As usual we were up early.
I did take a look at some of my work e-mail. My Team Lead, Deo, has had some week… the
Canadian Account Team has been giving him fits.
I’ll follow my own rules and, ignore the back and forth – it’ll still be
there when I get back.
Rosie and I decided that we’d head towards Hood River on the
Columbia River via as many back roads as could be managed and see what we would
find. No real, concrete objective here
on this day. Decided on Hood River based
on what I’d recalled from the Discovery Channel’s early 2000s show, Road Trip,
hosted by Steven Lee and Tina Maddigan.
The road trip they did went from Seattle to Portland with a detour to
Hood River for some watersports. Looked
interesting and since we were in the area, why not?
Checked out of and departed the Comfort Suites by 0800. Decided to take state highway 30 out of
Astoria towards Portland. Hwy 30
basically hugs the top of Oregon and keeps you very near streams and rivers all
the way to Hood River. We’d driven for
about 45mins and were getting a bit hungry.
As we were passing through the small town of Westport, saw a couple of
buildings called the Berry Patch which included a restaurant so, we pulled in
for breakfast. Although we were very
close to Westport, the Berry Patch appeared to be part of the town of
Clatskanie, the center of which was still ~8miles to our east. Very cute diner type of restaurant which was
attached to a small jam/jelly making company called the Berry Patch and they
had quite a bit of their homemade preserves and jams for display and sale. Had a very tasty breakfast of biscuits and
gravy before hitting the road again.
We did end up making a quick stop in Clatskanie to purchase
some mailing tape from a department store and mailing box from the local post
office in order to box up some souvenirs to mail home that might have taken up
more luggage poundage than we wanted once we made it up to Seattle. Continued on our way along Hwy 30.
Side
Note: One thing about Oregon that became abundantly
clear to us was that Oregon has a huge forestry/logging industry. Maybe because we were always near water, we
saw plenty of lumber yards, saw mills, huge piles of cut, stacked felled trees
and, logging ports throughout the state.
Very different than what we were accustomed to being around and very
cool!
Just outside of Rainier, Oregon, our GPS had us cut across
the Lewis and Clark Bridge over into Longview, Washington. This whole area on the Columbia River is a
huge confluence of wood, wood industry and wood transportation. Five miles later we had merged onto the I-5
south towards Portland with no intent of doing anything more than skirting the
city to the north while continuing east to Hood River.
Fifteen miles north of Portland’s city center, the I-5 has a
bypass, the I-205, that skirts Vancouver, Washington, the sister city to Portland,
Oregon, and takes you to the I-84/Rt. 30… we went this way. Approximately 12miles later, we had merged
onto the I-84/new Rt. 30 east. About 10
mile further along, we saw signs for Historic Columbia River Highway, Rt. 30,
and eagerly took exit 17 through the small town of Troutdale on to old Rt. 30,
also known as Crown Point Highway. I-84
hugs the Columbia River for approximately 200miles from Portland to Hermiston
where the river heads more northwards while the Interstate continues southerly through
the rest of Oregon before turning back east.
The views along Historic Rt. 30 overlooking I-84 and the
gorge formed by the Columbia River were breathtaking and expansive. The highway winds its way right along the top
and edge of the gorge. In some areas
there were posted speed limits of 55mph but, no way any one in their right mind
were doing more than 35mph. During the
15 or so miles we spent on the highway, we stopped and visited at quite a few
locations including: the lookout by the
Portland Women’s forum; the Vista House (where we parked and toured the
gallery, small museum and gift shop); Latourell Falls; Bridal Veil Falls, and
finally; Multnomah Lodge and Falls where we spent the bulk of our time.
The weather was on the cool side but the skies were blue and
there were quite a sizeable number of visitors to Multnomah Lodge and fall on
this particular day. Parking was at a
premium and we ended up parking a reasonable hike away. Time was around 1300 and Rosie and I were
looking for lunch so, we queued up to get seated and served in the Lodge’s
Restaurant. There was a 20min wait during
which we spent touring the Lodge containing the area’s history and artifacts
and the large gift shop. The restaurant
was on the second level of the lodge with wrap around windows so all patrons
could enjoy the view to the fall. We
took our time with lunch, I had a sandwich and French Onion soup, and enjoyed
the atmosphere with folks from all around the world based on the accents and
languages in play.
Side Note: Multnomah Falls is a waterfall on the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge, located east of Troutdale, between Corbett and Dodson, along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The falls drops in two major steps, split into an upper falls of 542 feet (165 m) and a lower falls of 69 feet (21 m), with a gradual 9 foot (3 m) drop in elevation between the two, so the total height of the waterfall is conventionally given as 620 feet (189 m). Multnomah Falls is the tallest waterfall in the state of Oregon. It is credited by a sign at the site of the falls, and by the United States Forest Service, as the second tallest year-round waterfall in the United States. However, there is some skepticism surrounding this distinction, as Multnomah Falls is listed as the 137th tallest waterfall in the United States by the World Waterfall Database (this site does not distinguish between seasonal and year-round waterfalls). Underground springs from Larch Mountain are the year-round source of water for the waterfall, augmented by spring runoff from the mountain's snowpack and rainwater during the other seasons. A foot trail leads to Benson Footbridge, a 45-foot (14 m)-long footbridge that allows visitors to cross 105 feet (32 m) above the lower cascade. The trail continues to a platform at the top of the upper falls where visitors get a bird's-eye view of the Columbia Gorge and also of "Little Multnomah", a small cascade slightly upstream from the "upper" falls, which is not visible from ground level. The Mark O. Hatfield Memorial Trail starts at the falls and continues through the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge to Starvation Creek. The footbridge is named for Simon Benson, who financed the bridge's construction in 1914 by Italian stonemasons.
After lunch we headed out to enjoy the Falls, hiking up to
the architecturally gorgeous Benson Footbridge which spans the lower cascade of
the falls about 100’ up. The views are
iconic and have been used and seen in TV commercials. Not surprisingly, we took a lot of photos
while we were onsite. We would have
liked to have lingered longer but, wanted to see what we would find in Hood
River, 30 or so miles away. Jumped back
onto old Rt. 30 for another ~3miles and merged back on to I-84 at exit 35.
En route to Hood River we saw signs for the ‘Bridge of the
Gods’! Not sure why it’s called that
but, knew we wanted to go see/cross it. So,
took exit 44 off of I-84 into Cascade Locks and almost immediately eased onto a
gentle, right hand loop leading to a toll house taking $1 tolls to cross the
bridge over into Washington State. We
weren’t quite sure where this would take us but decided to go right off the
bridge on to Rt. 14. We didn’t have a
map at us so once we reached Stevenson ~3miles down the road, stopped in for
some gas and then backtracked to the bridge and crossed back over to Cascade
Locks and the I-84 to continue the final 20miles to Hood River. It turns out that we could have gotten to
Hood River via Washington’s Rt. 14 but, didn’t figure that out until after we
got settled in Hood River.
Arrived in Hood River, renowned for its windsurfing among
other water activities, and really had no idea where we were or what we could
or wanted to do! So, found Oak St, aka:
Main St, and parked right by a coffee shop.
We hadn’t strolled far when Rosie saw an interesting jewelry store,
Silverado’s, and we ducked in. Wasn’t
long before Rosie had struck up a conversation with one of the women in the
store, Tovy (Scandinavian name), while shopping for some silver. She was a wealth of information and
recommended a place for us to stay in town and a place to have dinner: Hood River Hotel right on Oak St., and Nora’s
Table for dinner. Both would end of
being excellent recommendations. After
buying a keepsake from Tovy, we left the store looking for a place to slake our
thirst with a cocktail. It was late in
the afternoon and we didn’t have to look far.
Catty corner from where we were standing, was a British Flag indicating
a pub where a corner gas station used to be.
So, crossed over and spent the next ½ hr sitting at one of the outdoor
tables enjoying our beverages: a Harp
for me and a vodka drink for Rosie.
Finished up and walked back to our SUV. The hotel was just east of where we’d parked on
main street. Found parking just outside
of the hotel, unloaded and went inside to see if they had vacancies, they did,
and register. The Hood River Hotel is
really more of a small, 41 room, Inn with a restaurant, Cornerstone Cuisine,
inside. The hotel was originally built
back in 1911 and has been through a lot over the course of its 100+ years of
existence. The 1 hotel receptionist was
very friendly and checked us into room #103 for all of $99. There was really no reason for us to use the
very old and dated elevator but, we took a ride just to enjoy entering and
closing the doors ourselves. There
wasn’t much very extraordinary about our room but, had everything we needed
including an old radiator water heater and a large window to open for fresh/cool
air. Rosie and I had some time to chill
before heading out, walking, to dinner.
Side
Note: Ever since we left Astoria I had smelled an
odor in the SUV that reminded me of accidentally stepping in dog poo… just
couldn’t figure out what it was but, kept it to myself for a while. Eventually after a few stops to look around
and see whether I had tracked something into the SUV or hit something, I
mentioned it to Rosie. She, initially,
couldn’t smell anything and most likely thought I might be imagining the
odor. However, as the day wore on and we
got closer to Hood River, she started noticing the same poopy odor I had been
smelling all day long. Together, we both
tried finding where the offending odor was coming from and failed. Nothing else to do but continue on to Hood
River. Fast forward… as we prepared to
go out to dinner in Hood River, Rosie went out to the SUV to get out a
different pair of shoes to wear out.
When she opened the back hatch, she found the offending source – our
beach shoes! They reeked of kaka! Back at Cannon Beach we’d washed them off
with water but apparently, not good enough and over the course of 1 short day,
had blossomed into a very ripe pair of beach shoes. She threw them out right then and there! Mystery solved and my ‘blood hound-like nose,
vindicated!’ J
We’d booked dinner at Nora’s Table, recommended by Tovy, for
1800. The restaurant was just a good
stretch of the leg up Main Street and on the same side as the hotel so we
walked. Was nice to just stretch our
legs and enjoy the sights of the town. Nora’s
Table felt very retro and Nuevo inside all at the same time. The wait staff was great! Ours was an older gentleman from around these
parts and very knowledgeable about the area and restaurant history. The place was full but not crowded and you
could see into the kitchen area from where we sat. We were seated by 2 young moms just out for
dinner enjoying each other’s company and we struck up a nice conversation with
them during dinner. Based on our
waiter’s recommendation, I ordered a bottle of local Pinot Noir to enjoy over
dinner. Rosie ordered regional King’s
Salmon while I went for the more traditional Ribeye steak. We shared a peach pie for dessert. Excellent meal! Left the restaurant pleased with our good
fortune and, happy with our decision to enjoy Nora’s Table. A short walk later we were back at the hotel
and turning in for the evening.
Our days travel was only ~165miles but, as usual, we packed
in a ton of adventure and experience!
Our primary objectives for tomorrow, Friday, 9/20, were two-fold: Visit Mt. St. Helens and position ourselves
for a short ride into Seattle for a day’s visit.
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