Visit to the Gorge with Taylor and Hayley

Taylor and Hayley started the 2nd wave of visitors this month, coming late Friday night.  We decided to take them into the Columbia River Gorge to see some waterfalls.  Liam was sick, and it was pretty cold, so Dani couldn't come with us.  

Claire and Jacob brought their cameras, too, and were taking pictures of everything.  Claire, here, is taking a picture of a train going over a bridge.  Under this bridge was a huge fish (we're assuming it was a salmon, given the signs around the bridge).

Multnomah Falls was our first stop.  It had been raining quite hard the previous days, so the water was flowing pretty high.  It is such a photogenic waterfall - I love how the mist mutes the colors in the tall part of the falls.  You can see Claire snapping a picture with her camera!

We were lucky we caught a break in the rain.  Though it was cold, we were able to stay mostly dry.

We next visited Latourell Falls, just down the road.  We took a short little walk up to the viewpoint.  Claire dodged dogs (including 1 that wasn't on a leash... which was scary!) 

Taylor and I took a rocket ride.  There was also a little cave close by that we took Jacob and Claire near the entrance (it was little... probably not even a real cave).

We next visited Bridal Vail Falls, where a minor miracle occurred - BOTH kids were looking at the camera and smiling, and Hayley's eyes were open - all in the same picture!

Later that night, we went downtown and visited Powell's Books and went to an ice cream shoppe (yes, I had to spell it that way) called Salt And Straw.  They have some creative flavors.  We ate Honey Balsamic Strawberry with Cracked Pepper (my favorite), Cinnamon Snickerdoodle (Dani's favorite), Sea Salt and Caramel Ribbon, and Pumpkin Spice.  We also sampled Pear and Bleu Cheese and Orange Stuffing (which was actually quite yummy!)

It was a fun Portland experience for Taylor and Hayley!