Wow, has it really been two weeks since I posted last? There’s been a lot going on, for sure. My family arrived in Oregon on Tuesday July 10, and the following day we all drove to Cannon Beach on the coast for the day. The only person that couldn’t join us was my brother Brandon, which was really too bad since we were all in town for his wedding! But his fiancee (now wife!) joined us, the weather was lovely, and we had a great day.
We spent the next couple of days just hanging out together, and then on Saturday it was time for the big day – the wedding! Brandon and Cassie got married at the lovely Tualatin Estate Vineyards, and the winery was nice enough to let Deas and I park our RV right there at the winery.
The day after the wedding, my whole family rented a house in Hood River for a few days, and we were able to park the RV at the house. Believe or not, Brandon and Cassie (or Brassie as we call them), chose to spend their first days as husband and wife with our family. Cassie’s either a keeper, or she’s a little crazy. Or maybe a little of both!
Hood River is east of Portland, and can usually be accessed by taking I-84 west. However, the weekend we had to drive there, I-84 was completely closed for repaving. So we had to take a smaller highway on the Washington side of the river, which is a lovely, scenic drive with lots of twists and curves, which accounted for a lot of white knuckled driving on our part. To cross back into Oregon, we took the Bridge of the Gods, which is a narrow steel bridge with height and weight restrictions. We checked before hand to make sure we could use it, and as luck would have it, just as we were pulling onto the bridge, another RV was coming off. The crazy part of this story is that two days after we used the bridge, the weight restriction was lowered to 16,000 pounds – which is well below our weight of 26,000 pounds. So I’m glad that we were able to use the bridge before they lowered the restriction, but even more glad it didn’t come crashing down below us!
The house my family rented in Hood River had a huge beautiful deck and a large fenced in yard, so we spent almost all of our time at the house hanging out the deck. We spent some time exploring downtown Hood River, visited some wineries, took a brew pub tour, and took a day trip to some of the surrounding waterfalls.
Horseshoe Falls was unique in that you could follow a short hike which lead you a caved area directly behind the falls.
Everyone had to fly home on Wednesday, and then Deas and I moved the RV to Memaloose State Park, where we are still staying. I really enjoyed having my whole family here to visit and I miss them all already!
Mom, why don’t you ever smile in pictures?!
Nealys on Wheels 
What great memories you made!! They will last lifetimes! I LOVE the Columbia River–could spend my life there. Given a choice as to where I’d want to live, it would be Astoria. I took my kids to Hood River when they visited me on my trip in 2010 and they loved it. The air is always so full of excitement. Wishing the bride and groom a wonderful married life.
I apologize for my previous post (wacadoodle). I didn’t realize I was signed in under that userid. I use that for a group who’s initials have WAC. Should have been hobopals. I’m enjoying your Oregon adventure almost as much as you!!
LOL…no problem – I’ve done something similar myself many times. Glad you’re enjoying reading along – we are really, really loving Oregon, and I’m so glad I have a brother who lives here – great excuse to visit!
I hope that B thinks I am a keeper- and I am definitely a little crazy! It keeps things interesting 😉
LOVED spending so much time with the family!!
I’m so glad that you had a chance to visit our beautiful state and spend so much time here with your wonderful family. I’m looking forward to seeing you guys again and spending even more time together.