The Amazing Adventures of Hiking Girl

I made it back from my 10 day food fest in Oregon.  I thought I was strong and prepared for anything but I found out I am human and things like #10 cans of cashews laying around and 1 lb packages of black licorice can sway even the strongest of beings.  Or...me anyway.  Without going into too many details...this is how it all started and pretty much ended.
A conversation had while trying to prepare a sensible breakfast on my 1st day at my parents home:

Me to Dad:  What can I use to cook my eggs?  I can't seem to find the cooking spray....
Dad: Cooking spray?  I don't know what that is. 
Me: Just something to keep them from sticking to the pan....?
Dad: Oh, the crisco is under the counter.
Me: Ah....great....

And so it began.  And up a few more pounds than I hoped is how it ended.  But, I shall overcome. 

Along the way, I did have some great adventures trying to get some exercise in.  First of all...for anyone who has read the book or seen the movie "Twilight", this photo is for you.

The Columbia River as seen from Multnomah Falls....where much of the scenery in the movie was filmed. My son and I stopped to take in the falls and decided to make a bigger adventure out of it.  If you are ever in Portland, Oregon...take the time to enjoy this view.  It's close enough and you will be glad that you did!

Looking up at the falls.  They are so tall that I couldn't fit the entire falls within my camera frame.  My son and I decided we would hike up to the bridge at the least:

But, once we got that far, we decided we would hike to the very top of the falls.  The map I picked up at the information center said it was 1 mile up.  After 11 switchbacks and a racing heart from exertion...I succeeded in reaching the top.  It was worth it!  Although, I had a hard time looking down.  The vertigo was overwhelming!

It was an amazing experience.  I couldn't have made it halfway to the top without all the exercise and weightloss I have accomplished so far.  My legs were very sore from the climb though.  We decided that a mile climb up is a killer on the cardiovascular and a mile hike down is a killer on the legs.  Momentum really kicks in too! Here are my son and I at about the 3/4 mile area.  I was getting tired!

And me back at the bottom of the falls.

We had some other hiking adventures as the week wore on.  These are photos taken from the mountain behind my parents home.  When I was a girl, I used to hike up here all the time.  It seems to be a bit more overgrown now than it was back in the day.  The views were quite breathtaking.  We were having a bit of a rainshower while we were on this hike, but that was the ongoing theme for the entire week.  Rain...

We also tried to visit the beach a few times.  The tides were very high and the surf was dangerous for the most part, so we didn't get to play there very much.  I did manage to snap a couple pictures when I could though.

My son trying to avoid being pulled out to sea by a sneaker wave.

So, despite some eating pitfalls and the constant comments from everyone of, "You are on vacation, eat what you want" we did try to get in some activity too.  Oh, and the best part of all was how surprised my dad and mom were with my weight loss.  My dad handed me out a few genuine compliments, and that just doesn't happen very often.