Yummy Bites and Muddy Boots

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! It was actually pretty nice here in Oregon this weekend and Michael and I enjoyed some outdoor activities in Hood River. As kind of a “thank you” for letting his friend Jeremy stay with us for these last two weeks Michael took me on a little mini-break to Hood River. We had to pick up our case of wine from Quenett anyway so we packed up our hiking and biking gear and booked a room at the Hood River Hotel for one night.

Our room was tiny but honestly I don’t need much in a hotel room–especially when most activities are going to be outside. It was cheap and suited our purposes. The place was very, very old. Inside they decorated the joint with the old photos of the place. It was cool to see the photos of how the small town looked back in 1911. The first stop we made when we arrived was to the restaurant on the hill, Big Horse Brewpub, we like to go to for lunch. I love their fish tacos and order them every time. 🙂

I had a diet coke with lunch. Michael ordered the chicken sandwich with fries (their fries are great) and an IPA.

Saturday was a bit overcast, cloudy and chilly. We decided to wait until Sunday to ride bikes. Instead, we headed out after lunch for a hike up the Hood River Mountain Trail. It was the same trail we did last summer but this time we tried to hike the whole loop.

It was really muddy on the trail but not intolerable. It was also super windy! Like if I weighed about 15 pounds less I would have been blown away by the 30 mph winds! At one point at the top of the mountain the wind was so loud in the trees that we couldn’t hear each other talking.

It was a really nice hike and we saw a few other people on the trail, plus one trail runner. I could tell we were about three weeks early for the wildflowers. I think the whole hillside will be covered with them soon. One of these days I WILL time it right and see the wildflowers blooming in the Gorge.

I guess it was also the Cherry Blossom Festival in Hood River this weekend but we didn’t partake in any of the events, or do the Fruit Loop. We just didn’t have time. Plus the weather has been so crappy and cold lately that the trees are late in blooming.

So we tried to continue on the trail because it was supposed to be a loop. The trail continued to go further and further in the wrong directions, dark clouds were looming in the distance (read: downpour coming) and the wind was just too strong. We ended up turning around and going back the way we came to the car. It was a good hike and we beat the rain!

I should also mention that this weekend I decided to take a break from my normal workout routine AND not count my calories. I just needed a day to disconnect from all of it so Saturday was that day. I ate whatever I wanted, without really going overboard in my opinion, and didn’t even mentally calculate how many calories I was consuming. It was nice.

Stats:

Time: 1:22

Calories Burned: 443

Miles Hiked: Who knows?

We climbed back in the car and headed back down the super dilapidated, totally frighteningly narrow road and saw a girl riding her bike up it!  Michael and I both gave her “thumbs up” signs as we drove by and she smiled. She was a rockstar in my book!

We got back to town and checked into our hotel room, brought the bikes up to the room to store and then headed out for the afternoon!