Red, White, Blue (and yellow and purple too!)

Rob and I have been wanting to get away for a while now. Not a major trip or anything, just a night or two away from the demands of to do lists, chores, hobbies, etc. Since it was a long weekend, we decided to drive to Portland, stay over night, and then do a nice hike in the area. We definitely made the most of our little roadtrip.

We arrived in Portland in the early afternoon and relaxed in the Pearl District, not too far from our hotel. We browsed in some of the ecclectic shops, grabbed some inexpensive happy hour eats, and tested our stamina at Powell's Bookstore. In the evening we enjoyed the blues festival, watched the fireworks, and gobbled some late night food at one of the (many) street vendors.

The next morning we drove to the Columbia River Gorge in the South Cascades to hike Dog Mountain. It was a pretty difficult hike for both of us. It starts steep, takes a break from being so steep, and then at the end it's steep again. Mercy!

It was also a bit chilly that day, and the wind was whipping all around us, getting stronger the closer we got to the summit.

But the views at the top were outstanding! You could see panoramic views of the river, the cascade mountain range, and rolling meadows of wildflowers.
I thought that all that hard work hiking up the mountain was worth it for such a view, Rob said he loved me anyways.

So, we had our luscious reprieve from all those to do lists and now feel much relief! But, we're not on holiday anymore...so it's back to the same old busy shenanigans!

Although, I have to say that last month ended up being a heavy-spending month for me. There will probably be no Goodwill Hunting posts until August at the earliest! My goodness how time and money flies when you're having fun!