Simple Days at the Reservoir

Winter always drags on in Portland. Cold rain and cloud covered skies are reluctant to relinquish their grip in the Pacific Northwest until May or June each year. Our trip to Hawaii in March was an amazing chance to break through the grey doldrums, but as sunny days began to roll around, Molly and I were feeling cooped up and eager to hit the road back into nature.

As with any good road trip, our first stop was for breakfast at the greatest bagel place on Earth: Sieze the Bagel!

We didn't really know where we wanted to go, so at first the plan was to drive East from my house until we found something interesting! It only took about 3 minutes for us to meet an impassable wall of construction 🚧🚧🚧

Luckily, we were feeling spontaneous, so we set out North towards Mt. Saint Helens and the Ape Caves!

Yes, that Mt. Saint Helens.

After about an hour of driving along the winding Lewis River Road near Woodland, we began to realize that the caves were going to be totally packed with Memorial Day vacationers. A few circles around the parking lot were all it took to set us back down the mountain away from the crowds ;)

Finally we found ourselves at a trio of reservoirs near the town of Cougar: Lake Merwin, Yale Lake, and Swift Reservoir. These gorgeous lakes are managed by Pacific Power, and in clear weather, offer a beautiful view of the non-crater side of the mountain.

The day turned out super cloudy though, so we decided to make our own entertainment

Skipping stones!

Finding our zen

Investigating the local real-estate

And deciding that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live up on top of this tree for the rest of my life, because, it looks a lot further down from here than it did when I was climbing up ;)

Even though our first few plans didn't pan out, Molly always seems to be able to turn a simple road trip into a cherished memory. One thing is for certain, I'm gonna love this girl till my last day on Earth.

Thanks for being such a great companion Molly :)