Mirror Lake with Mt. Hood in the background

This is a great hike for those in or around Portland.

You can hike up just to Mirror Lake and hang out. This is a pretty easy 1.5 mile hike (3 miles round trip), with almost a 1000 ft elevation climb. If you want to keep on going you can jump on the Tom, Dick and Harry trail. Doing this hike will take your elevation climb up to 2000 ft and right at 6.5 miles round trip. You will go right past Mirror Lake, so take time to enjoy the view and the peacefulness.

You can see from the picture above how the lake gets it's name.

Looking towards the rim of Tom, Dick and Harry from Mirror Lake

If you turn and face the ridge behind you, you will see the top of the Tom, Dick and Harry trail.

Once you reach the top, the view is truly amazing. Even though I only took pictures of Mt. Hood, there are 5 mountain peaks you can see from up there. Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Jefferson and …….. (someone is going to need to help me out here.) Maybe it's Mt. Washington.

Looking down on Mirror Lake

The trail head is right before Government camp on a corner to your right. You will often times see many cars parked at this corner and you will see an bridge you have to cross immediately. That's how you will know you are in the right spot.

The trail does have switchbacks, but it's more of a moderate trail. Once you get to the the split if you stay left on the Mirror Lake loop you will be able to walk around the whole lake looking for the perfect spot to sit down for lunch. If you stay to the right on the Tom, Dick and Harry path you will also go around the lake (in the opposite direction) until you see another little left turn off to the Tom, Dick and Harry path.

Give yourself time to do this, because it is fun to have time to hang out at the lake for awhile.

Wahclella Falls

Both of our kids are going to be gone for a whole week. We started to look through some options of where we could go. I started my usual searches with Living Social and Groupon. I even found some pretty good deals, we even had some free airfare.

But, in the end we decided to save the hotel money and do more things around Portland. There are several things we can do and many different directions we can go. So if you are looking for a staycation in Portland, I have some ideas.

HIKING

Weather permitting, hiking is on my list. It's one of my favorite summer activities. My husband doesn't love it quite as much as I do, so I have found a great compromise. We are going to hike the Columbia Gorge, then make our way into Hood River and eat at 3 Rivers Grill.

I know, for us, any vacation or staycation is all about the food.

There are many hikes to do along the Columbia Gorge. There are 5 easy hikes and then then are many more adventuresome hikes. I have Multnomah Falls listed as easy, but take your time and hike to the top and it's not so easy.

My plan to is to hike one we haven't done yet.

EATING

During the month of June participating restaurants are offering a 3 course meal for just $25. We have checked the list and have saved some dates and plan to hit a few of these.

RELAXING

My favorite day spa, Abba day spa, has a special in the middle of the week. You can get a 1 hour massage for just $49. Since this week we will also be celebrating our 21 year anniversary, we are going to get a couples massage. Not only that but I will use my Spa Finder gift certificate as well making this a killer deal.

Watch Groupon and Living Social for more good deals on spas. They are a dime a dozen on there.

ENJOYING

Again, weather permitting, I hope to walk on the waterfront in downtown Portland. I also have a Groupon from some of the food carts in the downtown area, so this might be a great time to cash in on one of those.

We know what to do in Portland if it's raining. But hopefully we won't have use our back up plan.

Looking for even more things to do in the Portland Area this summer? How about ::

Tigard Balloon Festival
St. Paul Rodeo
Oregon Brewfest
Fruit Beer Festival
Soapbox Derby

Just to name a few…..

Where has summer gone?  As summer starts to come to a close you have to ask yourself, Did you do it all? Did you get it all in?

If not, it's not too late to get in a last minute trip or at least do some day trips.  Let's look at some options.

1.  Camping.  You might find many camp sites full, but there are still quite a few that are first come first serve.  Try and take off a day early and arrive on Thursday if you can instead of Friday.  Although if you can camp in the middle of the week you might find some openings.

2.  Beach House or Motel at the Beach. Again if weekends are booked you can try and do some midweek stuff.  Have little ones?  Wait an extra week and go once all the older kids have started school.

3. Day Hikes. The great thing about where I live is I can get to the coast, mountains, rivers within an hour in any direction and there is hiking at all those locations.  I know we are super fortunate, but take advantage of what you might have.  Pack a lunch, find a trail with a waterfall and enjoy your day vacation.

4.  Beach day.  Ok, so you don't live near the ocean.  Do you live near a lake or river that has some sandy beaches?  Take the day and frolic in the water to cool off from the hot summer days.

5.  Go to a local pool or water park.  For some of us that might be a drive making it a full on day trip.  Others can make a vacation out of it because the location might be so far away.

6.  Hit the Amusement park.  Check out planning the perfect roller coaster vacation. In the past we have done Cedar Point because they started school a few weeks before us.  We would go after the locals start and the parks wouldn't be as crowded.

7.  Go to the local park and play games, sit in the sun and enjoy a picnic.  Better yet, invite others as well and make a party out of it.

8.  Throw a party at your house with cocktails, friends and great food. Taking in the last of the summer nights.

9.  Visit a farmers market and plan on eating at one of the venues.  Nothing says summer like a farmers market.

10.  Take advantage of summer programs your city offers. We have Concerts on the Commons, Third Thursdays or First Thursdays (where they close off streets and have food and goods for sale).

11.  Choose another city to enjoy.  Last summer we did a few days in Seattle and a few days in Vancouver, BC.  It rains often in those cities, so the summer months are great for getting to know them on foot.  Our time in Vancouver was one of our best vacations last year.  Our whole family wants to go back.

12.  Go for a bike ride.  We have a great trail in a neighboring town, that takes you along a river and you end up in a small town.  We found a little place where you could sit down and get ice cream. We then got back on our bikes and rode the path back to our car.

13.  Hit the river.  Grab the canoe, kayak, tube if you have too, one more time and go down the river.

Whatever you choose, just choose it now.  Take in the last of summer and enjoy!!

Don't let summer pass you by just yet, there are still summer days ahead that need some thrill, enjoyment and excitement.

Linked to Top Ten Tuesday

Finally last summer I met up with a friend and we stopped in Hood River.  We had the the most amazing meal and I decided the next time we came through we would stop as a family and enjoy.  And we did!!  That was the stop that made me want to come back for a weekend.

So here we are 3 months later enjoying Hood River.  Before we even entered the town we enjoyed hours of hiking and sightseeing and photography.  Not that I am good at photography, but I just wanted to remember it all.  The day was beautiful and we managed all 3 meals outside in the sun.

The weather the second day was bad and we sat inside Doppio Coffee shop, reading and relaxing.  I had found this place online, before we even got here.  When we went out the first day I forgot to take my list of coffee shops to try and that didn't seem to matter, we ended up here anyways.

The bed and breakfast was good.  I am not a bed and breakfast person, but no complaints.  I was hoping for a little protein for breakfast, but the homemade scones did not disappoint.  The room, although small, suited it's purpose on that sunny day.

It seems that there is always something to do in Hood River.  This day was no exception.  As we began to walk around we noticed that the roads were blocked off.  After asking around we realized that there would be a Crit bike race.  This sounded intriguing, so we began to look for a place to sit and watch.  We knew the race was going to start right around lunch time, so we started walking the 1k course to find a place to sit.  We stumbled upon Double Mountain Brewery, which was also on my lists of places to try.  We walked in and the owner/manager (not sure which) told us to go into the other room, where a garage door was wide open and tables were pushed up to the edge.

Double Mountain Brewery is great.  The pizzas were amazing, and the beer was even better.  The thing I really love about beer and breweries is you can sample until you find one you like, then they pour you a big glass knowing you are happy.  This place was no different.  I sampled 3 kinds.  She told me I HAD to try all 3, so I did.  And just like they hoped, I was completely happy and ready for more!!

As the rain began to come down, we sat there, fully covered, yet outside, with the best view of the race.  How do we know it was the best view?  The whole time people walked by the said "wow, you have the best seats here."  We smiled, sipped our beer and hoped they would keep moving, as to not block our great view.

Between the hiking, the breweries, and the bike race we just got a taste of what Hood River has to offer the outdoorsy person.  It is after all the windsurfing capital of the world.  Along with all kinds of other water sports, the close mountain for ski or boarding, and mountain biking there is never a dull moment in Hood River.

Check out the Romantic Side of Hood River