Adventures: Spring Break

Shortly after I got back from Colorado my roommates headed to Las Vegas for spring break and to see Chantel's sister play tennis for North Dakota State. I, however, had to report back to work, but luckily all the teams were on spring break trips, so no one was playing at home making my schedule pretty flexible! So I ventured out with some optometry friends who had stayed in Forest Grove for the break.

Waterfalls

The sun finally showed up in Forest Grove for longer than an hour, so a car load of us decided to head to the Columbia Gorge area to hike. We took the scenic highway and made a quick stop at Vista point and then headed on with the intentions of stopping at all the waterfalls along the way and ending at Multnomah Falls.

Our first stop was at Latourell Falls, we hiked to the top and then down to the base. It was a rather quick stop, but got us warmed up for the rest of the falls. The second stop was at Bridal Veil, which required a bit more hiking because it was off the main area. This waterfall wasn't as tall as the others, but it was significantly wider. The third stop was at Wahkeena Falls, this waterfall did a bit more winding on it's way down than the others did and didn't require much hiking to get to.

The final stop was at Multnomah Falls and amazingly it wasn't that busy! We started the 1.25 mile hike up...a very steep 1.25 miles, with 11 switch backs. But once we made it to the top the view was kind of cool from the observation deck. When hiked back up river for a while before heading back down. Once we reached the ground level we luckily were able to get some pictures of the whole falls without anyone walking or standing on the bridge!

Voodoo Doughnuts

On the way back from the falls, I suggested we stop at Voodoo Doughnuts. I guess the place is well known and it's something you must do in Portland. To be honest I had never heard of it before coming here and only noticed it because people will stand in lines that wrap around the block for hours to go in. When we got there the line hadn't turned the corner, so we waited for about 30 minutes to go in. There famous doughnut is the maple bacon bar, which is a maple doughnut with bacon strips on top. I was told by one of my 14s parents that I had to try it, so I did. It was very interesting, but not something I need again. They also had doughnuts with fruitloops, captain crunch, oreos and other random stuff on top. Waaay to much sugar!

Saké Tasting

Unbeknownst to me, Forest Grove has 1 of 5 saké breweries in the United States. However, the optometry students know it and a couple of them were heading for a tasting on Thursday, so I headed along. Wasn't too bad, plus because we were the only ones there at the time (but who really goes saké tasting in the middle of a workday afternoon), we got to ask a bunch of questions. This brewery is the only American owned saké brewery in the US and the first to make flavor infused saké...probably will have to get some to bring back to Iowa.

NCAA Brackets

Not going to say much, mine was a bust. No final four teams & only 3 elite eight teams. However, I did beat David and that gives me bragging rights for at least a year.