Vancouver BlipMeet

What a great day! I'm posting late, so it was actually yesterday (I'm behind in blips for the last five days and will post more tomorrow). Saturday evening we had the chance to meet up with KatesGardenPDX and kayakgirl in Vancouver, WA along the very happening waterfront. It was wonderful to meet them in person and capped a day of exploring along the Columbia Gorge farther to the east. The Columbia River forms the border between Washington and Oregon. Great fun to meet these two, along with kayakgirl's husband!

The extras, apart from the waterfall, are from a hike W's cousin Caroline took us on earlier in the day at Beacon Rock State Park. "We're going to climb this rock," she said. Staring up from the bottom (see last extra), I did wonder about this idea! The trail zigzagged up switchbacks, all guarded by a handrail, and led to some fabulous views. The breeze felt great too, as it was in the 80s and still so dry and smoky. Later we drove to the Dog Creek Falls, where Caroline had seen salmon leaping upstream back earlier in the year. Beautiful place, not far off the road but out of sight and not well known. It's been a real pleasure getting to know Caroline these past two days.