Multnomah Falls

Yesterday, we drove to Multnomah Falls. It's about 40 minutes east of Portland, and the drive is along the beautiful Columbia River, which separates Oregon and Washington. The falls are spectacular at over 600 feet high.

Here is the bottom waterfall.


And here is the top waterfall. Apparently, the water comes from Multnomah Creek, along with some rain and melted snow.


Here is a very cold Tania.


We got her heavy jacket from the car. Ahhh...much better.


We hiked up to the bridge that you saw in the previous photos. Here's the view looking down.


This is a little lookout a few yards up from the big bridge. We were getting sprayed with the mist of the waterfall. I was really cold. Can you tell?


This is looking up at the very top from the little lookout. It was pretty amazing. We talked about what it would be like to be the first people to discover this place. It sort of touristy these days, but can you imagine happening upon this as an explorer or something? We also talked about how small it made us feel. The force of the waterfall was really powerful. There's no way you could swim underneath it.


Tania found a hide-out, as she always does. She's been pretending she's a Native American lately. It's funny, because I used to do the same thing when I was a kid. I would gather little nuts and berries and pretend they were my food. Joey and I were debating whether this is an innate instinct for girls, gathering. It's interesting to think about, because wayyy back when humans were nomadic, it was usually the women and children who gathered. So we might be born to gather. That would sure explain why women love to shop so much. And if men were born to hunt, well, that would explain why they're so focused when they shop. In and out.


We had a snack and a beer at the restaurant at the bottom of the falls.



It was still gorgeous outside, so we couldn't bear the thought of going home. So we went to Laurelhurst Park. Tons of people were there, taking advantage of the sunny day.

Tania did some writing.


And some branch swinging.


And some branch shaking.


Joey and Lu did some dancing.


I sat and stared at trees, thinking about how sad it was that I couldn't capture the beauty of the sunlight shining through the leaves with my camera. You'll just have to visit the park for yourself. Maybe I need to get a better camera. I really have been wanting to step up the photography. I used to be really good long ago. I almost became a photographer, but instead, I went to stupid law school! Oh, to go back in time. But really, I made some great friends in law school that are totally worth the debt.

Someone linked to this cartoon on one of the boards I frequent. I thought it was funny, so here you go.