So we left Saturday morning from Riverton and drove to Jackson, Wyoming, to see the Grand Tetons. If you've never been to the Tetons, you need to go. It is seriously one of the most beautiful places you will ever go. We snapped a few pictures inside the park (a few with some buffalo), and then made our way to Teton Village. In 1993, my family took a trip to the Tetons and Yellowstone, and we originally stayed in Teton Village and I was interested to see if it was the same. I can say that overall, it was still the same, but the whole area has been built up. The hotel we stayed at was still there, but it looked old compared to all of the brand new hotels and spas. Still it was very pretty and worth going to. We ate at a restaurant in the village called the Mangy Moose, and had some great beer. I had a Snake River Lager, and it was delicious. The beer I really wanted, however, was Teton Ale. This was a beer that my dad went crazy for on our trip back in 1993, and I knew it was a just a local microbrew, so I needed to find it and try it (he actually bought a growler for our white water rafting trip). Well I did find it, and bought some bottles, and then had a few later that night, and they were scrumptious. Overall, I felt that it was a pretty perfect way to celebrate July 4th. After lunch, we drove until we hit Boise, and found a cheap (but incredibly nice) hotel to stay at. We order Domino's and watched Star Wars (on TV) and caught some fireworks from our hotel room.
The next morning, we got up and left around 10:30 to make our way to Portland. The drive was pretty amazing. I-84 goes right along the Columbia River, and you drive through the Columbia River Gorge, and could see Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams (which is in Washington) most of the way. We got in around 6ish, and went to Deschutes Public House for dinner. Deschutes is a local Oregon microbrew, and the beer was pretty delicious, and the food was good as well. We decided that the next day (yesterday) we would go hiking around Mt. Hood. So, yesterday we drove back along the Columbia River, had lunch at a random Chinese restaurant, and made our way to Mt. Hood National Forest. We were suggested a nice 3.8 mile (roundtrip) hike to Tamanawas Falls and then drive up to Timberline Lodge to really see the mountain (it's really a volcano). The hike to the falls was absolutely gorgeous, and the falls themselves were absolutely astounding. We then drove up to Timberline, and really got to see Mt. Hood up close. The lodge is 6,000' up and the summit of the mountain is 11,249', but you really are up close and personal with the mountain at this point. There was a ton of snow, and they actually still have some summer skiing going on, though just in the morning. From the lodge you can see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens. I should mention that from the balcony of our room you can see all 3 mountains. It's pretty nice. We checked out the gift shop in the day lodge, and they had a real St. Bernard in the shop (the breed is tied to the mountain's history). 'Twas super cute. We drove back and went to another brewpub, this time Rogue. They had a TON of beers, and what we had was very good. I finally had some salmon, but it was on a Caesar salad. Still good though.
Today, after I got the oil changed in my car, we drove to Cannon Beach. AMAZING. The beach, Haystack Rock (and the other rocks in the ocean), the scenery, the town, all beautiful. The water was clear (but freezing cold) and the beach was clean (except littered with flying ants; WTF?). For dinner I FINALLY had some steamers (steamed clams) and they were DELICIOUS! All you can eat salad bar was a bonus as well.
Anyway, it's bed time. Roaming around the city tomorrow. Hopefully will update sooner.
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