Day 3 – Columbia River Gorge & Mt. Hood

by Kate Bauer · June 24, 2026

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the trip so far!

After everyone had breakfast, Mamafer, Evan, and I went to the laundromat. They had an arcade, but we didn’t have cash, so we hung out in the little cafe attached to the laundromat instead. I so very kindly like the awesome person I am, paid for my own soda and salted caramel scone… with Mamafer’s card. As I chugged Dr. Pepper and ate, I drew in my sketchbook and binged Gravity Falls (TOTALLY RECOMMEND I DON’T CARE HOW OLD YOU ARE YOU NEED TO WATCH IT!!!!!!!). After a little while, Mamafer tried to get Evan and me to play Monopoly: Travel Edition. Their plan failed. When the laundry was done, we went back to the hotel and Mamafer rented a car for the day.

Mamafer, Mom, Evan, and I all got into the car and traveled to our first stop: Multnomah Falls. The waterfall stretched down a tall mountain, and there was a bridge halfway up. It is the tallest waterfall in Oregon, at 620 feet. It was insanely beautiful to look at the waterfall and the greenery around it as I climbed up the mountain to the bridge.

The funny thing is, as soon as I got back in the car and started being an absolute iPad kid, the first video I saw was of one of my favorite content creators ON THE SAME BRIDGE three hours before I had been on it (I totally wasn’t freaking out or anything nuh uhh).

Soon, we got soft-serve ice cream and milkshakes and climbed into the car to drive to Mt. Hood. We came to a stop in a wide parking lot, and the icy mountain poked out behind it. I ran around and took some photos while Evan (definitely legally) flew his drone and captured videos and photos that way. We could also see Mt. St. Helen’s in the distance!

Mom and I went into the Timberline Lodge in front of the mountain, and looked around before we sat down with Mamafer and Evan for dinner. I got some curry soup with rice, and a cookie skillet for dessert. It was SO GOOD!!!!! In the restaurant, while we ate, the windows showed a view of Mt. Hood.

Slowly beginning to fall asleep, we had our last stop at the Vista House to watch the sunset. The people there were very… interesting, to say the least, but the sunset was pretty. It was blue, gold-ish yellow, and orange, and we got there just in time. Evan flew his drone again, and Mamafer took photos with her camera. Mom picked a flower and mainly stuck with me, as we were both super tired.