Weve had very little service for a few days plus weve had two long days of driving and sightseeing so I am behind in my blog! We wont have service for the next couple days either.
After breakfast at our house, we headed toward the Columbia River Gorge, particularly Multnomah Falls. I had visited this area when Nanci Bowen and I took my mom to a flower conference. Driving along the Columbia River and Historic Highway 30 is breathtaking. I couldnt wait to get back here and share it with Terry, Karen, and Ed.
Once we got on Historic highway 30 there were many places to stop. Most of those pull offs were for hikers to park and enter the hiking trails. We saw many beautiful waterfalls, most notably Multnomah. To get into Multnomah you had to have a National Parks Reservation, however it was much easier to obtain than Glacier and Yosemite.
Multnomah is one of the most visited natural recreation sites in the Pacific Northwest. It is also one of the most photographed. Id guess most people have seen a picture of it at one time or another. We did take a short hike to
One of the interesting sites on Rt 30 was a tunnel through the mountain. Its just a walking/biking tunnel now but at one time was the only passageway for cars. Called the Oneota Tunnel, it in 1914. It was by passed in 1948 but was reopened to foot traffic in 2009.
Of course traveling with to men who love to fish, theyre always on the lookout for a great stream or a fishing shop. So it was no surprise that they wanted to stop at the Fish Hatchery. While there we learned a stop not to miss was the Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery, one of the oldest in the state of Oregon.
Bonneville did not disappoint. It was a park like with picnic tables, restrooms, gift shop, and ponds full of fish for feeding or viewing. In one pond there were sturgeon and trout with a glass aquarium like viewing area. One white sturgeon was 80 years old and 12 feet long. It was so nice we decided to eat our picnic lunch there.
Hood Road to see some beautiful farm land, Apple orchards, pear orchards, vineyards, and maybe a glimpse if Mt Hood. A lot of Washington State from this area of Oregon as just across the River is Washington.
When I was here in 2008 we drove out this road and stopped at a farm stand run by two sisters. Several years later I saw the same farm stand featured on Travel Channel. So I wasted to visit there again. We found The Draper Girls AND got a good look at Mt Hood. We bought fruits and jams and jellies. I took many pictures.
We headed back toward the city and Ed said he wanted to go to the Danner Boot Company Factory Store. So we found it, looked around, bought some boots and had a fun time.
Dinner was just across the road at Sidelines Sports Bar & Grill. The food was excellent. After a quick trip to Walmart we headed back to our house to do laundry and repack the car for a travel day tomorrow.
Portland and the surrounding area is known for growing roses. It is located where there are warm, dry
summers and rainy but mild winters, and it has heavy clay soils. All of this means beautiful roses. I have included some pictures.
