A weekend away

Shawn and I stayed in Portland this last weekend for our anniversary while my mom so kindly watched my kids. Oh, I just can't thank her enough! We stayed right in downtown in a hotel we could never had afforded except Shawn was able to find an awesome price. My only request was a king size bed... it was heavenly, and I envy anyone who sleeps in one every night.
We spent a lot of time walking around downtown, looking at shops and fantasizing over what it would be like to have millions and buy anything we wanted.

We went to OMSI and looked at things that the kids never have patience for.

I DRAGGED Shawn to Powell's books. It takes up an entire city block and I could spend an whole day there... Shawn lasted 30 minutes.

We had an AMAZING dinner at Ruth's Chris... where I had the best steak I've ever tasted!

We visited the Pittock Mansion.
Monday we spent the day in the Columbia Gorge, looking at the waterfalls. We took a hike through the Oneonta Gorge. It was breathtaking and at the end of the gorge is Oneonta Falls. The trail isn't marked because there is no trail.... you literally hike through the gorge. We stopped at the Oneonta bridge and walked down to the stream where we found DANGER signs, but of course we kept going. The gorge is blocked by a huge, I mean HUGE log jam, that we had to climb over.

It was beautiful. Some areas of the creek were shallow, and others much deeper. I can imagine during the winter, the water would be over our heads. The highest point was at our waists, luckily.

The water was REALLY COLD! But the hike was worth it. The falls were incredible, and it was so tucked away and private that it felt like our own exclusive waterfall. Shawn didn't feel like hiking through waist-high water was adventurous enough.... so he took off his shirt and dived into the pool of water..... CRAZY! There's got to be something fantastic about swimming under a waterfall. I wanted to be brave too.... this is how far I got before I couldn't breath anymore... too cold for me!

It was a memorable hike. I look forward to hiking up more trails around that area again. It's a little piece of heaven, so beautiful!

3 days, 2 nights was PERFECT! We got to enjoy some time by ourselves and remember what it is like to be together without breaking up fights, cleaning up messes, and disciplining. Sometimes with the craziness of our lives, it's easy to forget what originally got us to this point, so spending this time together was a good reminder.