Summer Vacation Day 1

With Ryan done with his master's classes, we decided we needed to make the most of the time we had before he was swallowed up by all the pre-school-starting activities.  So we packed up our camping supplies, and left town almost as soon as we knew he passed.

Our first stop was by the wind turbines.  Ryan likes to admire those.  I liked the view of Mt. Adams better, personally.

Next, we went to Stonehenge.  Someday I wouldn't mind seeing the real one, but taking the kids to see the one in Washington will work for now.  The last time we were there, Annie and Maddie weren't part of our family yet.

We took in a view of the Columbia River.

And perched on a cliff with Dad.

Afterwards, we crossed into Oregon to see the waterfalls.  We had hoped to find an open campground near the waterfalls, but alas, they were all full.

Multnomah Falls.  We had our first of many peanut butter sandwiches for lunch here.

Next, we took a trail up to Wahkeena Falls.

 It was really pretty too.

 We kept going, and let the trail take us up, up, up.

 There were many switchbacks.  This trail isn't quite as steep as the one at Multnomah Falls, but it was a good work out.

 We made it to Fairy Falls.  I don't know what was up with the camera settings here.  I didn't see what it was like until after the picture was taken by a friendly fellow trail walker.

After our hike, we drove to the Portland area to find a campground.  We tried a couple and struck out.  By now it was dinner time, so we had dinner at McDonald's and used the wi-fi to try to find a place to stay the night.  Apparently, it was a really exciting weekend in Portland, and accommodations were scarce.  I made what I thought was a reservation for a hotel for the night, but it turned out to be one for the following night.  Making reservations on the iPad isn't the best idea, I guess.  Or maybe it's not a good idea to search for hotels while surrounded by 4 hungry kids while the husband is getting dinner.

After a call to Expedia, and Ryan staring down the check-in guy at the Super 8 while he was talking to the Expedia lady, we got our hotel refunded, but we still didn't have a place to stay.

We checked out a couple of hotels by the airport, which were all full.  So we went to another McDonald's to use the wi-fi again.  We searched campgrounds and hotels and motels in the area of Portland, The Dalles, Eugene, Astoria, and surrounding areas.  We did not want to pay for a top dollar hotel, and we struck out in a bad, bad way.  The campground reservation offices were all closed for the night.  Ryan thought we could just sleep in the minivan (packed with all of our camping gear....) in a church parking lot, or something.  This did not make me happy.  I was thinking that we should just drive home, but by then, it was 9 pm.  The drive was a good three hours....  And we had camping reservations in Lincoln City for the following night....  I was seriously freaking out.

Finally, I felt prompted to search for hotels yet again.  I searched for a room with 2 adults and no children, and got one.  It was in Beaverton and had just one bed, but I did not care at that point.  A room was a room.

As it turns out, the Extended Stay America in Beaverton is a nice hotel.  (Thank goodness!)  It was close quarters for 6 people, and we had to sneak 4 kids in the back entrance, but it all worked out.  We were in bed by 10:30, and exhausted.

I will not be "playing it by ear" again with my vacation.