Saturday, April 28, 2012

THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE



















April 25, 2012

Today we woke up to some steady rain – but of course!  The prediction was for a 100% chance of rain!  We “undid” everything with the camper, hooked it to the Tahoe and drove out of the campground in Cannon Beach, Oregon by 9:15.  Our goal today was to drive all of 141 miles to a KOA Campground in the Columbia River Gorge.  We drove through beautiful, old growth forest – of course it rained, but the rain just made everything that much more beautiful.  And it was so pleasant to view it all from the comfort and warmth of our vehicle!  When we arrived in Portland, the rain had stopped – it was gorgeous, cloudy sky and all.  We did some necessary stuff in Portland, like get gas and go to the grocery store.  (I found Tillamook “Udderly Chocolate” ice cream at the grocery store – yum!  There is now ½ gallon of the stuff in my freezer!)  I thought that Portland was a lovely city, and even though I haven’t yet left Oregon, I can’t wait to come back!  In spite of all the rain!  By the time we had reached the gorge, we were in the rain again – but only the misty kind of stuff – so not too bad. 



We are all snug and comfy in our little KOA Campsite and will be leaving here shortly.  We plan to stop by the visitor center, get some info, tour the area, and plan the next 3 days we have to explore this gorgeous area!



We’re back after an afternoon of great fun in the gorge.  We are staying in Cascade Locks in Oregon.  From here, we took a very narrow, very high, and very scary bridge across the Columbia River to Washington.  Oh, and it was also a toll bridge – cost $1.00.  So we drove on the Washington side of the river, going east, back across the river to Hood River, Oregon.  The bridge on that end also cost $1.00 and was very narrow & very scary, but not so high. 



We didn’t realize that this river valley is home to some incredible fruit farms.  In fact, they grow tons of fruit here – unfortunately, the fruit isn’t ripe yet – hasn’t even formed a fruit yet.  BUT… all the trees are covered in millions and millions of beautiful blossoms!  The rolling hills were white with blossoms – it was certainly a sight to behold!  The picture at the top of the blog was taken on our “tour of the blossoms”.  Oh, they have a name for this tour – it’s called “The Fruit Loop Tour”.  No kidding!



At one point when I had jumped out of the car to snap a couple of pictures (Tom did stop the car first), a very friendly black lab came up to the fence of his house.  I probably had my most fun time today playing with and taking pictures of the dog!



























It’s time to have some of my Tillamook Udderly Chocolate Ice Cream – so will sign off for today.



April 26, 2012

Today we awakened to the pitter patter of rain on the roof!  I had planned to go out early for some sunrise photography – hah!  When I heard that all familiar sound, I just rolled over and told myself I’d get to it another time. 

            *Just a side note here.  It actually didn’t rain all day all the time.  Just off and on most of the time.



So, we started off by tracking down the Information Center where we talked with a bunch of really nice volunteers.  We came away armed with all kinds of activity options. 



There are some beautiful waterfalls in the Columbia Gorge – it’s kind of noted for its waterfalls, I think.  I managed to capture pictures of a few of the ones close to the road between the raindrops.  Probably the most well know waterfall is Multnomah Falls.  The photo below is of this falls.





After the waterfall activity, we decided to do part of the scenic drive that goes up into the mountains around Mt. Hood.  (Hiking was high on our list of things to do, but we were slightly intimidated by the off again, on again rain.  Hence the driving choice.)  You never know what he next adventure might really be – we were in for a total surprise!

As we drove up into the mountains, it started to snow lightly.  Than we started to see a few snow piles along the road.  After that we started to see REAL snow, not just piles.  In other words, the snow everywhere accept on the actual road was starting to get quite deep.  When we reached the turnoff for Timberline Lodge, Tom announced that he’d like to see the lodge.  For some reason we thought it might be something historic, so we started uphill for the 6 mile drive to the lodge.  The further we drove the windier and the snowier it got.  By the time we got to the top, it was 28 degrees and winter had returned!  (When we left the valley, it was 47 degrees.)  It turned out to be a ski area!  The photo below was taken from inside the ski center building.





Not to be disappointed, there was also a historic lodge!  Tom loves old park lodges, so this was the highlight of his day.  It was built in the 30’s as part of FDR’S public works program.  We spent a fair amount of time inside the lodge getting acquainted with all of its nooks and crannies.  The picture below is from the central common area in the lodge.  The fireplace was huge and had 3 separate fireplaces in it.






By the time we re-entered the wintery world outside, it was practically a white out!  The snow was really coming down!  We stopped for a quick picture because I knew you’d want to be able to view exactly what I had been writing about.





Of course, by the time we got closer to the valley, the snow turned to rain.  And than the rain even stopped – for awhile.  To finish off the day, we took a short hike on a very pretty hillside.  The photo below is the view from this hillside overlooking the Columbia River.




We’re settled in for the evening – listening to that wonderful pitter patter sound, and I think it might be time for some more “Udderly Chocolate” Ice Cream!


April 27, 2012


There were no early morning photo opportunities today – cloudy with rain again. That, of course, didn’t stop us from finding enough activities to fill the day, however!

We started the day with a 5 mile hike which went up one side of the mountain and down the other side.  It actually made a loop which was nice because than there was no need to retrace our steps.  It was quite steep (to say the least), so there were several switchbacks.  I’ve never seen this on a hiking trail before, but evidently the trail builders wanted us to know exactly what was up ahead!


Every step of the hike was incredibly beautiful, with waterfalls, little streams and rivers, rocks, ferns, and moss everywhere and on everything.  The photo below is “Fairy Falls”, one of the many waterfalls to be experienced on the hike.










After hiking, we took a drive into the hills to visit “Cascade Alpacas”.  It’s an alpaca farm where they breed & raise alpacas, and also sell alpaca products.  They have all kinds of lovely yarns & stuff made from alpaca fiber.  I talked myself into a pair of alpaca socks.  I think the only mistake I made was buying just one pair!  Naturally, I have a couple photos of these very cute animals.








We were both excited to see that they had a Great Pyrenees to stand guard over the Alpacas.  That’s what these dogs are bred for, and the owner assured us that “Charlie” loves his job and does it extremely well.  (Keeping the Coyotes away from the critters.)  Now, judging from Charlie’s picture, you’d never know that he is a top guard dog.  But he was on his afternoon break when we happened to be there.  (Just a note to let you know that his break time didn’t stop him from getting a rub down from both of us!)




That does it for today – time for some more of that “Udderly Chocolate” ice cream!




April 28, 2012
Today was the day we needed to start our long drive east.  I told myself that if it wasn’t raining this morning, I would get out for one last day of sunrise photography.  I didn’t hear any rain drops on the roof at 5AM, so out I went.  The first thing to hit me in the face was some very nice fine mist (that I couldn’t hear on the roof).  I went anyway, thinking that “you never know what the day might bring”.  It brought more mist for awhile, and along with mist, the day brought some wonderful fog!  I pulled up my hood and wiped my camera a lot, but had fun, fun, fun creating foggy images. (There never was a “sunrise”, but the fog was just as interesting as the sun would have been.) Remember the very high, skinny, and scary bridge?  This is what it looked like this morning.


After returning to home base, we packed up and started east a little before 11AM.  Of course, it didn’t rain anymore, and just got sunnier the further east we drove!  We followed the Columbia River until it turned north, at which time we left Oregon and entered Washington.  Most of our drive through Washington was through this very interesting and beautiful farm country.  It was all rolling hills that were different colors depending upon what had been planted and whether or not anything had been planted at all.  I so wanted to get a really good picture of that area, but there never was a spot large enough or at the right place to get what I wanted.  I had to settle for the image below – it shows how pretty the sky was, but I just wasn’t close enough to get a good representation of the hills.  Trust me – it was stunning! 


Tomorrow, we will be making a short stop in Orofino, Idaho to visit some relatives.  Than it will be all driving until we arrive in the Twin cities either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
Melissa





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