Weekend Escape (Part 1)

Mcmenamins Edgefield

Here's where we spent our first weekend without kids since Trevor was born. We had managed just one night away when I was pregnant with Connor 11 years ago before this excursion :)

For some reason, Lee & I were lucky and got a room with a sink! This place used to be a poor farm and then was used as retirement home until 1982. Now it's a rustic hotel, populated with ghosts that grab ankles & bathrooms down the hall. There are no TV's or phones in the rooms, so we kind of just had to bump into people we knew - which was a fun way to figure things out :)

Without any real plans, Lee & I decided to check out the nearby waterfalls. Lee had never been to Multnomah Falls. My last time was when Trevor & I were going up to visit with my dad on Spring Break. Trevor & I only did a short stop & took pictures. Once Lee & I got up to the bridge, we decided to go ahead & do the hike to the top of the falls.

Okay - that's a long, steep hike! It's a little over a mile long, and it's about as steep as the hill up to our house. Our hill gets me winded already, and so I had to pause a number of times on this hike. It didn't help that it was over 90 degrees & humid. I would wait until my heart rate went back to normal, and then we'd be off again.

Once we reached the top of the hike, there's a stream that feeds the waterfall that comes from an underground source from Mt. Hood. This stream was really cold and clear. It was perfect for cooling down with feet & hands in the water! Then we headed over to the actual top of the falls. That was pretty cool.

When we finally made it back, all the parking was full and we had to show our room keys so that we could park in employee parking (due to a concert being hosted on the grounds). On our way back to our room, we saw Kraig & Nancy driving in as well. Nancy called Myrna on the cell and found out where they were, and we joined them at the rehearsal for the wedding where a bunch of the cousins had gathered.

We all decided to go over to the pub to eat dinner. Mcmenamin's is famous for their pubs. They have about 60 in Oregon & Washington (including the Roseburg Station Pub). I sat across from Ralph Radenbaugh. He was a kick :) After we ate, we went outside for more visiting with the cousins, and then we decided to hit the mineral soaking pool. I could feel my legs from the hike, and it was lovely in the hot soak!

We headed to bed a bit early, but it took a while for me to fall asleep. There were still a lot of people milling about from the concert, and we used a fan in the window to cool down. That helped cut down on the noise of people talking, but we did have to move the fan to get rid of the cigar smoke from someone on the porch. We slept really well though :)