You Don't Have to Believe Me

But right now, I am in Portland, Oregon!  Thursday, Kurtis and I got on a plane and flew here.  It's our first trip ever.  We didn't even go on a honeymoon, so after eleven years of marriage, I said, "Honey, can we please go somewhere!?"  And he agreed.  Which surprised me, but I am very glad.  So, I love flying.  Kurtis let me have the window seat.  I love to look out the window and see the ground below.  It's very exciting to me.  Here are a couple of pictures of Oregon from the airplane:

This is the airplane we flew on.

I do believe this is Mt. Hood.  The pilot said it was Mt. St. Helen's though.  Really not sure I believe him.

And this is Oregon from the plane.  So many trees.  If you love trees, and let's face it, who doesn't love trees?  You will love Oregon.  It's so pretty here!

After we landed, and got our rental car, we met up with my friend, Kristen, for lunch.  She suggested we come here for our romantic getaway.  Which is story in and of itself.  She moved here after we graduated from high school.  It was so good to see her and reconnect (and not just on facebook!)  We ate lunch at a place in Troutdale just outside of Portland.  Here are the pictures:

This is the name of the place we had lunch. This place is full of names that I'm not sure how to pronounce or spell. :)

This place is gorgeous!  I just kept thinking that my sister would love it here.

This is me and Kristen.

Some of the fun art that was all over the walls.  I do believe the Black Rabbit is the name of the restaurant we had lunch at, too.

The artsy statue at the entrance.

While we were eating, birds were everywhere.  It was really neat.

After lunch, Kurtis and I went and checked in to our hotel.  We are staying at the Paramount Hotel.  This is the view from our window.  I really think this is a nice place to stay.

Here are couple of the exterior.

I picked this hotel because it has a jacuzzi tub.  Now, I want one. :)

Friday (yesterday) was our anniversary.  Kurtis and I have been married for ELEVEN years now!  That's crazy.  I'm not old enough to have been married for eleven years.  We went hiking in the Columbia River Gorge.  We were going to go on the Multnomah Falls to Devil's Rest to Wahkeena Falls hike.  It's 5 miles and takes you on a loop around to see the Multnomah Falls, Fairy Falls, and Wahkeena Falls.  It seemed ambitious for us, but I thought, "Oh, 5 miles?  I can totally do that!"  Well, I don't really know if I could have or not because when we got to the top of the Multnomah Falls, we decided to go back down.  We thought we would drive to the Wahkeena Falls trail head, and take the half mile hike up to see it, but after getting some ice cream, and resting for a bit, we decided we should just go to the Rose Gardens.  That was going to be our next destination any way, and we didn't want to be over tired for it.  The Multnomah Falls hike is 2.2 miles to the top and back, so we did pretty dang awesome for a couple of old people.

Multnomah Falls

On the way up the trail, there are a bunch of little waterfalls that are so beautiful.

This is my favorite spot on the hike.  That waterfall creates a mist that is very cooling.  Especially on the way down.

The mist created a rainbow on the other side of the bridge.

Gorgeous!

Getting closer to the top.

Almost to the view point area.

The view from the top.

The two of us at the top.

The lighting was different on our way back, so I had to take another picture.

Here are some of the roses at the Rose Gardens.  It wasn't as spectacular as we were hoping it would be because most of the roses weren't blooming yet.

This would be a wonderful place for bridal or wedding pictures.

Me at the Rose Gardens.

The view of the city from the gardens.

Then we went back to our hotel, cleaned up, and went to this wonderful restaurant across the street.  It is called Pastini Pastaria.  It has incredible Italian food.  If you ever get the chance to come to Portland, you must eat here.  It's delicious.  We even had dessert.  Because it was our anniversary.  Special occasions require desserts! :)

After dinner, we walked around and took some pictures.

How would you like to go to church in a castle?  This is the first Baptist Church

I also thought this Presbyterian church was gorgeous too.

Well, I apologize for the length of this post.  But pictures help make it even more awesome.   Today, we are heading to the beach.  I'll tell you about it later!