Spring adventures: Oregon natural wonders

 We wanted to share a few images from our trip to Oregon.  I fell in love with this place when I visited as a college student and we visited as a couple around seven years ago.  The beauty of this state and the kind people just swept us away. We had hoped to plan a return trip and made it work this March.

Here are some of our favorite natural wonders we enjoyed along the way.

Crown Point and the Vista House is one of those iconic stops along the Historic Columbia River Gorge Highway.  The view from the vista is really beautiful.  On this trip, we were able to tour the Vista House and go to the observation deck for the best view.

 No photo can do justice to the vibrant yellow-green lichen (if that is the right word?  Biologist friends, what is the right term?) on the side of the waterfall.  This was a large waterfall, but not the largest or most famous.  We still loved the short hike to the fall and back.

 Along the highway, there are so many great places to stop.  These stone bridges are all along the roads and trails and they usually have a mossy covering.  I loved this one with the moss and ferns adding so much character.

 This is the famous Multnomah Falls.  I visited this spot in college and called my now husband (then boyfriend) to rave about the beauty and power of this place.  It was so special to visit here with him a few years ago and to come back again.

This time around, we learned that the bridge over the falls was closed because the bridge crumbled.  If you look in the photo, you will see on the right side of the bridge that there is a break and some fence is closing off each side.  We felt lucky that we had hiked to the top and also over the bridge during our last visit.

And, Mount Hood from a distance.  We left Hood River on our way to a lilac farm - which ended up being a bust because it was too early in the spring and it wasn't yet open for visitors - and had this great view.

 The beaches are so cool.  I love that you have so much variation across the landscape.  While the day was windy and cool, we still loved walking along the beach and hearing the sound of the ocean.

Beautiful views and an awesome mist in the air to make it magical.  We loved the drive along the coast because of the beautiful views all along the way.