Hellooooo from beautiful, extremely hospitable Hood River, OR! No, we didn't make it too far today, but managed stops in Portland and here on this, the first day of our cross country adventure.
We had a nice visit with our friends the Robbins in Portland, though Jon and Ani have colds and can't be near Madeline. Madeline is our friend who is almost 5 and has a very rare and aggressive cancer and is being treated and has been for almost a year. Her mom Taeryn is Laura's good friend and workout partner so she and Laura snuck in a lap swim and the rest of the family did errands and played frisbee.
We found a Pho restaurant in Portland, favorite quick cheap food of gluten free people. For those who are sadly unaware, Pho is Vietnamese noodle (rice noodle) soup and we all love it.
Then it was on to the Columbia River Gorge and one short and one long waterfall hike. We did the forced march to the top of Multnomah Falls, really one of the most beautiful places on earth.
It was a totally pleasant day pretty devoid of any complaining or bickering. Yup, day 1... We'll see how we are on that front in a couple of weeks time.