Memory Lane... The Gorge

After our walk down Memory Lane in downtown Portland, Alan and Krysten had to head back home to Washington. So we met back up with Erica and Kevin to revisit the Gorge. Erica, my long-time best friend since high school, never went to Multnomah, but she may as well have since she came to visit me so much! We have a whole bank of memories from my college days at Multnomah, and the Gorge is in many significant accounts.

Our stroll / drive winded down the historic highway along the scenic Gorge separating Washington from Oregon with the great Columbia River. This deeply cut barrier between the states is marked with a myriad of waterfalls, which offer stunning landscapes and lovely hikes.

We started with a supremely significant vista for Kevin and I... Crown Point.

We started out with the touristy stuff...
This monument was closed all the years I lived in Portland as they renovated the interior for use. But that didn't stop me and my friends from coming up here frequently for midnights out to the windy lookout. The Gorge serves as a great wind tunnel, and this particular location gets insurmountable gusts. Like the time a group of us piled into our friend's VW bus, armed with blankets and coats and a guitar (player included). Parked in the empty lot, we cozied in the van laughing and talking and eventually singing praise songs together. In due time the van began to rock back and forth as the wind started to howl outside. With that we eagerly climbed out of the van and into the gusts, leaning against the wind as it literally held us up. That's when we learned that if we dared to open our coats, they served as sails! Too fun!

The inside looks really pretty now.

And the lookout above offers a great view. I was so glad Erica was there to share it with me.

Ahhhh, picture perfect.

This is where the story gets good, and I'm especially glad that my family so joyfully took Isaac for the day because we definitely would not have been able to do this with him in tow. We took Erica and Kevin out to "our spot" for the first time. Now, this move is daring because it involves, well, trespassing and sneaking under the elevated road and out to a cliff below the Crown Point lookout. Didn't think I had it in me, did you! Haha... Well, we have a rebel streak!

The Kevins make their way down the bush-covered trail.

Watch your step! Just a little ways to go before.....

... the amazing view from our spot!!

Reminiscent of a picture I took of Kevin the very first time we came out here... It was the day we officially started exclusively dating, and I could really call him my boyfriend and Kevin could really call me his girlfriend. From the moment we met, everything moved along so quickly. We were completely taken with each other... but because of the fast pace, we wanted to be sure that this was what the Lord wanted. So we both sensed the Lord leading us to take a week apart to seek His wisdom in deciding to progress in our relationship. That week was amazing and difficult and exciting all rolled into one. Throughout the week, we both continued to feel a sense of peace from the Lord about pursuing each other, so at the end of the week we came up here to talk about our experiences with God that week. Much to our delight, we found that we both sensed God's hand in our growing friendship. So we decided to make it official! We're so glad that we did!

Reliving the romance of that memory... Along the road of our relationship, we celebrated anniversaries, special moments, and days out in the Gorge up here. Little did I know that a year and a half later we would be doing this up here too...

... That's right - this is where Kevin proposed! It was a cloudy January day, looking a lot like this picture although much colder. He had to talk me into leaving my cozy apartment for the chilly Gorge that day, but I complied after he bothered me enough. He brought me up here and then started to act funny. I was freezing, and I wanted to warm my hands in his coat, but he wouldn't let me. Then he told me to close my eyes. Well, I wasn't about to close my eyes when he was acting so strange - you just never know what joker Kevin is going to do next. But I finally complied, and when I opened my eyes, Kevin was down on his knee before me in this exact spot with a beautiful engagement ring. Of course I said YES!!! We got back to the car where Kevin had a dozen red roses waiting for me.

And the rest is history...

I love our spot. It's so peaceful and beautiful and secluded.

It was so fun to share this special place with our close friends for the first time.

After Crown Point, we made our way along the historic drive once again and stopped at just one of the waterfalls for a short walk.

And the grand finale of our tour was...

...the legendary Multnomah Falls.

Sometime during our college dating days, Kevin and I came to the Gorge for one of our daytrips, ending much like today at Multnomah Falls. It was getting close to dinnertime that day, so we stopped here to look at the menu posted at the bottom of the stairs. Seeing that the prices were way out of our league, we turned to go. But just as we turned we were met by a middle-aged couple who had noticed us and must have read our faces. They offered us $20 toward our dinner and said, "We were once in your shoes. Go enjoy dinner." It didn't cover our total tab, but it helped, and it made an impression on us.

Thus concluded our walk down Memory Lane in the Gorge. We soaked in the beauty as much as we could, and it was perfect!