The Hood River Blossom Festival

Going to the Blossom Festival has been something I have wanted to do for years. Every year around February or March I remind myself that I want to do it and then April comes and goes and I remember usually a weekend too late that I wanted to go. Last year I took no chances. I sent myself a flag from work that would pop up and remind me two weeks before it took place. One small hitch. Steve went out of town:( I had to find someone who would be willing to drive to Hood River with me AND be willing to stop at all the fun locations. I didn't have to look far. My friend and co-worker, Cindy, quickly agreed to go. What made it more entertaining was that her husband, John, was also out of town. So it was just the gals driving around for the entire day eating, buying flowers, petting a variety of animals, and also sneaking in a stop to Multnomah Falls. If you have ever been to the Blossom Festival you know what you are in for. It is a 45 mile loop taking you from nursery to bakery to Alpaca farm. It was wonderful. Our first stop was at the Pansy Party where they sold, what else, Pansy's. Thousands of them. Along with a variety of other native grown plants. From there we stopped at this bakery where the hand pies came up a bit short in flavor but the cookies were delicious. There was a lavender farm that did not meet our expectations but the Alpaca Farm made up for it in leaps and bounds. When you first pull up you park in front of the nursery. There waiting for us was a mamma and a two day old Alpaca. SO CUTE! Just a quick walk up the drive way brings you to the Junior section. There were about 25 Alpacas all under a year old. Once they are sheared for the summer they are sent down the hill to live with the adults. I kept telling Cindy that I needed to learn how to knit so I could make an Alpaca wool blanket. The baby Alpaca wool is the softest wool around. After leaving there we stopped at an antique store that had nothing in the way of cool collectables but it did have a cute collection of pygmy goats. They wanted to eat and we had nothing to give so they tried to settle for Cindy's wedding ring. Good thing that sucker is insured! From there it was a long drive around the outskirts of Hood River. We stopped occasionally to take a picture or talk to the locals but our next big stop was to eat pulled pork at one of the country stores. This place was so good I have thought about taking Steve back just for lunch some weekend. Cindy and I had a great time and we are already planning next years trip with the little peanut in tow.