David is great at giving gifts, so it can be difficult to think of a good enough present to give to him! After a lot of thought and research, I decided that a weekend trip to Hood River would be a great way for us to celebrate. Hood River is only about an hour outside of Portland, but there is so much to do. Wine tasting, beer tours, wind surfing, hiking and antiquing, Hood River really offers something for everyone.

I booked us an airbnb right downtown and planned some of the major components of the trip, but let the most of the details work themselves out. My original plan was to tell David the night before we left- I had even arranged a cat-sitter for Marshall, but I got way too excited and let the secret out about a week before our trip! Luckily David was happy to know in advance, and we had fun anticipating all of the great things we would do on our trip. Needless to say we had an amazing weekend away!

Our first stop on the drive into Hood River was Cathedral Ridge Winery, just a few minutes outside of downtown Hood River. We got there right when it opened, which meant we pretty much got VIP service! Our server was fun, knowledgeable and kept us laughing the whole time. The wine was also fantastic, and we learned a lot about the differences between the wine in Hood River and the rest of Oregon.

For lunch we went to Full Sail Brewing, one of our favorite spots in Hood River. The restaurant/brewery overlooks the river and has great views of the water and the Gorge. Usually we do the brewery tour, but we didn't want to walk around with the pint glasses, so we stuck to just having some food and a beer. The weather in Hood River the weekend we were there, over Memorial Day, was perfect, so we spent a lot of time just enjoying the gorgeous sun and views on the large deck.

After lunch we had a great walk along the river. We had considered doing some kayaking or paddle boarding, but decided to just enjoy the river from the shore! Hood River is just so beautiful, and laying on the sand next to the water felt so incredibly relaxing. Just watching the wind surfers was enough action for us!

At Pfriem Beer we realized there was a great big upstairs room, which we had never been in before! The downstairs bar was packed, but upstairs was almost completely empty. We posted up on the comfy couch for quite a while, playing board games and taking a break from the sun.

When we left on Sunday we explored Hood River a bit more, and then went to the Bonneville Dam, where we watched the salmon in the salmon ladders. On our drive home we stopped at Elowah Falls for a short hike. I can't believe we've never been to this waterfall before, it was gorgeous! Even standing a fair distance away we could still feel the spray from the water, which felt so good on a hot day. Seeing the falls was the perfect way to end our Hood River getaway, and a great reminder to take advantage of all of the amazing sites the Pacific Northwest has to offer.