40 in Portland

It was my turn to hit 40 so we packed up and headed to the Pacific Northwest coast of the US to bring it in in style.
Portland, Oregon is a neat city with a great vibe.  They had a downtown river area

 We came upon these two guys and their dogs enjoying a beer in the afternoon.  One lived on that boat and the other on a boat out of frame.  It was cool watching the 'boat dogs' enjoy their lifestyle. We probably gawked at them a bit too much. ;-)

 The next day we hit wineries..we had a driver/guide and we went to four different ones. The region there is well known for Pinot Noir.
They were all beautiful

 They all had these glasses specifically made for Pinot Noir tasting. we've never seen this style before and I like them quite a bit. and apparently, they hold an entire bottle of wine!

 This day was oddly beautiful and clear.  So we could always look and find Mt. Hood in the distance.

 On Friday, we went to a Sake distillery and had an amazing dinner that night.  I didn't take many photos that day! 
Saturday, we picked up the same guide and went to the Columbus Gorge.  it was overcast, drizzly and a bit chilly but it was still fun and beautiful.
We visited several waterfalls.   I was amazed at how green the trees were due to moss.  it made for very cool landscapes.

The problem became lenses...my camera is weather proof and sealed so I was happily running around with it in the drizzly and waterfall spray. But the lens...that was hard to keep clear.

 This fall was beautiful.  to give you a size scale..that is Jason walking down the path.

This fall was 'two tiered' and had a bridge in between.  It apparently was the most visited spot in Oregon until a outlet mall opened up..that is sad.

 I made the climb and this is the view from the bridge down to where that photo was taken above.

 Finally, we went to a fish hatchery. Salmon is very important there and it was neat to hear of all the things they do to ensure the salmon can make their trek to breed.  This is a salmon ladder that helps them get around a damn and also funnels them through a tube that allows them to count numbers.  We also saw where they hatch fish to replenish the population.  Very neat!

 All in all I had a wonderful time! I enjoyed the area, company and food tremendously.