Road Trip: Hood River/Mount Hood

If you follow my blog regularly you will know that this road trip was mentioned last Sunday. This is the road trip that took a crazy turn and we ended up getting back home on Sunday morning at 4:00 a.m. The road trip wasn't a bust, but it was sure one that won't be forgotten.

The best part of the trip was that Mount Hood looked wonderful!

On our way to Hood River, Oregon, we stopped at the Pioneer Womans Grave site. This was an old grave, circa 1800s, of a pioneer woman that was making the journey from the east to the west and died along the way. This grave site is a great reminder of the troubles and heartache the pioneers faced while headed to a better life in the west.

The story states that a man and his two children had just laid to rest the woman, which was his wife, and the children's mother. She had been sick for several days and they stopped the wagon train and camped a few nights before she died. The children were both under the age of five.

After looking around the grave site and spending some time seeking a geocache (which we did not find due to everyone needing to use the bathroom) we headed toward Hood River, Oregon. As we came over the crest of the hill, there it was. Clear, beautiful, and amazing view of Mount Hood.

Once at the base of the mountain, The Bean wanted a "selfie" with the mountain. He has been taking his Kindle along on road trips now and his own Nikon camera to document things for his own blog. His blog was started by me before he was born and now he has taken it over to keep the tradition going and follow in his mom's footsteps as a blogger. Paint me proud!

After leaving the view point we headed on toward Hood River and began our endless search for a camp spot near the base. We regretted not leaving the valley sooner so we could secure a spot, but the hunt was a lot of fun. We followed some signs along the highway toward a lavender farm and boy was it a treat to see such great lavender plants. It was the lavender farm of my dreams!

For someone who loves lavender so much this farm was perfect for getting an idea of a layout in the future. The smell coming off the lavender field was so heavenly.

One side of the road was the lavender field and the other side had a wonderful view of Mount Hood.

A view of Mount Adams from the Hood River valley looking north.

This area around Hood River is such a beautiful area. As we headed more toward the town there was farm stands and field of apples, peaches, pears, and filberts with stand out front selling their products. It was endless farming and selling and a nature-lovers paradise, for sure. The Mr. and I have been on a mission to eat more clean lately and we couldn't help but long to live around an area that offered great food choices. There were so many that your taste buds would never get bored.

Once we arrived in Hood River we took advantage of the gift certificates we had from our Pirate Treasure Hunt in Depoe Bay last year. These certificates were for dinner at the Full Sail Brewery. We had dinner and purchased a growler full of Session Wheat Ale to go.

While at the brewery, we decided to try a taste pallet of their micro brews to see which one we enjoyed the most. The Full Sail lager and the Session Wheat was definitely our favorites.

When we finally left the brewery we decided to try to find a hotel room instead, but wouldn't you know it, every single room was booked in Hood River. We even searched the towns surrounding Hood River and every one was taken. We did happen to find one hotel that had one room left, but the man we spoke with would only allow two people to occupy a room at a time. We couldn't allow The Bean to be out in the cold, so we trekked on. We pulled into a rest area and used our camping blankets and pillows to make a bed in the back of the Compass and slept a few hours before driving home. We arrived back home around 4:00 a.m., but we did determine that in a pinch, the back of the Compass is fair game for camping. We actually all slept great back there and still had room for our cooler and food. This is something we will be doing again because we all had an awesome time!

As we traveled to Hood River we passed a growler filler called Bigfoot Growlers. We decided right then and there that this is a place we need to add to our list of growler cafes to check out.