Advertisement
Published: July 23rd 2021
Edit Blog Post
20210722_093339
The gas station, hardware store, and grocery building at Hood Canal We left the KOA in Olympic Peninsula a little later than normal since we only had a 4 1/2 hour drive to Cascade Falls KOA. When we got near the bottom of the peninsula, Manoli noticed some nice views along the way, so we finally pulled into a combination gas station, hardware store and grocery store in Hood Canal. After buying a couple of coffees, we went across the street so Manoli could take some photos and collect some seashells. We continued on down towards Oregon and finally pulled off the interstate at Woodland to eat lunch. It took us a while to find a decent place to eat, but finally settled on Matt & Mandy's Family Diner, since it looked quaint and popular. The small dining room was covered with photos of veterans, from WWII to present, and all services. Apparently the owners came from a long line of veterans. I ordered a Reuben sandwich and Manoli ordered a French Dip sandwich. Both were delicious. The diner was quite small, but full most of the time, mostly with locals.
We continued on down the interstate until we passed the outskirts of Portland in Oregon and started following the Columbia
20210722_093447
Manoli wandering the beach at Hood Canal River. Manoli noticed a "rest area" named Multnomah Falls that was pretty packed. Since we'd already passed it by the time we decided we wanted to check it out, we continued on to the next exit, which was labeled Multnomah Falls. We took the exit and followed a sideroad, Columbia River Historic Byway. First we pulled off into a parking area to see the Horsetail Falls. After taking some photos, we continued along to the Multnomah Falls parking area, which was completely full, so we continued down the road to overflow parking. We then had to walk a half mile trail back to the falls. When we reached the entrance, we were told we had to already tickets to enter, but that we could get them online through the U.S. Forestry Service. Manoli followed the guys instructions, but ran into a problem when she realized we'd already used the website before to try to get tickets to Glacier National Park, but she couldn't remember her login. The guy tried to help, and then gave up and told us to go ahead, no charge. Multnomal Falls was quite impressive, being something like 500 feet high. We took some photos, then walked
20210722_114230
Matt&Mandy's Family Diner in Woodland WA for lunch up to the little bridge overlook part way up for some more photos.
Afterwards, we walked back down to check out their store, bought a few souvenirs, then headed back to our car. I forgot to mention that I'd bought a large soda before going up, at $4.50! It was refreshing though. We got back in our car, and tried to rejoin the interstate by continuing on, since I'd seen what looked like a ramp there, but unfortunately it was only for the other direction, to Portland. I had to turn around and go back the way we'd come, then get back on the interstate. We skirted the top of Portland and continued along the Columbia River to Cascade Falls, where are KOA for the next two days is located. After unpacking, and turning on the little but efficient heater in the cabin, we decided to go back to town to take some photos of the Bridge of the Gods, and then pick up something to eat. We got some okay photos, then I went to the nearby Bridgeside restaurant to order their seafood basket, only to find out they were out of 2 of the 3 seafood items
20210722_120356
My Reuben and Manoli's French Dip at Matt&Mandy's
in it. We checked two more restaurants nearby, but both of them closed at 6pm! We ended up going to the grocery store where I bought a premade sandwich and banana cream pie, while Manoli got some fruit, then returned to the KOA. Before my shower, I tried out the hot tub, which was okay and very relaxing, but sort of crowded.
We've already made reservations for tomorrow at 11am, to take a scenic cruise along the Columbia River. See you then.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.109s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.08s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb