Road trip retrospective 3, “The Fruit Loop”

We were fortunate that our road trip coincided with a visit from some very good friends who are now living in Australia. They love Hood River, which is a town as well as a river. Actually the town is a port on The Columbia River, but Hood River (the river) is nearby.

I can see why everyone loves Hood River. It is a quaint town in a beautiful area. Here is a view of Mount Adams from our friends’ rental condo.

Hood River is beyond the Columbia River Gorge, so after we went sight seeing there, we continued on to meet our friends. We had choices of things to do and opted for The Fruit Loop. So named because of all the fruit grown and made into many delicious products, the Fruit Loop is a self-guided driving tour around the many orchards, wineries, and stores in this beautiful area. First we stopped at a general store where we tasted about 30 different flavors of jam and bought a half-dozen jars. We enjoyed lunch in the store’s beautiful picnic area and afterward I took some pictures of their flowers.

Of course we had to stop at the alpaca farm.

We sampled ice cream and cookies here.

One of my friend’s nephews had cotton candy ice cream. I had to sample that and the bubble-gum flavor, but they were much too sweet for me, and then I had a piece of bubble gum to chew! I ended up just having a little of my husband’s ice cream. I liked the coffee ice cream, which wasn’t too sweet. Yes, there is such thing as too sweet for me, although I didn’t know that before the tasting. I think my tastes have changed a little, maybe because I’ve been eating mostly bland foods.

Our last stop was The White House which serves all kinds of hard ciders made from local fruit. We sampled all of them and took home a “growlette” of the blueberry cider. We saved that for the rest of our trip and then shared it with our daughter and son-in-law when we returned. The blueberry cider was a big hit! I’ve labeled this photo The White House. I think it might be funny if people search for pictures of the one in Washington DC and get this little shot. That’s the President and First Man that you see there.

Outside The White House, we had a nice view of Mount Hood.

If you’re ever in Oregon, I recommend driving The Fruit Loop.