Oh hey there....

Yes this is another installment of our Oregon road trip.  Yes that road trip was way back in May.  Yes I might be a bit of a procrastinator.  It's not on purpose!  I just kept forgetting that I hadn't finished this series yet, so here we are.  Forgive me?

Moving on.  Day 5 1/2.  Just like the last post (from one hundred years ago...you can read it here), I decided to include the half day from day 6 since it made more sense to keep the cities together (and the rest of day 6 was just us driving home!).

If you remember, we started our day by eating macarons and ordering way too many doughnuts from Voodoo Doughnuts.  It was bound to be an excellent day with that start!

We said goodbye to Portland and headed out to chase some waterfalls!  I must say that the drive along the Columbia River was one of the most enjoyable routes of the whole trip.  It was stunning.

First stop was Wahclella Falls (pictured above).  We found free parking, and then it was a fairly short hike to the falls.  Huge payoff for not too much effort for sure!  And there were several small falls along the way as well.  Basically it felt like we had wandered into Rivendell.  Everything was green, gorgeous, and mossy!  Definitely one of my ultimate favourite parts from our whole trip.  Next time I would love to do a bit more hiking and exploring around the Columbia River Gorge!  We just didn't have the time on this whirlwind road trip.

Next up was Multnomah Falls.  Such a classic.  It's one of the most recognizable waterfalls ever, with a beautiful bridge at the top of the second tier to give you a magnificent close up view of the falls.  This was a view that I had seen over and over again in my instagram feed, and was a huge inspiration for the trip.  It was breathtaking to finally see in person!  Thanks instagram! Haha.

We hopped back into the car and made our way back up to Seattle, where we stayed in the wonderfully eclectic Ace Hotel!  I had thought about booking a night at the Ace in Portland, but the Seattle one was nearly half the price!  So crazy.  I am so glad we were able to experience it, although it might not be for everyone.  Eclectic art, minimalistic design, and the bathrooms that aren't attached to your room were just a few things that make it stand out from other hotels.  I actually loved the separate communal bathrooms.  They were huge, super clean, and it was kind of nice having a bit more privacy and not worrying about hogging the bathroom when three girls needed to get ready in the morning!

Our final feast was at a Mexican restaurant called Poquitos!  We had noticed it during our first day of the trip, and all agreed that it would make a perfect place for our farewell dinner.  It did not disappoint!  We all indulged in strawberry rhubarb mojitos, extra guacamole and chips, and TACOS!  To be honest, I still dream about those tacos.  So so good.

We finished off our morning by stopping at the classic Pike Place Market, and then grabbed the most divine lunch at the Lost Lake Cafe.  Their rosemary smashed potatoes were to die for!  And then it was sadly time to drive home, with a stop at Target along the way of course. Ha!

As always, here are a few phone pics from day 5 as well!

Thank you for coming on this little journey with us.  I hope it's inspired you to visit the great Pacific Northwest someday soon!

-Kelsey (and Jordyn & Clara)

p.s. In case you missed them, here are the previous entries: day 1: Seattle & more // day 2: Astoria, Seaside, and Cannon beach // day 3: Cape Perpetua, Newport, and a yurt // day 4 1/2: Portland.