Most of the family and friends that came to celebrate Abbie & Patrick's wedding headed home on Labor Day.  Lee and I didn't have to be back in California until the following Saturday or Sunday, so we planned on spending a few days with my family and the extended Kalemba family who was there for the entire week! My Aunt Jean rented a killer house in Hood River with picture windows and a view that just wouldn't quit.  We had planned on staying at the house with my aunt, my parents, and the families of my twin cousins through Wednesday.   Then, we had planned to go to Rainier National Park to hike and explore for a few days before returning back to California.  But, on Tuesday night when the forecast was nothing but rain and my broken rib was still causing me a fair amount of pain, we decided to cancel the trip to Rainier and spend those extra days in Hood River.

Between the weather, my rib, a very pregnant Lani, a three-month old Owen and three darling little girls (my cousins nieces) our activity level during our time there was minimal.  Lee was such a good sport.  I spent a lot of time holding Owen and playing with Kelsey, Reese and Molly.  The big outings of the week were:

At Bridal Veil FallsAt Bridal Veil Falls 1.  Sight-seeing to four of the nearby waterfalls in the gorge.  Lani went with us and the total amount of walking was maybe two miles.  We saw falls we hadn't ever known were there:  Horsetail Falls, Wahkeena Falls, Bridal Veil Falls and Latourell Falls. We also went to the Vista House and took in the amazing views of the gorge from up high.  Lani and I couldn't believe we had never stopped there before.

2.  Stopping in at the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery.  The salmon were spawning and there were fish ladders with windows from down below where you could watch the salmon navigate the dam.  They were enormous!  The little girls loved it.

3.  The boys (Matt, Dan, Kyle and Lee) rented river S.U.P's and paddled 8 miles upstream along the Columbia River.  Their boards were 14 feet long and they had 5 - 7 foot swells that they surfed for a couple of hours.  It looked like a lot of work and a lot of fun.  I was sorry my rib didn't allow me to even consider participating. 

4.  Driving up to Timberline Lodge (Mt. Hood) and stopping in at Panorama Point and the Vista House (again) for views with blue skies instead of the grey ones from earlier in the week. Columiba River Gorge

5.  Attending the Timbers vs. Toronto major league soccer game.  My dad purchased some pretty sweet tickets and we had a lot of fun at the game.  There are no fans quite like the Timber fans and it was really great to be in the stadium and feel the energy.

Thunder Storm And although it wasn't an outing, time in the house with the Kalembas was just great.  We don't get to see them nearly enough and they are just such special people.  We loved every minute with them and were super fortunate to be able to fit under one roof in an amazing house.  We spent most of our time in the main room with the wall of windows staring out at the wind and kite surfers.   We also had a pretty phenomenal lightning storm that week and there was no better place to view it then from that house. 

We wish we could have gotten to Rainier for at least a day or two, but time with the east coast Kalembas was a really great trade-off.  We're already discussing where and when we need to meet up now that all weddings are behind us....

If you're interested in seeing more pictures from our week in Hood River, go here.