If you haven’t guessed yet, when we travel, we don’t just choose a location and stay put. We are always on the go, even on our vacations. This trip to the Pacific Northwest we hit so many incredible places in a fairly short amount of time. We were able to rent a van at an amazing rate that didn’t count mileage! Lucky for us seeing as how we drove everywhere to squeeze in as much beautiful as we could!
On this particular day we headed to see Mt. Hood. Coming from a fairly flat area the moment I see anything larger than a speed bump, I’m excited! We arrived around mid day, which doesn’t provide the most flattering light, colors are harsh and things are generally too bright, however, the scenery is amazing enough to overlook these minor details.
We arrived and parked in the lot for the Timberline Lodge. This was the hotel used in the movie The Shining. If you’ve not seen it…shame on you! One of the best scary movies ever. I couldn’t wait to get inside and I was nervous it would leave me with nightmares of my own. Surprisingly, inside it looked nothing like it did in the movie. The ceilings were very low and the common area was rather small. I will admit I was a little bummed. We managed to get out unscathed and there were no creepy ghost girls in blue dresses anywhere to be found.
When we travel we always have our kiddos with us. We are never quite prepared for our upcoming adventure as we don’t always look into all the details. It usually provides for fabulously funny stories later and me shaking my head throughout the trip. There is a paved trail behind the lodge that leads up the south side of Mt. Hood. Seeing as how we didn’t have any sort of hiking gear and heard the words “paved trail” we opted to keep the twins in their stroller. Charley pushed them along and that trail was much steeper than it appeared. We also realized that it wasn’t paved for very long. The trail began to narrow and get a bit, well, bumpy. The funny/ridiculous part is that we didn’t stop. Charley continued to push the double stroller up until we truly couldn’t go any further. Why? Well, why not, really? If he’s pushing, why complain?!
When we got to the point of not wanting to go further or fearing for our safety (just kidding) we stopped for a few pictures. I love how Bradley seemed completely thrilled to have conquered this hurdle…because of course he did so much to help. Still, you can tell he is a fan of reaching new heights!
We were surrounded by lovely views.
This is one of my favorite images from the day. I had this enlarged and it’s hanging above my bed 🙂
Even though the sky was so clear, in the distance it was quite hazy. It made for an interesting effect on the neighboring mountains and the rolling hills along the way.
On our way back down we passed by these sweet flowers. I enjoyed the contrast between the rocky paths that led to the snow speckled mountain and the small fields of wildflowers.
For us with small kiddos, this was not an excursion to fill the whole day. It was a nice side trip, a fun thing to say we’ve done. I think it would be amazing to see this covered in snow. One day, perhaps I’ll get to do that 🙂
~Melissa
