Choza

 

Choza is a fine dining restaurant specialized in Mexican cuisine.  Choza is located South of Portland, in the shopping center of Bridgeport Village.  It offers various Mexican dishes such as nachos, tacos, burritos, and many other Mexican food.  It is one of the most popular restaurant choices at Bridgeport Village.

We got to Bridgeport Village around 12:30PM and there was a lot of cars.  We drove to the parking garage and it was packed with cars.  It was difficult to move forward because the parking garage area was only single lane and one way only.  Luckily, we were able to find a parking space rather quickly as someone was just leaving when we went into the parking garage.

When we went into Choza restaurant, the restaurant was about 70% full.  Half of the restaurant was dedicated for the bar.  The restaurant provided a bowl of tortilla chips and salsa sauce for free.

We ordered a nachos, a bowl of Pozole, Carnitas taco, Asada taco, Al Pastor taco, and Barbacoa tacos.  The Pozole soup was served quickly with a lot of vegetable stacked on top of the soup and with half of a small avocado.  Lot of pork meat was put in the soup.  The nachos came in a large place.  When it was served to the table, the plate was sizzling hot.  We did not add any meat on top of the nachos but it came with bell peppers, jalapenos, beans, and tomatoes.  The nachos was quite good.

The tacos came with amazing freshly made soft tortillas.  On top of each tacos, lot of cilantro was placed on top.  We didn't like cilantro that much but it was quite fresh and the taste of cilantro was not that obviously.  We really enjoyed the taco as the meat was juicy and the vegetables were fresh.

We really enjoyed the dining experience at Choza and loved the food there.  Next time we would try other Mexican dishes and see how they compare to others.

Tidal Raves Seafood Grill

 

Tidal Raves Seafood Grill is a classy seafood restaurant located at Depoe Bay.  The restaurant is located right on the coast and has an amazing view of the coast of Depoe Bay.  It is an amazing spot for a romantic dinner for couples.  The restaurant offers a variety of seafood dishes and also a large selection of alcohol for people to enjoy.

We went to Tidal Raves Seafood Grill after watching the whales.  We got there around 1:30PM after the peak lunch hour.  When we got there, the restaurant was about 50% full and all the tables along the window were taken unfortunately.  However, the seats on the upper deck were great as well since the floor was elevated.  The view from these seats was just as amazing as the seats along the windows.

We ordered a Salmon house special and a Ciopinno, which is a seafood mix dish.  Both dishes were served on a round black plate.  The salmon was a huge piece of salmon and cooked perfectly.  It was soft and tender.  The salmon was also sitting on a buttery risotto which was amazing as well.  Ciopinno came with a lot of clams and calamari.  The dish covered with tomato based soup with great taste.  There were few pieces of rockfish in there and 2 large shrimps.

Overall, the dining experience at Tidal Raves Seafood Grill was great.  We really enjoyed the food and the food taste as amazing as it could be.  Next time we would like to come here late in the afternoon such that we could see the sunset while we dine at the restaurant.  That will be an amazing experience.

Depoe Bay

 

Depoe Bay is a small town along the central Oregon coast.  It is about 10 minutes South of Lincoln City and about 2.5 hours from Portland.  Depoe Bay is known to be a great place to watch whale migration during the migration season.  There is a small whale watching center along the main street of the town.  Depoe Bay also houses the smallest harbour in the entire world!

We left Portland around 10AM in the morning and headed towards Depoe Bay.  It was a very foggy morning in the Portland area but we decided to go anyway.  Instead of taking Highway 26 to the coast first, we decided to take the smaller route through McMinnville to get to Lincoln City first.  It was extremely foggy all the way to Lincoln City.  However, once we got to Lincoln City, the fog disappeared and it was sunny weather.  We were really enjoying the sunny weather along the coast.

We then headed South to Depoe Bay to get to the whale watching center.  There was a lot of parking space along the street for people to park the car.  The watch watching center was not big, but there were about 15 people there with 3 other volunteers going over how whales migrate.  Everyone was holding a binocular trying to spot a whale.  There were 2 buoys out there in the ocean.  The first buoy was about 3 miles out and the second buoy about 5 miles out.  We were able to see whale splashing water about 8 miles out, which was quite far.

There was a second floor at the whale watching center but not much was up there.  It was probably meant to have more space for people to watch whales.  The space downstairs was just for restroom.

After whale watching a bit, we took a walk outside and saw the smallest harbour in the world.  The way for going in and out of the harbour was small and narrow with waves splashing along the rocky cliffside.  There were several gift shops along the street as well but not many tourists in the shop unfortunately.

Depoe Bay is a popoular whale watching place, but we felt that there is little to do in the town.  The shops along the street aren't too exciting either unfortunately.  Hopefully one day the down will be more lively in the future.

Philly Spot

 

Philly Spot is a food truck stall located at the Hillsboro food cart site, the Station.  It is one of the 20+ amazing food truck stalls at the side.  Philly Spot specializes in Philly steak sandwiches, but also offer other dishes such as burgers, hotdogs, and corndogs.  The Philly Spot food truck is located on the East side of the Station food cart site and it is right outside of the indoor seating area.

When we got to the Station, it was around 12PM and many food truck stall just opened.  We did see a few food truck stalls closed due to the day being a Monday.  We strode around to see what was available to try and came stumble upon Philly Spot.  The smell coming out of the food truck stall was so aromatic and made us even more hungry.

We then saw a lady picking up her order from Philly Spot and it was a giant box. This was when we decided to try Philly Spot for lunch.  We ordered a Philly Steak sandwich since we figured that it is the signature dish.  The cost of this was $16, so it was not cheap either.

After about 10 minutes, the order was ready.  It was indeed in a large box and it was so hot and fresh.  Other than just the Philly Steak sandwich, it also came with a large portion of fries.  The fries were the thick cut fries, which are the ones we really enjoy.  It also came with a small serving of sauce.  The taste of the sauce was similar to the sauce used in Big Mac burger at McDonald's.  The Philly Steak sandwich had a lot of meat in it, but we thought there were going to be more bell peppers in the sandwich based on what we saw on the picture, but there was very little bell peppers in there, which was a bit disappointing.

Overall, it was an average experience having the food from Philly Spot.  It is definitely a place to try but we will probably try a different food truck next time when we visit the Station food truck site.

Jonsrud Point

 

Jonsrud Viewpoint is a scenic lookout point at Sandy, Oregon.  The viewpoint looks out East towards Mount Hood and the river ravine below.  During the cold morning, thick fog form within the ravine beneath and the sunrise over the ravine simply looks gorgeous.  Thus this place has been a popular spot for photography enthusiasts for taking sunrise photo around Mount Hood.

We got to Jonsrud Viewpoint around 7AM in the morning.  It was still dark outside because the sunrise is at 7:45AM.  The parking area for this viewpoint is along a pull out South of the viewpoint.  There were only about 9 parking spaces and quite limited.

When we got out of the car, it was freezing.  We could see the frost on the grass and on the fence.  As we set up the camera, there were more people arriving to wait for the sunrise.  The parking lot was full.  Everyone was wearing gloves and hats because it was freezing cold.  We saw a dog walker placing a card board on the ground for his dog to stand on to protect the dog's paw.

Around 7:50AM, the sun rose above the mountain and the sun rays over the fog was simply beautiful.  The orange colour of the fog was too beautiful to dismiss.  The sun also made an orange grow on Mount Hood, it was quite amazing.

On the river down at the ravine, we also saw several fisherman there doing some early morning fishing.  It must be extremely cold down there on the river.

We stayed there for 30 minutes when the sun was well above the horizon and went back the car.  We were the last few people to leave but we really enjoyed this.  We would recommend to come here as early as possible to secure a parking space.

Crepe Neptune

 

Crepe Neptune is a famous bakery store specializing in crepe located in Cannon Beach, Oregon.  Crepe Neptune is located at the Northeast corner of downtown Cannon Beach.  It is right across from the tennis court.  Crepe Neptune offers various crepes in savory flavour and sweet flavours.

We got to Cannon Beach around noon on a beautiful sunny Saturday.  Before we went for a walk along the beach, we decided to get ourselves some treats to regain some strength from the workout in the morning.

We went to Crepe Neptune and saw 2 kiosks on both sides of the store front.  It was very convenient for its customers to order.  We ordered a Cape Lookout Crepe and a Smuggler's Cove Crepe.  This allowed us to taste both savory and sweet flavours.  After we placed the order, a text was sent to us with an order number.

After about 10 minutes, we got another text indicating that our order was ready.  The nice little girl gave us the crepe from a box.  Both crepe was so warm and very aromatic.  We took the crepe and walked to the Cannon Beach lookout just down the street to enjoy the crepe under the sun.

As we started eating the crepe, we just realized that the sleeve carrying the crepe had indications showing where to tear off the top of the sleeve.  There were 2 parts that can be teared off.  This really made crepe eating super convenient.

Cape Lookup Crepe had egg, ham and cheese in it.  It was very fresh and warm.  It was like eating an omelet but in the crepe.  Smuggler's Cove Crepe was the classic with nutella, banana, strawberry, and whip cream.  It was soft and sweet in a warm crepe.  We probably liked it the most.

We definitely would visit Crepe Neptune again to enjoy the crepe.  Next time we will try a different crepe.

Spirit Falls

 

Spirit Falls is a magical place in Pacific Northwest. The waterfall has huge volume of water with beautiful turquoise colour.  It is located near Cook, Washington state.  However, Spirit Falls is actually located on a private land owned by the lumber company and there is not an official trail to get to the fall.  The unofficial trail passes skirts around the privately owned land and hikers should make sure they don't trespass into the privately owned land.  Since the trail is unofficial, it is not maintained and hikers are using it at their own risk.  The trail is only 0.4 miles long to get to the falls but the trail is extremely steep.

We got to the trail head around 8AM and parked the car on the shoulder of the road right before the privately owned land.  Then we walked towards to the open area and the trail head is located at the Southeast corner of the open area.  The trail started off with a steep slope going downwards and we had to go very slowly due to large rocks on the trail.

Once we got down the first portion, we saw a path heading up the ridge and thought that was the trail, we went up the ridge and found that there was no where else to go.  We had to come back down the ridge, which was a bit scary due to the drop off on both sides.  When we got down the ridge, we found that the trail actually did a sharp left turn and continued downwards.

While heading down the slope, we were constantly checking our location on our phone to ensure we weren't crossing into privately owned land.  After about 25 minutes, we finally got to the waterfall.  The last part of the trail was very slippery due to the water flowing across the trail.

When we got to the waterfall, we were amazed by its beautiful turquoise coloured water.  Also, due to the thick foliage above the waterfall, there wasn't any sun light at the waterfall and it was just beautiful.  On the right side of the waterfall, there was a small narrow path heading down to the water level.  We carefully climbed down there and it was amazing there.  Note that getting down there is extremely dangerous due to the slippery rock and narrow path.  Do not attempt to do this if you are alone by yourself.

As we heading back, the climb up on the trail was tiring but it was easier than heading down.  The distance was also short so we were able to get back in 15 minutes.

This Spirit Falls was an amazing experience.  The water level is a bit low at this time of the year, we would probably try again in the future during an earlier time of the year.

Lady M

 

Lady M is a bakery store that specializes in Crepe Cake.  The Crepe Cake is a type of cake that is stacked with multiple layers of crepe with flavored creme filled between each layer of crepe.  Lady M originated from New York and has expanded across the entire country of US with many stores.  It has became one of the most popular cake store among the people.

Lady M has opened a stored a Bellevue Square and it was our first time visiting a Lady M store.  The store is very classy and has a dine in area as well.  The store is basically painted with only white colour with classy decoration along the walls.  The seat, the table, the plates and everything are all pure white.  Lady M has made its store a very high-end dining place.

Lady M offered variety of flavours for its crepe cake.  We ordered a tiramisu, matcha, and a purple yam flavour.  The 3 cakes were carefully placed in a purple Lady M box and we were given plastic silver utensils.  The cake was expensive however.  Each piece of cake was over $10, which was extremely pricy.

We sat down at a table at the food court to try out the cake.  The matcha crepe cake had strong matcha flavour as expected, but it was not very different from other matcha flavoured cake.  Similarly, the tiramisu cake was good but not very different from other tiramisu cake.  The purple yam cake was extraordinary.  Its flavour was out of this world.  It had a super strong yam taste similar to taro taste.  Among the 3 cake, we liked the purple yam crepe cake the most.

Overall, Lady M makes amazing crepe cake like no others.  The purple yam cake was the best cake we have had.  The only downside was that the cake was extremely pricy and we probably won't try this often.

Monga Cafe

 

Monga Cafe is a restaurant specializing in Taiwanese Cuisine.  The restaurant is located in a plaza in Bellevue.  The plaza is one of several available restaurants in the plaza.  Compared to a well known Taiwanese Restaurant Facing East, Monga Cafe is not as crowded and thus also more accessible to people to have lunch or dinner here.

We got to the plaza where Monga Cafe is located around 1PM.  The parking at this plaza was a nightmare.  There were just so many cars circling around looking for an available parking space.  We have not had to wait for a parking space for a long time.  After 15 minutes of circling around the parking lot, we finally found an available parking space beside the dumpster.

We got into Monga Cafe and the interior decoration of the restaurant was quite simplistic and clean.  We told the owner that we wanted to order take out and the owner was quite enthusiastic and came to help us right away.

We ordered a Sauteed Green Cabbage, Pork Trotters Lunch Box, Black Bean Paste Noodle, and an Appetizer Trio.  The order was ready within 15 minutes.  The Sauteed Green Cabbage was okay and fresh.  Pork Trotters Lunch Box was the best dish we ordered.  It came within a huge circular bowl container.  There were 2 trotters in there and cooked very thoroughly.  It also came with pickled cabbage and sauteed cabbage.  We loved it quite a lot.  The Black Bean Paste was amazing too.  The sauce was sweet and salty at the same time.  The Appetizer Trio was ordered with braised egg, bean curd, and seaweed.

We were very satisfied with the food from Monga Cafe.  The taste of the food has surpassed our expectation and the price was very reasonable as well.  The only issue we had was the plaza was way too busy and difficult to find parking space.  We probably have to find a time that is less crowded to come here next time.

Rainier Fremont Fire Lookout

 

Fremont Fire Lookout trail is one of the most popular trails within Mount Rainier National Park.  The trail is located North of Mount Rainier and it starts at Sunrise Visitor Center.  The trail is about 6 miles in roundtrip distance and goes through the meadows of Mount Rainier.  At the end of the trail, there is a fire lookout cabin that overlooks the beautiful forest down below.  Mount Rainier can also be seen very clearly from the overlook.

We got to Sunrise Visitor Center around 7AM in the morning and the parking lot was half full.  The sun has just rose above the mountain and the weather was getting warmer.  From the parking lot, we could see the beautiful Mount Rainier right above us.

The trail first took us to hike across a small ridge where we could see the meadows down below.  Then we got to Frozen Lake, which is the water source for Sunrise.  The Frozen Lake has shrunk significantly compared to the size that was shown on the map.

As we got to the intersection point where the trail breaks off into 5 different directions, we took the Northern trail to go to Fremont Fire Lookout.  The path to Fremont Fire Lookout took us onto another ridge and the trail was extremely rocky.  Although it was rocky, the trail was not difficult with little elevation gain.  After about 30 minutes, we got to Fremont Fire Lookout.

When we got there, we saw a married couple take wedding photos.  They even got a portable dress room established trying on various dresses, it was pretty cool.  There were people sitting by Fremont Fire Lookout and enjoying the view.  We saw a couple using the gas tank and made instant cup noodles.  It really made us really hungry.

Overall, we really enjoyed the hike to Fremont Fire Lookout.  It was very different than the Skyline trail at the South of Rainier.  The trail on the North side had more meadows and was a lot more dry.  Next time we could come back here before the sunrise to get a more beautiful view.

Lost Lake 2023

 

Lost Lake is one of the most popular lake in Oregon.  It attracts hundred of people from Pacific Northwest every weekend.  The lake itself is quite large and the resort at Lost Lake offers boat rental for visitors to have fun at the lake.  Lost Lake also offers various overnight options for people such as camp site, cabins, and resort like hotel rooms.  However, since Lost Lake is privately owned, there is a $15 day use fee.

During this summer weekend, we decided to head over to Lost Lake to get a chance to spot Perseid Meteor Shower.  This weekend of August 12 is supposed to have Perseid Meteor Shower at its peak.

We headed over to Lost Lake right after work and got to Lost Lake around 8:30PM.  The sun has just gone below the horizon but it was still bright enough.  We brought our gears and lawn chairs to the lake side and settled down our stuff.  The weather was hot but the breeze coming across the lake felt amazing.

At 10PM, it was completely dark and we could even see the milky way with our naked eye.  As we were taking photos, we saw many satellites moving across the sky.  There were just so many of them and unfortunately these satellites did create undesired effects on the photos.  We also saw many shooting stars but not as many as we have hoped.

Lost Lake is a great spot for star gazing, but unfortunately the amount of satellites moving across the sky did ruin the fun a bit.  Hopefully the satellites will become less reflective at night in the future.

Tumalo Falls

 

Tumalo Falls is one of the most popular hiking trail near Bend, Oregon.  It is a very large waterfalls that people can see directly from the viewpoint.  Through out the trail, there are even more waterfalls to see.  The Tumalo Falls trail itself is about 4 miles long and goes all the way to Happy Valley.  Most people hike to the Double Falls, which is about 1 mile from the parking lot.

We got to Tumalo Falls around 8AM in the morning.  There were only 3 other cars there.  The trail requires permit which can be purchased with $5.  Northwest Forest pass is valid as well.  When we got off the car, it was actually snowing from the sky in June!  It was crazy!  After about 5 minutes, the snow stopped and we walked to the viewpoint to see the waterfall.  The viewpoint was at the top of the cliff, but the view was obstructed by the trees.  So we walked down and found a small trail that goes to the river side and we could see the waterfall from below.  It was a much better view here.

We then decided to do the Tumalo Falls hike to Happy Valley.  We first got to Double Falls.  This waterfall is not as tall as Tumalo Falls, but we had a great view of it from the top of the rock.  We then proceed further and got to Middle Tumalo Falls.

When we hiked further and crossed the wooden bridge, it started to snow again.  It was snowing so hard this time.  The snow fake was huge!  It did not feel very cold and the forest was beautiful with snow falling off the sky.

We continued on and got to see even more waterfalls.  When we got to the last waterfall at North Fork Tumalo Falls, the snow was just getting too heavy and we were getting wet.  We were about 0.5 miles away from Happy Valley but we decided to turn back.

When we got back to the parking lot, there was so many people.  It was so crowded.  Tumalo Falls was definitely an amazing place to visit and the hike did not disappoint.  Since it is a popular place, it is recommended to get there as early as possible.

Kanji Ramen Noodle & Izakaya

 

Kanji Ramen Noodle & Izakaya is a Japanese Ramen restaurant located in Bend.  The restaurant specializes in Tonkatsu Ramen, which includes pork bone broth soup.  It also offers variety of Japanese alcohol drink options.

After a long day of hike, we went to Kanji Ramen for a good lunch.  We got to the restaurant right around noon and we were the second table of customer.  There was only 1 server at the restaurant at that time.

We placed the order very quickly since we were very hungry.  We got a Tonkatsu Ramen and a Kanji Ramen, since it was the restaurant's signature dish.  As we were waiting for our food, there were 2 large group of people came in.  The total number of people among these 2 groups are almost 20 people, we were quite shocked.

After about 5 minutes, our food is here.  The Tonkatsu Ramen was the classic with pork, bamboo shoot, green onion, soft boiled egg and corn on top of the noodle.  We liked the soup broth since it was fresh and not too salty.  The soft boiled egg seemed to be marinated with soy sauce and had good taste to it.

The Kanji Ramen did not come with pork but came with Japanese Fry Chicken.  There were 4 pieces of fry chicken nuggets served on a separate plate.  The chicken was ok but a bit on the dry side.  We would prefer to have the pork instead.

Overall, Kanji Ramen was ok but the price of Ramen was on the high side.  The cheapest bowl of ramen cost $17.  We would probably look for other options in the future.

Victorian Cafe

 

Victorian Cafe is a very popular brunch location in Bend, Oregon.  It is located not far from Old Town Bend and it is located right at the corner of a roundabout.  The parking space at Victorian Cafe is limited but there is street parking available around the restaurant.  Other than just offering brunch menu, it also offers a wide variety of alcohol drinks from its bar, which many people enjoy.

We got to Victorian Cafe around 11:30 in the morning and there was already a lot of people waiting outside.  We walked into the restaurant to put our name down on the wait list and we were told that the wait time is 1.5 hours.  We were quite shocked because we didn't see that many people outside.  We put our name down anyway since we really wanted to try this restaurant.  While waiting, we walked around the neighbourhood to explore other surrounding restaurants.

We came back and sat on the porch to wait for our table to be ready.  While waiting, we noticed that Victorian Cafe was slow at clearing tables and thus the wait time was longer than what we expected.  After about an hour and 10 minutes, our table was ready and we got a porch seat.

After we sat down, it took the server a while to come by to give us glasses of water and take our order.  We ordered a Strawberry Lemonade, Sandra Marie Omelet, and Caramel Apple French Toast.

The Strawberry Lemonade had a strong strawberry taste and was quite refreshing. We did really enjoy the drink.  The Sandra Marie Omelet comes with a scone.  The scone was extremely fresh and had a strong cinnamon taste to it.  We really like the scone!

The Sandra Marie Omelet used a lot of fresh ingredients such as mushrooms, zucchini, spinach, and squash.  It was so fresh that we thought we were eating salad.  On top of the omelet, it was covered with pesto sauce.  The Caramel Apple Fresh Toast was the best of the meal.  The fresh toast on the plate was a smaller size toast, but it was cooked perfectly.  The apple was served as thin slices placed in between the toast.  The fresh toast was probaby the best we have ever had.

We really enjoyed the food at Victorian Cafe.  It was definitely a great experience with its unique taste.  The biggest down side was the wait time at the restaurant.  Hopefully it will improve over time.

King Mountain

 

King Mountain is a very popular trail near Portland metro area.  It is known for its steepness and difficulty of the trail.  The trail is about 2.3 miles long with elevation gain of about 2500 feet, which is quite significant.  The King Mountain trail is also often associated with Elk Mountain trail due to the fact that these mountain trails are linked.  People can choose to do both King Mountain and Elk Mountain at the same time if time allows.

We got to King Mountain trail head around 7:30 AM in the morning.  There were only 2 other cars in the parking lot.  The parking space can hold around 15-20 cars in total.  The weather is a bit chilly in the morning but it gets hot when the sun comes out.

The trail is mostly covered under foliage with lot of ferns on the ground.  The trail started with some incline and we were making very good pace in the beginning.  The first half of the trail was not difficult at all and just with some elevation gain.  After 1 mile in, the trail started to climb steeply.

The steep climb of the trail was still not bad and we could handle.  However, after about 1.5 miles in, there was a lot of large rocks on the steep trail.  This really made the climb difficult and exhausting since we had to make large strides.  When we ere almost at the top of the summit there was a lot of lose gravels on the trail which made the hike a bit slippery.

After about 1.5 hours, we finally made it to the top of the King Mountain Summit.  The view was amazing and we could see the entire Tillamook forest below us.  At the summit, there was a tube in the box that contains a booklet where people signed their names after making to the top of the summit.  We signed our names of course!

Overall, it was a great work out for hiking King Mountain.  Going up to the summit was hard, but coming down was not easy either.  We had to make sure we don't slip due to the steepness of the trail.  We did not use any hiking poles but hiking poles are recommended if you have them.

Suncadia Trip

 

Suncadia is located in Central Washington State and about 4 hours away from Portland.  It is a very popular resort destination and the resort occupies huge estate in the area.  The resort has a main lodge for its guests and also has many other individual houses for people to buy and rent.  Within the resort, there are also golf courses and hiking trails for various recreation activities.  There are also few bon fires around the main lodge for people to enjoy the warmth and grill some marshmallows.

We decided to spend the weekend at Suncadia Resort since it was sending out a coupon to book 2 nights and get 1 night for free.  It was a good deal.

We left Portland around 6AM in the morning to drive to Suncadia.  Since Suncadia is close to Leavenworth, we actually drove to Leavenworth first.  We first went to Leavenworth Reindeer Farm to feed the reindeers. It was a great experience.

Afterwards, we went to downtown Leavenworth and noticed that there was a parade for the May festival.  There was a lot of Bernese Mountain Dog at the parade and it was crazy.  The dog hairs were flying everywhere in the air.  At lunch time, we went to Louie's Cafe for brunch.  We also checked out the famous Christmas shop in town to all the Christmas ornament and decorations.  Then we went to Whistlepunk Ice Cream for dessert since it was a super hot day.

We got to Suncadia around 4PM and checked in.  We got the room facing the river and the view was beautiful from the balcony.  We could see the river, the mass forest, and the mountains on the far side.  It was amazing.

On the second day, we went for a short hike at Manashtash Ridge.  During the hike, we met few local hikers who recommended The Early Bird for brunch and it did not disappoint.

After we got back to Suncadia resort, we enjoyed our time at the resort's swimming pool and relaxed there.  In the evening, we got some marshmallows from the resort and grilled them at the bon fire.  It was amazing that Suncadia Resort provides marshmallows, Hershey's chocolate, and biscuit for us to grill and make smores.

On the third day, we went for scavenger hunt in the morning.  The scavenger hunt was a tough one.  We had to look for 8 different signs around the resort and it took us 2.5 hours to find them all.  After collecting them, we receives small prize such as cup for completing the scavenger hunt.

At noon we went to Sunset Cafe at Cle Elum for brunch.  When we came back to Suncadia Resort, the fire alarm just went off.  Everyone was standing outside of the lodge.  This was our first time experiencing a fire alarm at a hotel.

In the afternoon, we went to Nelson Farm for an archery session.  There weren't many people there and thus we were just having as much fun as we could.  We were given 3 different bows with different tension strength and we were staying there as long as we could.

Overall, we enjoyed Suncadia quite a lot.  It was a very relaxing vacation for us and it was not pricy either.  We would definitely return again in the future.

Sunset Cafe

 

Sunset Cafe is a fine dining restaurant located at the town of Cle Elum in Washington State.  It offers a wide range of meal selections on its menu from breakfast to dinner.  The breakfast is served till 2PM.  Other than regular menu items, Sunset Cafe also offers a variety of dessert selections such as pie and other baked items.

We got to Sunset Cafe around noon after a long hike in the morning.  There was a lot of parking spaces around the restaurant since Cle Elum is a small town.  The inside of the restaurant was actually quite spacious and it had this home feel to it.  We ordered a Denver Omelet with potato tots and a Bacon Omelet with French Toast.

We got our meal quite quickly after about 10 minutes.  When the meals were served to us, we were shocked at how big the omelet was.  It was unbelievably large.  Although the omelets were quite large, the taste of the omelet was okay.  The Bacon Omelet came with smoke bacon and it had a very strong smoky taste, which was not bad.  The Denver Omelet was more ordinary.  The best part of the meal was the French Toast.  The French Toast was very soft and sweet.  We were thinking that it was the best French Toast that we have ever had.

In general, Sunset Cafe is probably one of the best restaurant choice around the town of Cle Elum and it is also very close to Suncadia Resort.  We only tried the breakfast menu but its dinner menu looks amazing.  We will probably come back and try the juicy steak on its dinner menu next time.

The Early Bird

 

The Early Bird is a breakfast restaurant located at Ellensburg in Washington State.  It is one of the most popular restaurant in the town.  The sign of the restaurant has an unique sign with a bird getting the warm for its breakfast in the early morning.  The restaurant offer unique menus for its customers and serves freshly squeezed juice everyday.

We got to The Early Bird restaurant around noon after the morning hike.  Since Ellensburg is not a big town, parking was not difficult there.  When we entered the restaurant, the first thing to do is to find ourselves a seat.  We needed to find our own table.  It was a busy day on Mother's day but we managed to find a spot by the window.

We looked at the menu and decided to get a Morning Salad, a Big Bowl, and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.  We went to the counter and place our order there, then a number tag was given to use to be placed at our table.

The juice was served right away as we placed the order.  The orange juice was indeed freshly squeezed.  It had such as refreshing taste and probably the best orange juice we have ever had.

After about 10 minutes, our bowls were here.  They were huge bowls.  We have never seen scramble egg served in a bowl and here it was.  The Big Bowl had scramble eggs at the bottom and topped with ham, potatoes, and gravy.  The scramble egg was freshly hot and was so tender.  It was just amazing.  Similarly, the morning salad was incredible.  The vegetables were so fresh and the salad dressing was just the right amount.

We loved The Early Bird restaurant and was so tempted to go back again the next day.  We definitely recommend this restaurant when passing by Ellensburg.