Vacation - Day 4

After the Tillamook Cheese Factory, we did not stop until we got to Astoria, where we spent the night. By this time, our daughter pointed out that we had driven the whole coast of Oregon. We stayed right on the might Columbia River. It was fun to watch the big barges and other boats going down the last bit of the river to the ocean.

(this was the view from our room!)

Hey, wait a second, isn't that Washington over there?! If it looks chilly, well you would be correct. That night we ate at a wonderful restaurant and had seafood of course!! I had crab cakes. They were wonderful. They melted, literally, in your mouth. YUMMY!!! We found this really cool house called Flavel House, which I think is now a museum. We did not go through it or look into whether or not it was a museum, but I did take a picture of it. Compared to most of the other houses that we had seen, this house was huge! The house was so big that I could not even get it all in the frame! (Isn't it gorgeous?)

The next day was a little rainy. Go figure, we are in Oregon, what else did you expect!! We headed off to Portland and then down to Salem. Before getting to Salem, we detoured, just slightly to Silverton. Silverton is the home of the beautiful, Cooley's Gardens. Of course, I missed the darn irises blooming, but I did get their catalog!!!! (hmmm, how much money did B say that I could spend on irises??) I haven't forgotten that I still have my irises at by bro's house, but I have to add to them if I can. (there are too many new ones!!) I just can't resist. After stopping at Cooley's to get the catalog, we went to Silver Falls. Silver Falls is a state park which has many waterfalls in it. Most are just a short walk/hike off the road. Here are a few awesome pics from Silver Falls!

(North Falls)

(South Falls)

There was a trail all the way down to the base of South Falls, but we did not venture down there. We did not get to see all of the waterfalls. After spending a few minutes at South Falls, we headed into Salem (just a short drive actually) where we spent the night. We actually got to the hotel early enough that we were able to play in the pool. Barry stayed in the room (too tired), but the kids and I played for a while in the pool. It was pretty fun. Yes, I got into a suit. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the suit that I bought was a little bit too big (always a good thing!). That night we had dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Alessandro's Ristorante & Galleria. The diners are surrounded by some fabulous pieces of art! Can you think of a better way to spend your evening?? (Super food, and beautiful art!) I HIGHLY recommend it! The food was delicious!!

The only depressing part of this day was knowing that our vacation was soon to come to an end!

To Be Continued...