I hope you enjoyed hearing about our adventures in Eugene, from a dog's perspective. Thank you, Bear, for your insights. Both Roger and I agree that we are so lucky to have you in our lives.
We left Eugene, for the short trip to Portland, on Friday morning. Our trip up I - 5, took us through heavily forested areas, finally crossing the Willamette River and arriving in Portland.
We are staying at the Portland Fairview RV Park. The pictures below show our new location in this gorgeous area of Oregon.
Our new front window view. It really is that green.
Bear is enjoying the green grass in our new spot.
The Colombia Gorge was created by the Colombia River and is an area, roughly 80 miles long, that separates Oregon and Washington. Our drive took us on Interstate 84, east to Oregon 35 (the Mt. Hood scenic highway). The portion of the Colombia Gorge that we saw was beautiful with lots of trees and hills on one side and the river on the other side. Our first stop was at Rooster Rock State Park. In 1806, Lewis and Clark camped here on their way back East.
The Colombia River at Rooster Rock State Park, with the State of Washington on the left side, was the sight of a Lewis and Clark stop.
Rooster Rock was mentioned by Lewis and Clark in their diaries.
Continuing on I-84, we stopped at Multnonah Fall. We were treated to a pretty waterfall.
Our next stop was at the Bonneville Lock and Dam. This dam was built and is still operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. Construction began in 1933 and took four years. It was dedicated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. Additional power was needed in the Northwest, so an additional hydroelectric powerhouse was built between 1974 through 1981. The Army Corps of Engineers operates a visitor center at Bradford Island. It was here that we learned about the dam and the conservation of salmon that swim up and down the Colombia River. Overfishing became a problem in the late 1880's. Diversion systems, including fish ladders were built at the dam to allow the salmon easier and protected access to the river.
At the visitor center, we were able to watch salmon swimming up the "stairs," through a specially designed window.
Mt. Hood is Oregon's tallest mountain at over 11,000 feet. It is covered in snow and is easy to see along the Mt. Hood Scenic Highway (Oregon 35). Our drive took us through wine and pear (Bosc, Red Anjou) country.
There are many trailheads along the way around Mt. Hood. We decided to hike Tamanawas Falls trail and Bear could not have been happier.
We had several river crossings to make.
Bear is waiting for Roger to catch up.
He has to have both of us in sight at all times.
Our trek was rewarded by the falls.
After the hike and a late lunch, we returned to the RV resort. What a great day!
Sunday was a visit to the Portland Japanese Garden, that is rated as the number one place to visit in the city. It is located in downtown Portland near all of the main attractions (rose test garden, zoo, Holocaust Museum, Washington Park). The Garden did not disappoint and lived up to it's reputation as being the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. Below are the pictures from our trip.
Roger is standing in front of the antique pagoda donated by Sapporo, Japan.
We learned that Koi can live up to 70 years.
Absolutely beautiful! Maintained by 7 gardeners and 200 volunteers.
The three elements of a Japanese garden are water, rock and plant life. In the Zen garden, sand takes the place of water and there is moss on the rocks.
Japanese Maple
Our first stop was at Seaside. This was the final stop on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Looking out at the Pacific Ocean at Seaside.
Ft. Clatsop was the 1806 winter headquarters for the Lewis and Clark Expedition, before they headed East for the return trip.
Sacajawea was a member of the Expedition.
Huge Cypress trees in the densely forested area around Ft. Clatsop.
Ft. Clatsop (rebuilt)
We continued on our trip to Astoria, Oregon. It is at this point where the Columbia River flows into the Pacific Ocean. After lunch in the town, we drove to the Astoria Column, where we climbed to the top of the column to get a great view of the Pacific, Colombia, and the State of Washington.
At the base of the Column
Astoria Column
When we got to the top, the sun came out and we had a beautiful view of the town of Astoria, the Astoria Bridge that goes over the Colombia River to Washington, and the Pacific Ocean.
Wednesday was a great bicycle ride along the Colombia River with a return trip facing Mt. Hood! It was one of the most beautiful bike rides that I have seen. Portland has done a great job with this walking/bike path.
Thursday was our trip to Oregon's capitol, Salem. Along the way we stopped in McMinnville to see an incredible private air museum that the owner of Evergreen International built in memory of his son. The show piece is Howard Hughes's Spruce Goose. This plane was an experiment that was flown one time. If you saw Leonardo DiCaprio's movie about Howard Hughes, then you will remember that scene when the plane lifted of the water for about 18 seconds.
The Spruce Goose
Howard Hughes sat in this pilot's seat.
The capital building at Salem
Thank you for taking the time to read the blog. As you can tell this has been a very busy week. We leave on Sunday morning for Seattle.
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