Eric Moody: Sunny Hood River

Amy, Camden and I flew up to Portland this weekend to check out Hood River again. What an AMAZING place. The weather report called for a chance of rain starting Fri night and into Sat - the times we were scheduled to be there! But it ended up being sunny and beautiful all weekend! We were out in short sleeves and got some sun. Amy grew up in Kelso, WA which is just north of Portland by about 45 miles and is worried about moving back to the Northwest because of the rain she remembers as a child. Everyone we talked to has told us that Hood River sits on the East side of the Cascade Mtn range (HR is 50 miles east of Portland) and that the rain clouds get caught up on the mtns and stop a lot of the rain from hitting Hood River. We weren't convinced of that until this weekend. The proof came on Sunday when we woke up at Amy's parents house to grey clouds and a dreary looking morning. We packed everyone in the car for just a day trip to Hood River (about an 1 1/2 hr drive) and it was grey all the way through Portland. As we got farther East into the Columbia River Gorge the sky cleared up to an awesome, clear blue and that is how it was all day again in Hood River. When we headed back to Kelso that afternoon it was grey again in Portland and Kelso - maybe there is some truth about the Cascades holding off some of the rain in Hood!

Amy and I got to Portland on Thursday night and Cam got to be spoiled by his grandparents while we went to Hood River Friday and Saturday for some exploring, biking, and to look at houses. We looked at a bunch of houses Friday with an agent (who also used to be a professional Kite boarder and wind surfer) and did some exploring of our own of the area. Our agent was great and Amy and I hope we become friends with her and her husband some day. Friday night Amy and I went to dinner and had drinks at a few of the places downtown. It was a great night out and felt good being in a "normal" town where you can go have a few drinks without worrying about the need to buy food or have a membership (stupid UT laws!!) but by the next morning we quickly realized that we had one too many bottles of wine (but the OR wines are great!!!!)

After breakfast the next morning we rested a bit and then went in to Discover Bicycles (http://www.discoverbicycles.com/) to pick up some mountain bikes. I really liked this shop and know I will be spending too much time here in the future. They gave us a map to the Syncline trail which is a great group of rides on the WA side of the Gorge across from Hood River. Here is a link to a good description of the trail we rode: http://planetcyclist.com/trails/wa/syncline.htm

It was a great ride and Amy said her legs felt like noodles when we were done. The weather could not have been more perfect - mid 60's and plenty of sun. On a day like this in Hood River the options for outdoor play are endless!! I saw guys headed out of town from the Kayak shop with kayaks on the roof - probably headed to the White Salmon for some class IV or V runs. We saw kite boarders, wind surfers and sail boats on the Columbia, skiers stopped in for coffee in town on their way to the mountain, there were a ton of hikers and mtn bikers on the trails, and even a group of road riders came through Oak St. and stopped at Ground for some Espressos! I'm telling you - it was like I had died and gone to heaven!!

Just imagine this: Amy, Cam and I get up early with a fully loaded car. We run up to the mtn for a couple of morning turns on the slopes before they get crowded, on the way back toward town we stop along the hood river at one of our favorite kayak play spots for some play boating. Back in town for lunch to refuel and then we head out for some kite boarding and windsurfing because the afternoon westerlies have kicked up in the Gorge. When our arms are too tired to hang on anymore we decide to ride up Syncline on our mtn bikes because the sunsets from the top are awesome. Than it's back to town for a Full Sail Amber Ale! (not enough hours in the day - I can't wait!)

Below are some pics from the weekend:

The beautiful view from Syncline is being a bit overshadowed by the beautiful biker babe in the picture!!