Field Trip to Hood River (part II)

Hood River county is famous for its Fruit Loop Tour.  It's a 35 mile scenic drive through orchards, farms, forests, and friendly communities.  There are 30 farms listed in the 2013 Fruit Loop Tour brochure.   We did not stop at all 30 farms, but we did stop at a few.  And we certainly enjoyed the scenic touring through the countryside. 



Our first stop was Smiley's.... our main reason for stopping was to buy some apple cider.

As you can see we found some and immediately began to enjoy it!

 

 

Next stop was Rasmussens.

We spent a little time perfecting our pumpkin bowling skills.

I loved these colorful chairs all lined up... they just kind of beg you to sit and rest awhile.

 Hood River and the surrounding countryside is beautiful and the leaves were starting to change.  The colors were quite lovely.  This is Mount Adams.  Check out all that snow!

 

These pictures make my heart happy... Mount Adams is in the background.

 





This is Mount Hood... or as my kiddies call it  Mountain Hood.

 

Next stop was Draper Girls.  They had lots of neat stuff for the kids to see.

 

They had a corn maze and pumpkin patch for the kids to tromp through.

As well as several different animals to observe. 

And they had quite a selection of fruit and veggies.

They also had some amazing cherry cider.  It cost a small fortune, but was quite tasty and we enjoyed every last drop.

 

 

And then it was on to Kiyokawa Orchard.  This is one of the oldest orchards in the valley.

These were some of the biggest apples I have ever seen.  Ginormous!

They also had a 570 pound pumpkin.

The drive was fun and the fall colors were beautiful.

We went up to an overlook where you can view the valley.  As far as the eye can see it's orchards and vineyards.  (The evening was somewhat hazy so my pictures aren't super clear.)   

Here is our last look at Mount Hood before we turned around and headed home.

 

This was an adventure that sends you home with a 'happy heart' because of all the beauty you have observed and explored.

 

 



Field Trip to Hood River (part I)

Thursday is Andy's day off and we usually try to do some sort of family activity after Carson gets done with school.  But this week we decided to have a field trip day and spend the whole day adventuring.  We decided to explore a little of Hood River- it is about 3ish hours from us.   

We left the house around 8:30am.  The kids were so excited!

Here all three of them are entertaining themselves with their own personal computers.

We took a couple of pictures of Multnomah Falls as we breezed past.  Promising to return someday soon and explore.

We stopped for gas and ran into an Idaho friend of ours.  It was such a surprise to walk into the gas station and see her, and so wonderful to chat for a few minutes.  She suggested we stop at the Fish Hatchery.  Just like she said, this hatchery is so very cool!!

There were big fish...

and tiny fish...

and lots of room to run and  explore.

They had well-done landscaping and beautiful fall flowers.

Meet Herman, the ginormous sturgeon.  He was huge!

While we were there, a man was re-painting the fish on the pavement.  I was trying to help the kids do a little critical thinking and was in the process of asking why they thought the cones might be there.  Before the words got all the way out of my mouth, Kenzie started to weave in and out of the cones. I quickly halted her progress and Andy helped her clean the paint off her shoe so we didn't track white paint.  So much for critical thinking.

They had so many fish ponds...

For a quarter you could buy a handful of fish food and feed these fish.

Lunch was a peanut butter sandwich picnic.  These three jumped and ran while they ate. 

Within walking distance of the hatchery was a Oregon trail historical marker.  Of course we had to check it out. Thankfully there was no Chinook wind blowing so we didn't hear the wailing of the unhappy Indian maiden.

Beacon Rock

My littlest man taking a nap.

We also drove through the Bonneville Dam area.  It would be really neat to be there when a big boat would come through.

Then it was on to the beautiful town of Hood River.



Please stay tuned for part II.