Bike Holiday for Mama N

On Monday, I escaped cool gray Portland to go biking in warm sunny Hood River (just 1 hr East) with Kelly and a friend of hers, Peter. We didn't really know exactly what we were signing up for (Kelly and I) since Peter is something of an adventurer. To give you an idea, he had just returned the day before from a leisure trip to China and was running on about 4 hours of sleep in the U.S. - - what did he wake up jazzed about? Biking in the gorge. Looking for some adventure myself, I decided to throw caution to the wind and tag along.

It was an amazing day. We drove out to Hood River and parked at the Mark O Hatfield West Trailhead at the start of a bit of Old Columbia River Gorge Hwy that's closed off to cars and reserved for peds/bikes only. First curveball: Peter discovered a flat tire, irreparable as it had separated right where the rubber hits the valve. A quick call to Bryan for advice, and we found ourselves buying a new tube off a nice Portland family, just finishing up a bike ride with their two young girls. As Peter had only Chinese currency, and Kelly forgot her wallet, we ended up paying them three dollars American I had on me, a Canadian twooney from Peter, and 4 quarters Kelly found in the car. But they didn't even seem to mind and bid us a fantastic afternoon.

The original plan was 13 miles round-trip along this route to Mosier, with promise of a delectable lunch in a spot Peter knew of called The Good River. The restaurant was closed (ah yes - holiday) but we found a great typical NW organic vegan coffeeshop "plus" instead. Then, after poking around Mosier and scoping out some incredible Leed-certified condos with a perfect view upriver - - even meeting some owners and getting invited into their house to check it out - - we ended up tacking on an extra 12 miles to the Rowena Crest Viewpoint, one of the most scenic spots I've been to in the Gorge. It was a long slow 6 miles uphill to Rowena Crest, with a fierce wind that was thankfully at our backs. At so many points, I was ready to turn it in, but Kelly cheerfully distracted me with personal updates and Ziba anecdotes, and we eventually made it to our goal.

Up top, we had this awesome view into the drier part of the gorge, and some crazy hairpin turns we thankfully did not have to tackle, and which Peter claims are often used for filming car commercials. (See photos)

The way back down to Mosier was much easier as it was mostly downhill - - a 6-mile blur of golden brush, apricot orchards, hawks, electric blue cornflowers, California poppies, goldfinch, and even a lizard. We hatched a plan midway to send Peter on ahead to complete the trip back uphill from Mosier to Hood River and then meet us back at our Mosier coffee shop. After refueling on ice cream, we got picked up by Peter and made our way back to Portland. I was elated. It was a great day with friends, an intense workout (just over 20 miles rolling between 100 and 700ft elevation), and a really great holiday from 24/7 childcare.

Interestingly enough, Hope did not greet me with a smile or open arms but with the silent treatment! It wasn't until she was fully refueled herself that she finally cracked a smile. Kelly got a smile, Peter got a smile, but I got a blank stare. I *almost* felt guilty. But you know what? Someday she'll take off at 10am, return at 6pm, and I'll give *her* a blank stare. So we'll be even. Someday. Until then, I'll keep taking little holidays to refuel so I can continue to give her my very best each day.