Hood River Train Ride ... and Multnomah Falls

When we first moved to OR, we collected lots of touristy flyers and brochures for things to see and do. One of them advertised the Mt. Hood Railroad train rides. I've been dying to go ever since I first laid eyes on it. In December, they had a special trip with a reading of Polar Express, a visit from Santa Claus, and hot chocolate and cookies. We missed it. Just never got on top of things to pick a date and buy tickets. I was disappointed, but figured there's always next year. Then I read about the Parkdale excursion in the spring, amidst valleys of blooming fruit trees. I was sold. We would go in the spring!

So today, we drove an hour and a half to Mt. Hood, boarded a train at 10am, and had high hopes for a beautiful day. Visions of snowy trees, quaint cafes and interesting shops to peruse filled my mind. They said the trip would be a total of 4 hours, with 45 minute rides each way and a long layover in Parkdale. I thought Ethan could handle that.

Turns out the ride there was 2.5 hours long. You read that right. 2.5 hours. We had to stop to pick up lumber, among other things. Ethan handled it well, but was losing it by the end. So was I. Are you kidding me?

 Do I look tired?

Then we spent an hour in a small, but far from quaint town, with almost nothing to do, unless you wanted to pay a dollar to enter a museum of farm implements. We let Ethan run off steam on the lawn, in hopes he would sleep the return trip.

He slept. For half an hour. Before that, he threw a very loud fit. After that, it was touch and go. Greg also fell asleep. The young woman narrating the tour stopped by and said, "You got both of them to sleep. Powerful mom!" I think what was powerful was my ability to stay awake, because believe me, I was wiped. We arrived back in Hood River at about 3:30.

As for those snowy blossoms, I'll let you be the judge. Mt. Hood was kinda cool though.

The real irony here is that the highlight of our trip was an unplanned stop at Multnomah Falls on the way home. Truly one of the more spectacular things I've seen in my life (the pictures don't do it justice!), and lest you take that lightly, let me just point out that I've traveled to 13 countries. ;) So, day salvaged. If you visit us, don't expect a train ride, but we might take you to the falls and then lunch at the restaurant below. :)