I'm long winded, so here's the summary: this place is awesome if you love nature and tranquil places, friendly hosts, comfortable bed and yummy, yummy breakfasts. I recommend staying more than one night.

Read on if you'd like to hear why.

I stumbled upon the website for this B&B through the local county's Chamber of Commerce website, while searching for things to see and do in the Columbia River Gorge area. I contacted the B&B with questions about price and availability and received a pretty quick response. (For the record I contacted a couple of other B&Bs in the area and received either no response or very untimely ones.) So in my book, that was a great start. We were able to work out decent rates for our 3 night stay. The location was perfect for our day excursion plans including Mt. St. Helens, down to Timberline Lodge in Mt. Hood and the Gorge area in between.

IF you are looking for a place that has been loved and cared for over the years, this place is it. The landscaping, small greenhouses, little barn, the grounds and the house itself are very charming. Indeed, their website doesn't do it much justice. There are several places on the property set up for relaxation or gatherings. It's a place to explore and if you enjoy gardening, well, you might as well stay a few days so that you can take in all of the varieties of plant life incorporated into the landscaping and the ones thriving in the little greenhouses. I would recommend staying more than one night for this reason. If you don't enjoy nature's serenity, then this place might not be for you. If you are so inclined you could also go hiking into the forest right from their back door.

Christina is a wonderful hostess and chef. Bud is also great company at breakfast time. I am not usually a breakfast person (a cup of coffee and a muffin will usually be fine for me), but I gobbled up all of her food that she presented. (And I'm picky about coffee too, but hers was perfectly brewed.) Of course, I am sure she would accept special requests, but I was up for the surprise each day. Better than ANY hotel breakfast I've ever had (yes, I have traveled quite a bit and to some pretty posh places). I believe the side bowl of fresh fruit she served might have been from her garden. The raspberries looked absolutely divine, but sadly I cannot eat them :( But I didn't have any trouble with the blueberries! I must have forgotten where we were for a moment though, because the fruits everywhere in this part of the country are divine.

Now, B&Bs are new to me. I'm am generally a quite shy and private person, so the thought of intruding on someone doesn't settle well with me (even though this was my idea). My husband had to remind me a couple of times that they are running a business and that we were paying customers. This place has a private entrance for guests, which made the dilemma for me sort of a non-issue. We came and went anytime we pleased without worry of interrupting anyone or having to politely specify our itinerary.

The guest suite was cozy (meaning, not a lot of open space to romp around), and was filled with many interesting decorative objects, books, games, music, etc. If you are looking for a huge flat screen tv and surround sound, you won't find it here. I was so glad! There is an entrance to a private patio from the guest suite, which is equipped with table and chairs which we used to enjoy dinner one evening. There is a small refrigerator as well and a few other kitchen accouterment. One small complaint from my husband was the shower - sort of a trickle effect with the shower unless you turned the heat up, then you would receive more pressure. So take your pick: relaxing and water saving or scalding and pressurized. Who needs skin, anyway? We stayed in the Iris suite, perhaps the shower in the other suite was different? Really, I think that was they only slightly negative thing.

I can’t go on without mentioning the friendly dog Belle, the catmistress Frances, and the new cat on the block, Alice. I am an animal lover, so their company was quite welcome to me. In fact I was looking forward to meeting them just as much as I was their caretakers!

All in all it was a very fine stay and a crisp breath of fresh air away from the big box hotels that offer comparable rates.