A few weeks before, we spent 3 days in Louisville and never saw a horse race, or took a tour of the Louisville Slugger factory. In fact, save for a few trips to a Dairy Queen at the far end of the parking lot, we never left the Hotel/Venue. The worst part was, the hotel was not even nice.
Arriving in Portland Oregon, I was determined not to make the same mistake. Yes we traveled all this way so the Lane could fence, but we also were going to make sure we took at vantage of the opportunity to see a bit of the beauty of Portland.
The fact that Lane fencing was a bit "Disappointing" furthered my resolve to to find some "Silver Lining" in the storm clouds that were circling my head. The idea was to rent a car and take off for the mountains. We waited for Sam to finish fencing, then a bit longer for Mason to, once again, have an amazingly successful tournament. As much money as Mason's parents spend on her fencing, it will pale compared to the cost they will have buying a home large enough to house her trophies and metals.
Truth is, she works very hard and deserves the success, and no child is ever more graceful in both victory as well as defeat.
So we picked up the car and drove back to the Oregon Convention Center to pick up Sam, Stacy and Mason to head to the mountains.
Time was limited; so we decided on the Multnohah Falls since they were just about 30 Minute trip.
Fed by underground springs from Larch Mountain, Multnomah Falls are the second-tallest
year-round waterfall in the nation. The water of the Falls drops some 620 feet from the top of Larch Mountain. Unusually cold weather have been know to freeze the plummeting water into a majestic cascade of ice. The Falls are considered one of the best places to study the geology of the Columbia River Gorge area. Floods, and falling water have exposed rock formations, and acting like window into the geological history of the entire region. Five distinct flows of Yakima basalt are visible in the fall's cliff face, giving geologists insight into the amount, and times of volcanic flows.
It was great to be out of the convention center and instead sightseeing. It was wonderful to see Lane, Sam and Mason have fun and bond outside of fencing. (O.K., so it's not like Lane and Sam don't spend large quantities of time together outside of fencing, but it was great all the same).
We started at Multnomah Falls Lodge. A sign stated that "Every type of rock found in the Columbia River Gorge is represented in the Lodge", that is interesting, but we were hungry; so we were more concerned with the ice cream, that the rocks used in construction.
Once fed, we walked toward the Benson Bridge. Crafted by Italian stone masons in 1914, hired Simon Benson, the owner of the falls at that time, offers a fantastic view of the face of the fall. It is this bridge that you see in nearly every picture of the falls and it is the way visitors to cross the falls between it's lower and upper cataracts.
I hate to admit this but, the hike to the top was a bit more
strenuous than I anticipated, thereby reinforcing my conclusion that I am not in the shape I would like to be, or feel I should be in at this sage of my life.
That said, the trip to the top was well worth the effort. Truth is, it was not the view I expected. I think we all envisioned a view looking down the steep drop that comprised the "Fall" part of the falls. Instead, we found ourselves a bit further up-stream, at a beautiful, tranquil small pond.
If this spot did not exist, it would be necessary for a major water bottling company to "Create it" for their advertising campaign and label. The water was clear and cold, and yes we did all drink from the water. The taste was as good as water can be, though Ilene did voice concern afterwards that maybe we made a mistake and put our lives in jeopardy. I figured since I eat fruit from the store with out washing off the pesticides, I would be OK. Truth is, we all were just fine.
The best part was watching Lane, Sam and Mason playing in the shallow water. I took off my shoes and went in up to my knees. It was refreshing, the way encasing your feet in a block of ice is refreshing. No matter how cold the water, Lane is drawn to it, but this was not swimable but you could step in and splash around.
It was great to get away from the fencing strips for a few hours and see a bit of nature.
Photo Gallery of Falls
