First weekend in Hood River comes to a close

The end of the week was here and we were lucky enough to have Brian and his sons out for the weekend. This was a pretty welcome relief, because even though jesse really wanted to enjoy his kids all week, it was pretty clear that they were needing some structure, and we were needing a break from the whining. We signed them up for art camp on Thursday, and they spent the day in the most amazing compound - for lack of a better word - creating art and playing. They came home filthy and happy. Dirtier than even Trackers outdoor camp.

During the day, Jesse spent the time clearing out the yard from massive amounts of wood and debris spread out around the house. I spent time pulling up carpet. It was a dirty job.

Afterwards, we picked up the kids, freshly painted, and headed to the farmer's market. We parked by the local swimming pool, holy cow, and then did a quick jaunt through the market, where M found a most interesting pie stand.

But first you have to check out this community pool. I never really gave it a second look before, because it just looked like a big white dome. I didn't think anything spectacular could be inside. But what I didn't know is that they pop the top off this sucker in the summer. Check out the view! Hello, Mt. Adams!

The next day, Friday, since we, I mean the kids enjoyed camp so much, we signed them up for another day. We didn't have as productive a day, but got multiple cups of coffee, wandered around, met with the contractor, and bought a little table for the kitchen at the Dwelling Station in Mosier. They even posted a picture of us on their website! If you scroll down far enough, you will find us! But here's the picture, if you don't feel like it.

http://thedwellingstation.com/find-cool-stuff/

The women that run this place are a hoot. They were singing the praises of restore-a-finish and even gave us a demonstration. Jesse said later he felt like he was in some kind of infomercial.

Afterwards, we picked up the kids. M had a butterfly painted on her forehead, and Jacob had a full rainbow on his (awesome!!!). So we all met Brian down at the waterfront for some play time. M enjoyed the princess treatment as two younger boys spun her around. The expression on her face says it all...

Then we all headed to Pfreim, a new brewpub on the waterfront, for dinner. This place always has a wait and is super kid-friendly. We just need a bridge to the playground and more outdoor seating and we're all set. We drink - kids play.

http://pfriembeer.com/


Finally, we all headed back to the farm where Brian was planning to set up camp in our backyard. I wasn't too comfortable with that, so I let Brian know that we have black bear and cougar in the forest on our land and sometimes they are spotted (though I haven't seen them). We have seen some deer wandering very close to the house, though! Beautiful! Molly is quick to chase them off, though, but for a fleeting moment it is pure bliss.

The kids were not too keen on camping out after Brian told them about the bear, so they camped out in our living room. So, it's a 7 bedroom house, but currently only 2 bedrooms are habitable and the kids didn't want to bunk together. I'd say the living room is the nicest room in the house, though!

Brian had bought some train tickets and treated his sons to a train ride the next morning. We've been thinking about taking the ride on the Mt. Hood RR, but it's about a 20 mile ride that takes almost half a day to complete. Maybe on a cold day!

https://www.mthoodrr.com/

Brian and the kids decided to stay another night, so the kids got a lot of playtime in together. You could tell that B was missing his mom all weekend, but he and J bonded at the beach and spent the next day playing legos together. And it was his birthday. Happy Birthday, B!

After the beach, I headed to Double Mountain Brewpub for some takeout pizza (though takeout is highly discouraged), and a growler for the men.

http://www.doublemountainbrewery.com/

We had a nice picnic under the big tree and watched the sun set.

The next day we were ready to go. As we were heading down the driveway out of town, we said goodbye to our little friend, the tank. 

Craig's list was just not working out for me. As we pulled out of the driveway, our neighbor came up and introduced himself. Mr. N owns the orchard next door and he's a super friendly guy. He offered to have his scrap metal guy pick it up and we agreed to meet up with him next time we were in town. Mr. N is an interesting guy. But we'll talk about him another time. He is multi-layered, pretty much like everyone we've met in Hood River. The more you get to know him, the more fascinating and amazing you realize he is.

Jesse headed home, and I took a detour by the Lavender festival going on closer to Mt. Hood with the kids.

We wore those kids out. They slept most of the way home. Good thing, because I realized halfway home that I had an empty tank of gas. FYI, there are pretty much no gas stations for a very long stretch of freeway. Think I drove 30 miles on empty. Stressful! But wow, what a week we had...