Columbia River Gorge

Portland/Fairview RV Park, Portland, OR:  Socked in AGAIN this morning.  Undaunted, we headed east up the Columbia River Gorge.  We drove about 62 miles on I84 to the little historic town of The Dalles.  I84 is a beautiful scenic drive right next to the river with high bluffs, large rock formations covered in moss and mountains all around. The drive started out in a primeval rain forest of sorts and by the time we got to The Dalles we were in a desert topography of lower hills covered in short, brown buffalo grass and pine scrub.  Coming back, we took historic Rt. 30 as much as possible which was built around 1916.  Went through the little historic towns of Hood River, Mosier, and Cascade Locks.  Saw lots of waterfalls.  What a beautiful area. Cleared off by the time we reached The Dalles.  81 today.

Wind surfer on the Columbia River.  The winds in the gorge are horrendous--up to 70 mph is not unusual.

Area around The Dalles.

Indians used to put their dead in a canoe and inter them on this island.  Lewis and Clark stopped here in 1806 on their way back from their historic trip to the Pacific.

Beautiful!

Horsetail Falls

Multnomah Falls

A tunnel on the old Rt. 30 which is no longer used.  This survived a couple of earthquakes.  Very sturdy, I'd say.
Picture by Mike

Mike and I at Multnomah Falls.  We dined alfresco at the lodge here with a view of the falls.  A wedding party was on the upper bridge behind us when a boulder the size of a school bus came crashing down and drenched the whole party.  Wow!  Don't know if that's a good omen or a bad one.

The Lodge at Multnomah Falls