Oregon: Day 4 & 5

I slacked this week! I was getting over my cold/sinus infection and lacked the concentration power to finish this next part. But now it's here! This is about the last part of our trip. (We have been home a week now.)

Day 4, Waterfalls and Crown Point:

We went to Multnomah Falls first that day.

We took the interstate highway to the correct exit, and then had to drive a couple miles on a beautiful road called the Columbia River Scenic Highway until we were at the waterfalls. On the way, we actually passed a sign for another smaller waterfall, but didn't stop. I didn't get a picture of the roadway myself but here's an idea for you, found on flickr:

source

Oh and one more, because this really captured it too!

source

And now, on to my (less outstanding) photos!
The sun was not at a good angle for pictures of the waterfalls. I guess you have to figure out the best time of day for pictures there when the sun is out. Plus, my real camera battery died. :( Most of these are cell phone pictures.

So it flows from the top of the cliff/hill and dips into a small stream which falls once again, a double waterfall. We walked up the paved trail to the bridge where we got a closer view of the upper part of the waterfall. It was a hilly walk up! There was a cute lodge/restaurant/information center there at the falls, along with a cheaper food shop and an espresso stall! So when we walked up to the location, what I noticed right away was the sound of the water falling, and the smell of coffee in the air! That place is awesome.

I didn't get a great shot of the building myself, so here is a photo from it's wikipedia link:
We hung out at the waterfalls for an hour or more, ate lunch there, got an Americano, and sat on a shaded bench before leaving. We next went to the Vista House on Crown Point, a high hill/overlook point. It was nearby.

The Vista House was finished in 1918 as a rest stop and observatory for travelers.
A part of history.

view from parking spot
view from second story of observatory

My husband snapped a picture of one more waterfall that day. We were back on the scenic highway road after leaving Crown Point, and saw a sign for yet another waterfall. By that time I was so tired out, and I saw the uphill path you'd have to take to see it. So me and Kavi stayed in the car while he walked up the steep path to see it.

Latourell Falls

So it was another day of beautiful scenery.

Day 5, Zoo & Rose garden:

It was our last full day in the Portland area. We decided to go to the Oregon Zoo. I didn't get a lot of outstanding pictures of animals at the zoo, but here are a couple of pictures anyway.bear comparisons with pull up info tabs

Owl that didn't look real, but it was

And then within the zoo there was a train ride you could buy a ticket for.
So we did and we got on the red and black train.

And the train took you on a very pretty ride through forest covered hills for 2 miles (I think). It stopped at a station outside of the zoo property where you could get off, get a hand stamp, and get back on later.

From the station, the Rose Garden, the Japanese Garden, and a children's play area were within walking distance. We chose to check out the rose garden. Outside of the garden area there was this view, of some of downtown Portland and Mt. Hood hovering over it in the distance.

Hey Mt. Hood, I know you!

We walked into the garden area and it was even prettier than I thought it would be. Bright colored roses in bloom all over! And a very good rose smell in the air.

After spending at least 45 minutes there, and laying on some soft grass that did not have Florida red fire ants living in it, we decided we should catch a train back to the zoo before it got too late. We had to wait back at the little station for 25 minutes, but it was relaxing anyway. We got to take the retro 1958 Zooliner back into the zoo.
I had many thoughts going on during the train ride back. I wanted to take in every second of the scenery. I am usually afraid of heights, and while this train wasn't on a high up mountain, there were some steep looking areas right off the side of the train tracks. We were in the hills right by downtown Portland. But I felt like some of my fear had diminished. I had been up and down mountains, hills, and pathways the previous days. I was enjoying the unique scenery instead of feeling nervous about falling down. I didn't want the train ride to end!

So that was another great day. And we did tons of walking, yet again!

We were hungry when we got back to the zoo and it was already almost 6 pm, zoo closing time. We left and since we had to pass by downtown to get to WA and to our motel, we decided to drive into downtown and stop at an Indian food truck we read about.
My husband stood in line(on the other side of the truck) to buy their $5 special. Incredible pricing for a prepared Indian meal. And this one meal fed us three, no joke. It had rice, 4 vegetarian Indian side dishes, and a huge piece of naan, which was folded in half below.

Day 6, say bye to Portland:

(airport)

And now, I think I have shared everything I wanted to share about our trip.

I realize I posted a bazillion pictures in this blog entry!

I hope you enjoyed!