Ramblin Home

 

After all of our climbing amazingness in the dry desserty air we decided to road trip it home through the Mt. Hood forest. The drive was significantly longer but it was maybe one of the highlights for me. We had nothing to do all day except eventually make it back to Seattle, the sun was shining, James' car had a sunroof and none of us had a plan. Rarely do I feel like my life allows time for rambling and getting the chance to turned into a magnificent day.

 

 

Joshua found us a hike called Castles Canyon in the Mt. Hood National Forest. It was only a mile long but gained 1,600 ft. elevation. It looked like a nice way to stretch our legs, good walk, turns out Joshua is a stellar hike finder. This mini hike through the trees opened up onto these huge pocketed rocks jutting up from the ground. They were covered in moss and boulders. We didn't know the name of the hike until we exited and I happened to say they looked like the little sand castles you build when you make the sand all wet and let it drip. Something about them was striking and intriguing.

I decided to venture out onto the edge of the top "castle." The boys thought this not such a good idea and hung out before the  bridge." I worried Joshua a bit, but I promise I was safe, and I have photo proof that I crawled over the "bridge" just to be extra safe. It was a great little break from the car and super lovely to get to hike around without running into a hoard of people.

 

Our other major pit stop was Solera Brewing in Parkdale, OR. As we were driving there were miles of apple trees blossoming. I've never seen them all in bloom like that. A few mountains were standing up behind them watching over as the sunshine lit all the little blossoms. The whole drive was quite beautiful but this was my favorite part. I really wanted to stop but had no reason to until James remembered this brewery. Best brewery location ever! It is in a small one stoplight kind of place where every store/restaurant has an outdoor patio. At the brewery we all got Cuban sandwiches & beers and lounged on the stage. The backdrop was Mt. Hood and blooming apple trees. Obviously we sat there and tried to come up with ways to live here and get jobs, obviously!

Finally managed our way home and we all ate ramen, threw our stuff on the floor and went bed!