Forum lookout. The BEST view of the Columbia River in my opinion!
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Next, we stopped one mile down the Historic Columbia River Highway at the Vista House. The perfect place to see another beautiful view, learn a little history about the area and take a little potty break…
On this gorge journey day, we decided to get down and dirty and hike some waterfalls. As much as I love to design beautiful things and wear “fancy” clothing, I freaking LOVE to adventure. To hike and climb and see all of the beautiful places God has created. Our first stop was Latourell Falls…
Addie and I decided to see JUUUST how close we could get…
Our next stop along the Historic Columbia River Highway is the absolute MUST-SEE Multnomah Falls. The second highest year-round waterfall in the entire United States! Absolutely STUNNING in person! And they even have the most beautiful lodge restaurant where we ate lunch…
Next up, Horsetail and Ponytail Falls…
And finally, the Oneonta Gorge… One of the most amazing things I have done and seen EVER! Truly one of those moments that I dreamed of when I planned this trip. Crazy and fun and adventurous and ever so slightly scary with absolutely STUNNING scenery to say the very least. When we first hiked down to the start of the Oneonta Narrows, we stopped and chatted with someone who had just finished hiking the falls. She warned us that to see the falls, it was quite a little climb and hike. A soaking wet and freezing cold one! So my mom and Winnie sat at the “entrance” to the narrows while Addie, Abbey and I set off on our little adventure. We started out climbing over a HUGE “stack” of fallen trees. After that, we waded in waist high FREEEEZING cold water for about 1/4 mile and then hiked the remainder of the wall. Let’s just say that it was worth every second!!! And I was soooo dang proud of Addie!
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Saturday, June 3rd
- Head to Multnomah
- Look out at Chanticleer Point
- Visit the View Point Inn (Twilight prom scene)
- Tour the Vista House
- Latourell Falls
- Multnomah Falls
- Lunch at Multnomah Falls Lodge
- Horsetail Falls
- Oneonta Falls
- Dinner at Miss Nola’s Café in Camas, WA
The next morning, we headed out and slowly made our way to Newport, Oregon! A short two hour drive, the coast of Oregon is AMAZING to say the very least. My mom had mapped out a little stop in Salem, Oregon about halfway to Newport for a little lunch break and carousel ride at Salem’s Waterfront Carousel. But not before our everyday stop at Starbuck’s. Oops. Yep, really gonna have to break that habit before we head back home!
After our Salem stop, we made it to the gorgeous Oregon coast! So many adorable little fishing towns. Scenery so very different than what we are used to in Georgia and Florida coastlines. The girls were a wee bit surprised at the cold temps but LOVED playing in all of the sand and rocks and driftwood. So many creatures and fun little ocean finds…
That evening we ate dinner right on the water at Local Oceans Seafood. It was super yummy and had the most amazing selection of fresh seafood. I texted Mark a picture of the seafood case and he “threatened” to move out there immediately. LOL.
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For that evening, I had booked a room at the Inn at Nye Beach. What I didn’t know was that #1) it had a hot tub and #2) it is the ONLY infiniti hot tub on the coast in all of Oregon! I cannot even explain how incredible it was to watch the sunset from the hot tub. Like I literally want to drive back out there just to experience it once again. The best part was that it’s more like a small pool than a hot tub. Not crazy hot and much larger then most hot tubs. So dreamy!!!
Sunday, June 4th
- Head towards the coast of Newport
- Salem’s Waterfront Carousel
- Shopping at the Salem Center
- Lunch at The Kitchen on Court Street in Salem
- Coffee at Dutch Bros.
- Visit the beach behind our hotel
- Dinner at Local Ocean Seafoods
- Hot Tub at the Inn at Nye Beach
Monday we woke up, packed our bags and headed north to one of my very favorite spots on Earth! Truly! More about that shortly… Before we arrived at my favorite place ever, we made a little pit stop to check out the amazing Devil’s Punchbowl along the coast…
Next up, another little pit stop at the Jacobsen Salt Co…
Finally we arrived at the INCREDIBLE Cape Kiwanda in Pacific City. One of those places that I want to take everyone to! We climbed the dunes and played in the sand and took in all of the amazing Pacific Ocean views…
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Last stop on our way up to Seaside, Oregon was a little visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory! The girls LOVED IT! And Winnie may or may not have tried all of the cheese samples five times each. Might have…
Monday, June 5th
- See Devil’s Punch Bowl in Newport
- Stop at the Jacobsen Salt Co.
- Lunch at Pelican Brewing in Pacific City
- Hike up the sand dunes at Cape Kiwanda
- Visit the Tilamook Cheese Factory
- Dinner at Norma’s Seafood & Steak in Seaside
- Stay in Seaside
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XOXO, Brittany Hayes
Love these photos! They’re beautiful and now I’m pinning pins on Pinterest for my someday visit to Oregon!
I can’t wait to read more about your trip. My husband surprised with me a trip to Portland for my birthday, so we are doing a couple of days in Portland and then a few days exploring the coast. So I’m loving your recaps!