After the Spruce Goose museum, we made a short drive to a very nice RV park just south of Portland. On Monday the event that Chuck was excited about didn't happen because of the Osama Bin Laden thing. Now figure that out!! It may still happen, so I won't reveal it just yet. So we proceeded with our plan to make the drive east through the Colombia River Gorge, which is supposed to be scenic and featuring spectacular waterfalls. There is an old road paralleling I-84 which, built in the early 1900's, is a national scenic byway. It was built in the Model T days when touring was popular, and it was built not to scar the landscape but to blend with it. This route is noted for spectacular waterfalls. This is Bridal Veil Falls The crown jewel of waterfalls is Multnomah Falls at over 600 feet high. In the late '90's, a 400 ton rock fell into the upper pool, splashing water all over a wedding party on the observation deck. A view house was built as a rest stop along the way. It now has a visitor center, gift and coffee shop and of course, rest rooms. It actually has stained glass windows. Here's a view of the Columbia River from the View House. There are a couple of dams and locks along this stretch of river and they both have 'fish ladders' for the salmon that return upstream to their place of birth to spawn and die. Without the ladders, they couldn't get past the dams. This is a fish ladder. They swim upstream and jump up the steps of the ladder. They are then funneled through a narrow channel with a window. A 'fish counter' sits in a cozy, dimly lit room counting the fish as they swim upstream. Reaching the quaint hillside town of Hood River, we turned north to circle Mt. Hood and return to our campsite south of Portland. Outside Hood River were many orchards of pears, and apples, all in bloom. The hillsides were white. This route is called the 'fruit loop'. Mt. Hood is a very tall mountain that we spotted from a distance on Sunday, the clear day. It looks like Mt. Fuji in Japan. On this day the weather was not cooperating and along the river, it was overcast with occasional rain. Heading around the mountain we encountered rain, snow and sleet, followed by nice sunshine as we approached Portland. Here is our route this day. It's about 185 miles. Tomorrow we move back to the coast for a last look at the Pacific Ocean. (that's not why we are going). Stay tuned.
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Who Are We?
Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling in their RV since 2002 and have lately been taking longer, extended trips. This is our way to share our experiences. Trip Reports
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