Our nice little Saturday

With the weather so nice and an unsuspected change in our weekend plans we decided to spend Saturday in our favorite little town and take Dakota on her first hike in the gorge. We took her Elowah falls and McCord Creek.

I was praying these these wouldn't thaw and stab me in the head

 Come on mom, hurry up!

So much ice on the trail! Thank god for rails but wish we would have remembered Dakotas gentle leader, she pulled the entire time.

Elowah Falls

McCord Creek

and this is what happens when you want your photo taken but forget to change the setting on the SLR

Both of lower Elowah Falls 

 After a little over an hour of hiking we made our way to our favorite gorge town Hood River! We both realized that we hadn't been hiking in the gorge for almost a year. We didn't do it at all last summer with Dakota only being a few months old and me training for the marathon. Time for a change!



We were two starving hikers and went straight to Double Mountain Brewery.

I was soon to make a stupid decision and let my taste buds order off the menu for me instead of my stomach. One wheat beer down with a delicious turkey sandwich. 

We walked around downtown, checked out all of our favorite shops and headed for our favorite coffee shop Ground Espresso Bar. The have great breakfast, yummy paninis for lunch. What I love the most is at the register they have a list of the baristas' and what they are saving their tips for. Some are for traveling, school, a guitar. We go there often enough and notice that some of them have changed what they are saving for. It's nice to know what your tips are going towards.

I love their door! The inside handle is the head of a hammer.

We took one last walk to the animal shop. I like to get Dakota a treat for when we leaver her in the car during our trips. Something to look forward too after being alone for a while. From there we took hwy 35 home and drove through the mountain. It always seems so weird to me to see the fruit loop so dead and dormant, unlike it's vibrancy in spring and summer. I cannot wait for fruit season to start!

So, remember that beer and turkey sand which I had for lunch? Well, it hit me hard. I was so tired and just felt like crap and I think Wayne finally realized how affected I am by wheat and when I stray away from my normal eating. Over the past few weeks I was very strict and persistent with making our paleo meals and having fresh snack like fruit, nuts and veggies. Lunch drained every ounce of energy I had. I hate sleeping in the car so I just sat there like a veggie.

The drive home was great! A little icy in some spots but we had blue skies about 10 miles before we passed Cooper Spur. I love seeing the mountain with a ton of snow on it.

After a beautiful ride home I crashed. I told Wayne I was going to lay down for awhile. Well, a while turned into 2.5 hours and before I knew it I had to make dinner. Thank god for pre made rotisserie chickens and steamed veggies!