best date ever

Dar surprised me for my birthday & took me on an excursion train ride up through the cherry orchard area of Hood River. This was, ahem, back in April, so the sunshine & blossoming trees were even more welcome then than now. Although we are still loving & enjoying the blooms & sweet sunshine:).

It was such a fun day: we got on the train at 11, clacked our way slowly through the mountains & orchards, past streams & sun-dappled meadows, to a little town perched in the shadow of Mt. Hood. Oh, Mt. Hood, how your locals love you! I am beginning to understand the allure: a day that you can see Mt. Hood means it is a clear, sunny day. And Mt. Hood is a mountain. It just reigns majestically over The Valley, set apart from the rest of the Cascades in such a nice triangular mountain-y shape. Listen to me! I was telling Dar the other day that I still don't quite feel like an Oregonian. I love it here: I am happy here. But I still see Oregonians as a people that are in a slightly different category than me. Not in a bad way. I wonder, do you ever feel like you are a native if you weren't born there?

 

Anyway, it was a lovely relaxing ride. We could both gawk out the window & enjoy the sites: that's one bummer about driving places. Although, Dar's assured me the reason Oregonians are the most courteous drivers (it's true! look here) is because they enjoy seeing the sites while driving & it's expected to drive at tortoise-like speeds when ogling the scenery. :). Maybe that's why, according to the same survey, we are also some of the nation's worst drivers?...Driving aside, we took a lunch break in the aforementioned little town in the shadow of Hood before turning around & heading back into Hood River.

On the return trip, there were western characters walking the train, entertaining us with songs, jokes, & card tricks. FYI, if you are ever in the area & have young children, I think this would be a really good outing.

We made it back to the station in the afternoon & enjoyed an ice cream cone in a park. Then we headed back down the Gorge to Bonneville Fish Hatchery.

 

I know, that's what I thought too, a fish hatchery? Oh well, we could stop by & look at some fish. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover a fish hatchery means pretty old buildings, lots of nice little landscaped ponds & a 12 foot sturgeon named Hermon. Also a great place to take kids.

 

After that, we stopped by Portland's Pearl District & walked the streets, bopping into a little grocery store we like to buy Rogue River Blue Cheese at, hitting up anthropologie:)), & admiring the architecture. I thoroughly enjoy our few & far between trips into Portland. I belong in the green valley, but venturing into the city now & then fulfills some need for concrete & culture that lives somewhere inside me.

We decided to go for sushi & waited in line for 45 minutes to get some. We are not sushi aficionados, but we do appreciate authentic, good food, & went for the "real" stuff. Sadly, sushi in it's pure form just didn't do it for us. What can we say? We love our sketchy taco vans. Now that's authentic!

It was a lovely day spent together: nearly a year into our marriage, I can honestly say it's only gotten better (and I thought we had a pretty awesome start!).