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!

Mt. St. Helens, WA

Many of the roads in and around St. Helens have been
closed due to the severe winter of 2007-2008.
Bridges and sections of road had been washed out so
our trip through the park was abbreviated. Since the eruption of 1980, the
park has made some remarkable recoveries.
This is a photo of Toutle Valley.

You can still see the debris from the volcano lying in the valley.
Shrubbery has been able to grow along Toutle Creek and
elk feed there.

Looking down the Toutle Valley you can see the volcanic ash
that in places was more than 30 feet thick.

After the eruption, the Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company sent more than a
thousand loggers into the area to harvest as much of the
230 square miles of fallen timber.
After that, they sent more than 500 people to plant more
than 15 million trees over the next five years.
This is a picture of Noble Fir planted in 1983. Because
they are all the same age, size and species they make
a very uniform appearance.

The mountain is still 8400 feet tall. Because of the low
lying clouds we could not see the very top of Mt. St. Helens.

This is a twenty foot layer of volcanic ash. It has been exposed
by a running mountain stream.

This is the closest vantage point to Mt. St. Helens.

The mountain and me - perfect together!

Before we left, the clouds lifted slightly. At the top left of
the picture you can see the part of Mt. St. Helens that
blasted apart.

We were about five miles from Mt. St. Helens. As the glaciers
on the top of the mountain melt, they form streams that have
eroded the volcanic ash.

The blast area extended for ten miles incinerating everything
with 600 degree volcanic gasses. Yet today, flowers
continue to bloom in the park.

We have seen Northern Cascades, the Olympic Mountains,
Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and the Pacific Ocean. We have
spent six days in the state of Washington and are now looking
forward to several days in Oregon.

Mt. Rainier National Park, WA

We were very happy to finally see the sun when
we got to the park.

I hope this can convey in a small way
why Washington is named the Evergreen
State. They are magnificent.

One more photo for my "case in point".

Bill likes big craggy mountains with last
winter's snow still hugging the slopes.

More of what Bill likes.

Bill stands in front of the visitor center at
the base of Mt. Rainier. Just like the mountain,
it is shaped like a volcano.

Leftover snow pack from last winter along
the side of the road in the valley. There are
predictions of snow tonight in these higher
elevations of 5,000 feet.

I always thought long thin Christmas trees looked
funky until I saw these.

Cloud cover surrounded Mt. Rainier from 7,000 feet up.

After waiting for several hours the cloud cover broke
just enough to see the very top of the mountain.

The size of Mt. Rainier is almost unimaginable.
It is a 14,000 foot volcano covered with more glaciers
than any other place in the lower 48 states.

We thought we would never be able to glimpse
this majestic mountain but the clouds parted
momentarily so we could get these photo opportunities.
I sprang out of the car so fast when Bill hollered out
the clouds had parted over Mt. Rainier. I ran down
the sidewalk to get the best shots I could.
I was like a kid in a candy store!
I hope the clouds cooperate at Mt. St. Helens tomorrow.

Olympic National Park, WA

We began the day in mist, showers and rain and could
not make it to the top of Mt. Olympus.
We took too many pictures to post on a blog,
but here are just a few to enjoy.

This is what we were able to see for the most part.

We spent quite a lot of time in the rain forests.
This is one of the many ferns we saw.

Does the Jolly Green Giant really laugh?

I was fascinated by the red bark on this tree.

Bill has become a real tree hugger!
He said this one is 22 feet around.

Crescent Lake. The sun came out for a short time.

World's largest living red cedar tree.
(Read the sign)

If you don't believe the sign, look at
Bill next to the tree!

Our GPS, DeeDee, told us we were getting
close to the Pacific Ocean.

Bill is standing by a huge pile of driftwood.

More driftwood on the beach.
The beach is not like the Jersey shore at all.

Jean wants to get close to the water.

The water wants to get close to Jean.

Oh, see Jean run!

Rocks sculptured by the pounding waves
of the Pacific Ocean.

Moss covers many trees in the rain forest.

Ferns of many varieties carpet the forest floor.

Thick moss can even cover rocks and give
a foothold for ferns and eventually trees to grow.