Day 1 Our first full day in Mt Hood was a great one. Started our day with first few hours of work – amazing how much can get done before the day “begins” here. We went to brunch at the Scandinavian spot attached to our hotel – Broder Ost- and it was perfection. Baked eggs, apple fritters, and pancake balls for the boys with perfectly done smoked fish and all the pickled things for me and William. Usually I do a better job of capturing these things, but this is where we ended up.

We packed up after brunch and headed toward Parkdale and Mt. Hood National forest where there are many beautiful hikes. We opted for the Tamanawas falls hike today ~5 miles and totally palatable for all the family hikers.

Gorgeous start to the hike:

And then as we started up the mountain, I said to Rawls “hey bud, watch the edge there” — he seemed ok at the moment and then became mr. grump for the next couple miles. I kept trying to talk to him abt what was going on and finally he shares “when you said that, it made me feel like I was going to fall”. Asked if we could move beyond and if he could forgive the comment to which he responded “yes, I will, but today is not going to be that day” and then he fully recovered and was a bright spot the rest of the hike 🤷‍♀️

Rawls said this would be his home if we left him on the hike:

And some other pretty snaps along the way:

And then we found Tamanawas falls:

We headed back with a nice stop in Parkdale and the brewery with the best backyard, Solera!

Back to the town – we rested a bit and had an early dinner across the street at Celilo – very season spot with great asparagus and local shiitakes / morels all over the menu.

Day 2 And last full day in Hood River before our final stop, Portland and first day we were able to sleep in. Started our Saturday again at Broder Ost (and definitely makes me want to visit Scandinavia!). William tried the Swedish meatballs which he said reminded him of Grandmama’s country fried steak. Still loving all the smoked and pickled things.

We decided to head up into the mountains to try out a hike and get a better vantage point of Mt. Hood.  When we got up to checkout the trail (with forewarning that there’s a lot of snow but easily passable without snow boats) we let the boys walk down a bit in the snow, but felt a little much for our water resistant hiking shoes.

We wanted to take a peek at the Timberline lodge – it’s an all-year round ski destination and where the Shining was filmed. Unfortunately no outside visitors inside at the moment, but we saw a great view of Mt. Hood and the exterior.

On the way down, we headed back through Mt. Hood National forest. The boys were protesting another hike today, so William made a deal that if they started one, they could “call it” along the way. Made it about a mile into Dog Creek trail before they did, but was still a pretty stretch.

Back in town we visited Stave and Stone tasting room for a flight — some of the wines (rose and Pinot noir) has a slight smoky taste from the terrible fire out here.

Walked back down to the Columbia River Gorge and spent some time on the beach waiting for out Solstice pizza table. So windy and fun to watch the kite surfers.

Dinner was at the wood fire pizza spot – Solstice. They’ve creatively built all these wooden pods outside the restaurant to keep their capacity over the past year. Perfect crust – creative ingredients (William tried the cherry, goat cheese, sausage! Cremini and caramelized onions for me)

Great ending to our stay here!