Thursday and Friday, March 28 and 29, 2019 (Hillsboro, OR)

After emptying our holding tanks, we pulled out of Guaranty RV just after 11:00, taking highway 99 north, crossing the Willamette River....

...going through Harrisburg...

...and eventually making our way over to the I-5.

Crossing the Willamette River again...

After missing their driveway, and having to go around a big block, we arrived at Dawne and Mike's around 2:00. Dawne met us at the end of the driveway on her dad's 3-wheel bike and led us in...and after big hugs, they showed us where to park. Steve manoeuvred around a big loop into the spot beside the huge garage where their fifth-wheel.

The property is actually owned by Dawne's parents and has an amazing history to it. Her dad was born in the house that still stands at the end of the driveway and her parents built the house they're in now themselves. Mike and Dawne recently renovated the basement suite in the family house and moved into it to be closer to her parents who are both in their 90's.

Once we were in place, they left us to get set up...water and power, awesome! Love this mooch-docking spot!

About an hour later, we walked up to the house and Mike and Dawne showed us around the house and property. Dawne's dad has been a collector of just about anything all his life and the house and out buildings are like walking into a museum...very cool! He has a couple of old cars too.

If we remember correctly this is a 1931 Ford Model A...

And this beauty is a 1932 Ford Phaeton...very cool!

And when Dawne turned 55 Mike got her a 1955 Chevy pickup. What a guy!

After the tour, we all sat in our rig, chatting over beer and wine...and then it was time to go back up to the house and get dinner going.

Son, Jake, Mike and son-in-law, Jason...grilling steak...

Daughter, Cassy carving the steak...and Dawne all gloved up taking the garlic bread out of the oven!

Then we took the food upstairs where we all filled our plates...left to right around the table, Steve, Mike, Dawne, Sherwood (Dawne's Dad) and Dolores (Dawne's Mom)...

And sitting at a table in the loft...Jason, Cassy, Jake, Ian (Cassy and Jason's son), Austin (Kendal's boyfriend) and Kendal (Cassy and Jason's daughter)... Note just some of the collectibles in the above and below photos...very cool!

After a fabulous dinner and evening we called it a night and walked back to our trailer...so great meeting some of Mike and Dawne's family! 

Friday morning Dawne, Steve and I walked down to La Provence Boulangerie and Patisserie...Mike had an appointment and met us there. We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast! The croissants were excellent!

We walked back and then talked about what to do today. This is the creek behind the house...beautiful and will even be more so once the leaves on all the trees come out! It has trout in it, the ducks are happy here and the neighbours field occasionally has deer on it.

Mike and Dawne suggested a drive on the Columbia River Gorge...sounds wonderful! We all climbed into Dawne's dad's truck...to take it out for a good run...and we were off! 

Our first stop...Vista House...Vista House is a museum at Crown Point in Multnomah County, Oregon, that also serves as a memorial to Oregon pioneers and as a comfort station for travelers on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The site, situated on a rocky promontory, is 733 feet (223 m) above the Columbia River on the south side of the Columbia River Gorge. The hexagonal stone building was designed by Edgar M. Lazarus in the style of Art Nouveau, and completed in 1918 after nearly two years of construction. 

In 2000, restoration on the building began, and lasted five years. The Vista House is located within the Corbett city limits, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

We had taken a selfie then a nice fellow asked if we wanted him to take our picture...

Fabulous views!

Panorama view...

(Click on photo to enlarge)

From Vista House, we took the Historic Columbia Highway east through a very scenic area. One thing we all forgot about, though, is that it's Spring Break and everyone else seemed to have the same idea of driving and visiting the parks, trails and waterfalls along the Gorge. So the traffic was stop and go and backed up for almost a mile as we approached Multnomah Falls. Realizing we weren't going to get a parking spot Steve got out and walked ahead to get a couple of quick photos...

Multnomah Falls is a waterfall located in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, Oregon, United States. The waterfall is accessible from the Historic Columbia River Highway and Interstate 84. Spanning two tiers on basalt cliffs, it is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon at 620 ft (189 m) in height.
The land surrounding the falls was developed by Simon Benson in the early-twentieth century, with a pathway, viewing bridge, and adjacent lodge being constructed in 1925. The Multnomah Falls Lodge and the surrounding footpaths at the falls were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981. Contemporarily, the state of Oregon maintains a switchback trail that ascends to a talus slope 100 feet (30 m) above the falls, and descends to an observation deck that overlooks the falls' edge. The falls attract over two million visitors each year, making it the most-visited natural recreation site in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

Sure would have been nice to have explored this area...

There are  number of waterfalls along this road...

We drove all of the way to the town of Hood River where it is usually extremely windy with a lot of windsurfers taking advantage of it...but not today! So we stopped for a quick bite and McDonald's and then headed back taking the I-84.

Big Paddle-wheeler on the river...

That's the Vista House way up top...

On the way back through Portland, we went south down the I-5 and then 217 southwest to the Scholls area where Mike and Dawne used to live. We drove passed their old place and continued onto Ponzi Vineyards where Dawne and I enjoyed a glass of wine on the patio...

Dawne picked up a bottle of one of their wines...

A beautiful spot...

On our way home, we stopped at Papa Murphy's and picked up a couple of "bake at home" pizzas. We sat at their place, Dawne and I enjoying another glass of wine and Steve and Mike beer, while the pizza cooked.

What a fabulous day! Thanks so much to our tour guides!