Mom slept in this morning till almost 6 am. Shocking. We left the house around 8:30 on our Columbia river adventure. We drove about 3.5 hour on the Washington side of the river in a little less on the Oregon side. Washington sites we visited included:

• Cape Horn Lookout gave us a beautiful view of the river and the mountains surrounding it. We couldn’t find the Cape Horn Falls.
• Bonneville Lock and Dam with Fish Ladders is owned and operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. When driving to the facility, we acted like children every time we heard the GPS say, turn right to access the damn road. There was a self guided tour where you learned about the history of the dam via a video, and the conscious effort to ensure the dam, never impacted the salmon run up the river. Bonneville Lock and Dam is a national historic site, and one of several dams on the river’s main stem along the Oregon and Washington border. It is one of the nation’s largest hydroelectric systems. The dam, which was built during the Roosevelt era and the Great Depression, blocked the migration of white sturgeon to their upstream spawning areas. Sturgeon still spawn in the area below the dam, and the lower Columbia River supports a healthy sturgeon population. Small, very depressed populations of white sturgeon persist in the various reservoirs upstream. To cope with fish migration problems, the dam features fish ladders to help native salmon and steelhead get past the dam on their journey upstream to spawn.
• Bridge of the Gods – while we didn’t go over the bridge, we saw it twice and heard about how a natural landslide. The enormous Bonneville landslide nearly 1,000 years ago dammed the river, which eventually broke through the dam to create a land bridge. Native Americans used this natural bridge until it fell around the time of the great Cascadia earthquake of 1700, forming the Cascade Rapids in the river near Cascade Locks.
• Spring Creek Hatchery State Park – well we didn’t see any fish hatching, but instead were surprise to watch like 30 windsurfers, having fun in the sun with the wind. This area, also known as “the hatch”, because of its rough water is considered expert level.

We crossed over the river into Oregon using the Hood River Bridge and stopped at the Hood River Hotel to have a Norwegian breakfast at Broder Ost. It was tasty, filling, and different. Mom got a good photo of Mount Hood as we are crossing over the bridge.

We planned about eight stops on the Oregon side, however, it started to rain, so that reduced some of the places we are willing to go to. We neither of us wanted to be wet, or walk on slippery rocks. So our stops included:

• Horsetail Falls – Named for its characteristic form, Horsetail Falls plunges 176 feet within view of the Historic Columbia River Highway’s “Waterfall Corridor.” Just east of the falls is a great picnic spot to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding area.
• Multnomah Fall – we tried to see these falls however, there was no parking which was going to required us to take a shuttle. This was the most disappointing part of the day for me. With the crowds, the rain, and the shuttle, we ditched these falls.
• Latourell Falls – we saw these falls from a distance, it was much smaller than the horsetail falls.
• Vista House Crown Point – Edgar M. Lazarus, Portland architect was selected to design Vista House in 1915. Vista House is an example of German “Art Nouveau” architecture. Vista House is approximately 44 feet in diameter and 55 feet high. The floors and stairs in the rotunda and the wainscoting in the lower level are Tokeen Alaskan marble. Most of the interior of the rotunda is light cream and pink Kasota limestone (marble), including the hand-carved drinking fountains. The inside of the dome and its supporting ribs were painted to simulate the marble and bronze originally planned for the structure. The exterior is faced with light gray sandstone.
• Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic overlook – this group has been active in the Columbia River Gorge since 1946. The founding members were responsible for recognizing that this viewpoint was special and should be saved from private develpment and shared with the gorge visitors forever. The ladies had teas, sales and raised the funds to buy this viewpoint and eventually gifted the property to the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department who now take care of this beautiful spot for all to enjoy.

Our final stop of the day before checking in at our Airbnb was the Penner Ash winery. It was quite lovely and we had it all to ourselves. Let’s just say we bought some wine.

Tomorrow we will be visiting 4 vineyards; starting at 10 AM, Mom will start tasting wines. God only knows what she’ll sound and look like by the time we get back to our Airbnb. If it’s a hoot, I’ll promise videos.