Hangin' in the Hood

Strictly speaking, that title is a misleading one, since we spent the majority of the day not in Hood River.  But still.

We got up a decent hour so that we could take Miss Isis to doggy day care- and I would be lying if I said I didn't have a tiny little pang at abandoning her to complete strangers.  But it was necessary, because, generally speaking, they do not allow dogs in museums.

But before the museum we had a date with Stonehenge- not the original, obviously, but a replica located in Maryhill, Washington.  So very random and awesome.

Someday when I am filthy rich I want to recreate Stonehenge, too.  Only I want to do it with stones, not concrete.

From there we drove the few miles to the museum, which was quite good, especially if one likes art nouveau (as this one most decidedly does).  They also had an impressive collection of Rodin, which was meaningful to me because I finally got to see Fallen Caryatid Carrying Her Stone, of Stranger in a Strange Land fame (one of my all-time favorite books).   Once we'd had our fill of Art, we asked the lady at the front desk if she had any local food recommendations.  She said that no, she didn't, but that we could probably find something in the little town up the way called Goldendale.  So we chanced it, and thanks to the powers of the interwebs, we found a little place called The Glass Onion.

Readers, it was ridiculous.  As in, ridiculously good (and beautifully presented) food in the middle of frickin' nowhere.  I had a charcoal-grilled polenta, and Nathan tried the fish taco- he declared it the best fish taco he'd ever had, including the super-delicious one he got down in southern California*.  This place would be right at home in the Pearl- but it wasn't priced that way.

Shave Parmesan YES.

After that we headed back into Hood River, and spent a while wandering its oh-so-charming streets until the 4pm  tour of the Full Sail Brewery.  That was interesting, and afterwards we sat in the pub and Nathan sampled a few beers (and I, for the first time since being diagnosed with the gluten intolerance, felt sad about not being able to have beer).

Teeny weeny tasting glasses are amusing to me...

All too soon it was time to pick up the pup, and when we did so we were treated to at least four different staff members rapturizing over what a sweet, good dog she is.  They even took her picture to show off to another staff member who wasn't there.  And Readers- one of them even came running out of the building to say goodbye to her.  What a spoiled baby.  (...she says in a relieved tone that is code for, "Thank the stars she didn't eat anyone,")

Speaking of which:

This would never, EVER happen at home.  Because I am WAY too neurotic about the sheets...

*(I went to link to that entry and discovered that I never did get around to posting our Road Trip travelogue.  Hmph.  The darn thing is written, so I have no idea why I never put it up.  Maybe I'll go add it to the archives...)