Hood River Weekend Trip

by - 7:47 AM

As the weather gets warmer and we continue to be stuck indoors, I am looking forward to going out somewhere.  Spring/summer is usually the time when we go on a few weekends trips to other places in the PNW. I'm trying to relive this trip that we took last year to Hood River. 
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One of the things that I haven't taken enough advantage of in WA is the availability of weekend getaways. Wine country, seashores, mountain hikes, camping, skiing, hot springs are all just a few hours away. In an effort to see more of the PNW, I took a quick trip to Hood River. Hood River is in Oregon and it's right along the Colombia River, which separates Washington State and Oregon State. There is a scary two lane bridge that separates WA and OR. While it's really convenient, it costs $2 to traverse the bridge and I think I already mentioned that the bridge was kinda scary... 

We stayed in White Salmon, which was the small town on the WA side. We stayed at an AirBnb, which was honestly in a great location. It was at the end of a driveway and very private, with a enclosed yard. While I liked White Salmon, if I were to go back, I think I'd rather stay in the Hood River. Overall, it seemed like a more populated town with more things to do. 

We drove over on a Friday afternoon, which made it a relaxed drive from Seattle. Friday night was spent settling in. Saturday morning, we ventured out into Hood River. We started our day by walking on Oak Street, which has interesting shops on both sides. I stopped in the Hood River Stationary Store, purchased a nice pen, and then promptly lost said pen. 


We also visited the Hood River Hotel, a gorgeous historic site. Our brunch was BorderOst, which was a Swedish restaurant attached to the hotel. I ordered the Smoked Trout Hash and my partner ordered the Steak and Ham Hash. We both loved the potatoes and pickled beets, but found that the Steak Bits were virtually unseasoned. I'd recommend going with the Trout over the Steak. We also enjoyed a coffee/latte here and loved that as well. The beans are roasted by Pacific Rim -- where we later picked up a bag of coffee. 

After a filling brunch, we walked by the Colombia River, which was very windy. While we were unprepared to enjoy the water, we stayed to watch some wind surfers and kayakers. I wish we had brought our kite! After that, we decided to cross the bridge back to White Salmon, where we visited the White Salmon Baking Company for an afternoon coffee and cake. 

Post stroll, we went back to the Airbnb for some naps and an afternoon indoors. When we were refreshed, we went out to enjoy dinner in White Salmon. We stopped by Everybody's Brewing, but that restaurant was incredibly packed. We ended up going across the street to a less casual place - Henni's Kitchen and Bar. I enjoyed Henni's Pasta Carbonara, but found some of their starters to be a bit overpriced. 

Winnie the Dog accompanied us on our first roadtrip and she was a champ. Most of the time, she spent in the car looking out the window: 



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