A Grandparental Visit

The Grandparents Horvath (that's Paul's Mom's parents) made their first trip to Portland ever to visit us over the weekend. We had approximately 24 hours to show them our home... what to do?? It's hard to fit it all into a day - or even into a year, as we've learned - but we did our best.

They arrived Friday evening, and while I was still at work Paul took them on a long walk through the Pearl District and then into Nob Hill and NW 21st and 23rd. I met up with them for a ridiculous dinner at Paley's Place. They wanted a true Pacific Northwest dining experience and Paley's is definitely the spot. We had a perfect dinner... poached halibut, NY strip, mushrooms sauteed in duck fat, smoked brisket, dungeness crab and corn risotto... I was so tired and starving from work though, that I failed to take any photos of our dinner! G'ma and G'pa took some, so I will post those once they send to us.

After visiting me at VQ for a (obviously) delicious brunch, Paul took them out of the city to see the Columbia River Gorge and the many waterfalls along the historic highway that winds through the gorge. First was Latourell Falls, a 249 drop straight down off a basalt cliff. All photography credits for the gorge/waterfall shots go to Paul!

Latourell Falls

Bob and Esther (aka Grandpa and Grandma)

Next stop was Wahkeena Falls, another falls right along the historic highway.

Wahkeena Falls

Wahkeena is a little less about the sheer plunge of the water, and a little more about the cascading flow down the fall and winding down the creek.

Ah, tranquility

Cheese!

Troopers

Wahkeena Falls

Grandma and Grandpa at Wahkeena

And of course, they had to visit the famous Multnomah Falls, the second tallest year-round waterfall in the country at 620 feet.

Multnomah Falls

Upper Multnomah

We wound down their day in Portland with happy hour at Departure, a restaurant and bar on the top floor of the Nines hotel downtown (we went there with my parents back in April).

Cheers!

Having a good time

Paul, Grandma and Grandpa on the rooftop patio

After a few good cocktails (and meeting a former professional ballerina, and a Maui businessman, and possibly a few broken ribs - just your typical Portland evening) it was time to call it a night for the grandparents, since they had a 6am flight the next morning. We loaded them onto the MAX and off they went!


It was really nice to have them in Portland, even though it was just for a whirlwind 24 hours. I think they had a lot of fun (there may have even been an "I could live here" comment in there somewhere!). Okay, who's next?!

Just for fun, on Sunday we went on a long walk through our neighborhood to find interesting things to photograph. There wasn't a ton, but here are some of the shots!

I can't tell if this says anything... hopefully it's nothing offensive!

Love,
Jenny