![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.tangledstrands.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/IMG_5420_sm.jpg\" "\\"IMG_5420_sm\\"")
<\/a>The falls aren’t all that high, but they are very long, which meant plenty of opportunity to build the factories right on top of the power source.\u00c2\u00a0 Which, of course, they did.\u00c2\u00a0 Also, of course, most of those ugly utilitarian buildings are now abandoned and crumbling, ruining the view for the rest of us.\u00c2\u00a0 I tried to cut most of that out when taking my photos.\u00c2\u00a0 You’re welcome.<\/p>\nWe then went back to Portland to visit with the cake vendor, JaCiva’s<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 We tasted a plateful of their delicious cake flavors, trying to narrow our selection down to just two.\u00c2\u00a0 It was hard work, let me tell you.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re looking for a good summery cake flavor, they’ve got you covered.\u00c2\u00a0 They also happen to be a chocolate shop, so I couldn’t resist buying some extremely tasty caramel and milk chocolate morsels to help me celebrate my birthday.\u00c2\u00a0 Calories are canceled on your birthday, after all.<\/p>\n Next on the to-do list was to visit the florist in Hood River, OR to select the floral theme and give them a list of arrangements.\u00c2\u00a0 We took the I-84 route this time, which runs along the Columbia River.\u00c2\u00a0 We hadn’t even left the Portland metro area when we hit these views:<\/p>\n Mount Hood<\/p><\/div>\n Seriously, that mountain is 60 miles away and is still gigantic.\u00c2\u00a0 And you can’t even see all the other mountains around it.\u00c2\u00a0 I was also blown away that we could see Mount Saint Helens from Portland as well.<\/p>\n Mount Saint Helens<\/p><\/div>\n I’m just boggled.<\/p>\n After finishing up at the florist we wandered down to the waterfront park along the Columbia River in downtown Hood River.\u00c2\u00a0 This is a prime kite surfing location, it was a beautiful warm day, and the kite surfers were out taking advantage of the perfect conditions.\u00c2\u00a0 There is a little food trailer set up on one of the piers.\u00c2\u00a0 So we grabbed some yummy fish tacos and a couple of cold beverages to enjoy in the lounge seating area at the end of the pier while we watched the surfers doing their tricks out on the river.\u00c2\u00a0 A perfect summertime afternoon activity.<\/p>\n In all, a fabulous productive and surprisingly relaxing weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We needed to make one more trip to Portland and Mount Hood to finalize a list of wedding to-do items, so we decided to schedule it around my birthday and make a relaxing three-day weekend of it.\u00c2\u00a0 Foremost in this … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/a>We spent Saturday afternoon riding bikes along the river trails in Portland – I’m told I biked 14 miles that day – and grilling out for dinner.\u00c2\u00a0 Thanks to Fiance’s friend John, who lives in Portland, we get an excellent tour guide every time we visit.<\/p>\n