We left for our honeymoon on Sunday (8/29) after cleaning up the lodge and packing everything up into cars and trailers. We drove to Sumpter, OR and stayed in Stacey and Kevin's (D's aunt and uncle) cabin. Monday we had breakfast at the Scoop and Steamer in Sumpter before heading northwest toward Portland. We took a small detour along the Columbia to see a number of waterfalls (including the 611 foot Multnomah Falls) and continued on to Portland where we had our first Benihana dining experience (which was awesome!) and searched for a hotel in the mess that is the Portland highway/freeway system.
Dustin sporting my awesome sunglasses on the beginning of our drive (note the nasty sagebrush)
Thanks for the use of the cabin, Kevin & Stacey!
One of our timer photos at Horsetail Falls along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
Me proving to Dustin that I could, indeed, fit in this small space, which he could not. I win!
Bridal Veil Falls
Tuesday we played in Portland (which did not impress us much, though we've been told that we didn't go to the 'right part' of Portland). We saw the Lan Su Classical Chinese Garden, a very pretty little garden that takes up an entire block and makes you forget you're in the middle of the city. We ate at the Old Town Pizza Company, which was delish and has awesome delivery bicycles, drove/walked around some more and then decided to get the heck out of town and head south.
We drove down to Canby, a little town where the Swan Island Dahlia company is located. They have over 4 acres of dahlias (the same flowers we grew for the wedding) and I was in love! They have hundreds of different colors/sizes and it was really fun to walk through the rows of bright colors. Dustin's favorite was a dinnerplate (the size of a person's head) appropriately named Gladiator. I, of course, couldn't pick a favorite and am now poring over their catalog, trying to decide which ones I want to try to grow next year. We continued south to Silverton and stayed at a cute little motel and ate junk food and were introduced to the alligator hunters on the Discovery channel.
I'm in heaven!
Over 4 acres!
Dustin's favorite, Gladiator
One of my favs, Honeydew
Our hotel in Silverton and the little Subaru
Wednesday started out cold and rainy and we were a bit worried, as we had a 6 mile hike ahead of us in the nearby Silver Falls State Park. It actually turned out pretty good, because it kept a lot of people away from the Ten Falls Trail. We saw a family of deer before we even started, and we had a lot of fun along the beautiful trail (the trail actually goes behind 4 of the 10 falls).
Our first view of the falls. You get the idea of how misty and cold it was.
Our little family of deer
Super-stoked to begin our hike!
Our little slug friend
After our hike, we did some scenic driving and ended up in Cottage Grove, where there was supposed to be a pretty sweet little detour of covered bridges. The detour was pretty lame (most of the bridges were blocked off and not all that cool), so we continued west and spent the night in Reedsport on the coast.
Thursday we drove up to Florence where we took a dune-buggy tour of the sand dunes. We debated on whether to go to the sea lion caves (we'd heard a LOT of negative reviews) and once we caught a whiff of the caves from the shop (WAY above the cave itself), decided against it. Instead we just peeked over the edge of the pullout along the highway and were rewarded with a big group of sea lions swimming around in the water below. We stopped at the Heceta Head Lighthouse and other random places along the coast up to Newport. We stayed at the Newport Belle, a paddleboat Bed and Breakfast, which was awesome.
Me, Dustin, and our driver
Checking out the beach
Heceta Head Lighthouse
Sea lions outside of the cave
Me taking a photo on my phone for Britni
The weather along the coast was so weird. It would be warm and then it would be really cold.
Our lodgings in Newport at the Newport Belle Bed and Breakfast
Dustin relaxing
Trying out our life jackets in the event that our bed and breakfast sink
My favorite sea lion by the Newport docks
These guys were so aggressive. Note the scars all over that big guy's back
The Newport Belle at night
Friday we hit the aquarium in Newport and drove up the coast. We saw some grey whale spouts off the coast of Depoe Bay and did another hike slightly east of Lincoln City across the Drift Creek Bridge, a 240' suspension bridge 100' above the ground. Yes. I, Kate, walked across a gigantic bridge without freaking out. I'm growing up in my old age. We were amazed by the huge weather difference between the coast and just the 10 miles we drove east. That night we crashed a high school football game in Tillamook (yes, their mascot is the Cheesemakers), where they totally trashed whatever team they were playing on their super-sweet field. Living in a tiny town with a huge sponsor like Tillamook Cheese does have its perks. We stayed the night in some random little town northwest of Tillamook.
I love the sea otters and their grooming habits
The touch-pools, which I love and Dustin thinks is kind of gross
A crab munching on a clam
The Japanese crab are the largest known crab and can get up to 13' wide. Crazy!
Sea nettles are so cool!
Me sad that we didn't see any whales (blowholes don't count!)
A little nervous to head across the bridge
Me on the rocks below the bridge, next to the waterfall
Heading back across
Watching the crazy surfers in the 40 degree water
Tillamook, home of the Cheesemakers
Saturday we took a morning walk along the beach, and headed north to Cannon Beach (yes, the Goonies rocks!). We also saw the remains of a shipwreck on a beach near Astoria and saw the Astoria Column, a 110' column that you can climb all the way to the top of (which I definitely did NOT climb, though Dustin, of course did). We also saw the house from the Goonies movie before driving across the Columbia river into Washington and back east along the WA coast for a little while before heading home.
Jellyfish
This rock totally reminds me of the elephant from the Jungle Book
The Goonies rocks!
Playing in the water!
I am both cold and repulsed by the fact that parents were letting their kids crawl all over this Tetanus-trap
The Astoria column, which was way too tall for me to climb up. Spiral staircase with a handrail on only one side? No thank you!
The Goonies house
Big elk on the Washington side of the Columbia
Looks like you guys had a great honeymoon! I love all of the photos.
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