Northern Oregon

Bill and I just had to include this photo of our room at the
Holiday Inn in Portland, Oregon. The beds were so high and
fluffy I had to take a "running start" to get into mine! Bill
is reviewing the amenities available at the hotel.

This marks the offical turn east after three weeks on the road.
Here is Bill by the sign at one of the falls at the Columbia
River Gorge.

The upper falls of the Multnomah Falls. It
is 542 feet high, more than twice the
height of Niagara Falls.

Here you see the lower falls of the Multnomah
Falls at 69 feet in height. Trust me, there were
a lot of people here viewing the falls.

Horsetail Falls are behind me.

Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. It has
been designated as an historic sight. And yes, it
does produce electricity.

I tried very hard to get a photo of a salmon jumping
upstream on the salmon ladders. This was the best I could
do. The salmon I shot is in the bottom center of the photo.

Someone on the grounds of the Bonneville Dam takes gentle
care of many rose bushes. I thought of my Dad and had
to snap one, reminding me how much tender loving care
he gave to his roses when I was growing up.

We were lucky to catch a glimpse of a tugboat and a barge
on the Columbia River. Washington state is just on the
other side of the river.

Bill and I were looking for a place to have lunch in Hood River.
We had parked at a cafe and saw they were closed. I turned around
and saw this wonderful sight and asked Bill what it was.
It turned out it was a look north at Mt. St. Helens!!!
You see the back side of what we were able to see yesterday.
I can't tell you how giddy I got when I was able to finally
see the mountain looking so majestic - even if it was
a day late. Whooo Hooo!!!

As we continued to travel east, we saw how the topography
had dried out. We had now begun to enter the rain
shadow of the Cascades. For us that meant we were out of the
miserable rain and mist we had for the last week. The dark
areas you see towards the top are lava/volcanic ash.

Another wind farm under construction. This time it
is in Morrow County Oregon.

Bill decided to get off Route 84 and show me some of the Oregon
country side. Here we saw some sheep. I was not sure what to
expect when I got out of the car to take a shot, but they
were kind enough to pose for me without any bleating. We
continued through the country while it was getting dark, hoping our
GPS, named DeeDee, would get us to our hotel in La Grande.
It was quite a drive going through hairpin turns, hoping the
little light we had left would be helpful. It was a joy to finally
reach our hotel this evening safe and sound. Thank you, Bill,
for getting me safely to La Grande!