Gorge-ous!

On our first weekend in Washington, we decided to visit our neighboring state of Oregon.  We were corrected by the locals of Oregon many times, that it is pronounced Oregun, not Oregone.  The locals were quick to point out that Martha has a thick Chicago accent and I am Asian.  

We made our home in Viento State Park Campground.  There, we met two wonderful couples from Portland, Mike + Karen and Mark + Dorothy.  We ended up hitting it off very well and drank heavily with them Friday and Saturday.  Heavily = 2 beers = Drunk like a Skunk.  We had a local beer called Full Sail IPA, very delicious.  They also introduced us to a drink they created called the KAM (Karen and Mike), one part Bourbon and two part Baileys Irish Cream.  When it comes to drinking, they had it down to a science.  We crashed at midnight, they ended up staying up till 2.  To put that in perspective, we were half their age.  The campground was adjacent to an active train track.  When the trains passed by during the night, I thought we were being abducted by aliens, loud noises, lights, and probing.

 

Viento Campground 

On Saturday we hiked the Coyote Wall.  We did not have a guidebook, so we followed instructions that I scribbled on a piece of toilet paper.  After 30 minutes, our trail map was used.  The route we were supposed to take was Moderate, 1520 elevation change, 5.8 miles round trip.  The route we ended up taking was Difficult, 1950 elevation change, 8.2 miles round trip, poops!  We felt it the next day for sure. 
Awesome camping, trails, waterfalls, local beer, winery visit, meeting new people.
It was a very successful first weekend.  Good.
 

 View of Columbia River Gorge

 

 Coyote Wall

 

Trail on Coyote Wall