together

Phil had been asking me for weeks and weeks what I wanted to do for Valentine's Day. He normally works on Saturdays, but had planned several months ago to get the day off. That means two things: first of all, he gets to stay up later than 7:30 on a Friday night, and second, he doesn't have to leave home at 4:00 in the morning. I like it when he gets a Saturday off now and then.

So, for a long while we've been talking about exploring Hood River, a little town out in the Gorge where all the skiers hang out in the winter and windsurfers play in the summer. It's got lots of quaint shops and pretty views. I reminded him that we still hadn't gone out there yet, so we should, and that what I really wanted was to find a good coffee shop somewhere, get a mocha, and sit and talk. Oh, and I wanted to paint pottery.

Painting pottery. . .I've always thought it would be fun. Haven't attempted it since summer camp in the 3rd grade when I made a ceramic Home Sweet Home sign. I'm so not a painter. Give me Bazill textured cardstock, some patterned paper, and a few pictures and I'll make you a decent scrapbook page, but I'm not very good at painting. I wasn't sure how he was going to take that whole painting pottery thing. But, he asked.

Now I get to brag. My amazing husband goes online, researches Hood River, finds a good coffee shop AND a pottery studio. We started the day with breakfast in the Lodge at Multnomah Falls - one place I never get tired of seeing.

The lower floor is a visitor's center, gift shop, restrooms, and a little coffee shack over on the left corner. The second floor is the restaurant. We saw stairs leading to a third floor, but I'm not sure what's up there. I love all the moss. It seems like no matter what time of year I'm there, there's always green to be found.

It was obvious that they were prepared for Valentine's Day because when we got to the steps leading up to the restaurant, this is what we saw.

There was a trail of rose petals up both sides of the staircase. I thought it was a very nice touch!

This was the view from our table. Look closely, you should be able to see the upper waterfall.

I've never had a candlelight breakfast before! The food was yummy. It wasn't crowded. There was soft classical music playing in the background. Our waiter was great. It was just nice to not be enjoying Valentine's Day with all of Portland and Vancouver.

After we ate we went out for a little stroll before heading on over to Hood River. Here's me and my Valentine. I'll tell you more about our day later. I don't want to overwhelm you with all the romance.