Jan&Lou Blog Site: Fri July 10 - brunch in Beaverton

We, the Shapiros and the Zonies met Sam and Julie, Meghan and Marco at the Elmer's across the street for brunch. There were 10 of us. Good selection of food, so everyone was satisfied.
We started about 10:30 and ate and hung out till 12:30. Hanging out was fun. Just talking and catching up on our recent adventures and talking about wedding stuff. We left before 12:30. Sam and Julie etal went back to Newberg. The Zonies left in their car for Mt Hood. We rode with the Shapiros.
The ride out along 26 East was nothing special until we spotted Mt Hood the first time. An ethereal snow capped peak nestled miles away between the ever present and ever dense Oregon forest land. Mark and Naomi had done the Ridge Road the day before, so we skipped it, opting to hit RT 35 and head north along the east side of the mountain. Some really beautiful mountain scenery. We drove north till we hit 84/30 West. then drove along the north side of Mt Hood. We were in a little town (somewhat expensive little town) called River Hood or Hood River. We parked and walked around doing a little shopping and enjoying the quaintness of the place. We were looking for the Columbia River Gorge. Silly us. An oldtimer (oldtimers seem to be getting younger and younger) whose son lived in Baltimore) explained that the River Gorge was the whole stretch of the Columbia River (from where we were to about 10 miles east of Portland) just a hundred yards or so north of us. So were driving west now (after looping around Mt Hood) along the southern bank of the Columbia. We followed 84 west which is a rather busy highway. It runs concurrent with 30 west, except in places where historic 30 splits off of 84 and then reconnects. Those parts of 30 are scenic. We passed by the Bridge of the Gods - so named because in the memory of the local indigenous people there had been a rock slide that allowed them to cross the river in those days. Over many years the river cut through the rock again, but the spot become known as a place where you could cross the river. Bought some fruit - cherries and peaches from a local vendor. We continued on to Horsetail Falls and a little further on Multnomah Falls. Very nice scenic spots - crowded. Nice spots just tend to draw people. Like us.
Turns out we passed the Zonies, because they went up the Ridge Road. We met up at Multnomah Falls. Hung out. Took pictures.
Garret called from the airport. He just arrived from LA. The day before, he had just come back to LA after a 33 hour flight from Bulgaria. But that's another story. He found his own way on the MAX to his AirBnB place about 2 miles from our hotel. We'll catch up with him tomorrow - Wedding Day!
We got back from the Loop. It was late, and other than the breakfast we had before we started our ride, we'd only eaten some fruit we had in the car. We stopped for dinner at the Sweet Tomato restaurant, but Mark and Janice weren't impressed. So we left and went to Thailand a couple of miles away. Food was very good. Meanwhile, Ken and Cindy, who were a little behind us (they made one more scenic stop) thought they were meeting us at the Sweet Tomato. We forgot to tell them we changed our minds, so we ate at Thailand and they ate at Sweet Tomato. Oh well. Hard to coordinate more than 2 people at a time.
It was late and everyone was tired (except Janice). Everyone turned in calling it a night, but Janice and I took a little walk around the hotel.
Now about 11:30 after posting this entry. Time for bed.
Tomorrow - the Wedding in Newberg in the afternoon and hopefully the Spruce Goose in McMinnville in the morning.

Mt Hood