On the Road - Day 13

Yum, I blended a smoothie of blueberries, banana and cherries for breakfast. Headed up Rt. 5 for a day on the Historic Columbia River Highway. Advised to take Rt. 205 and Rt. 26, but missed the turnoff. So we went into Portland proper. Interesting city character. Made our way to a Costco gas station, only to find price 4 cents more per gallon than the gas at the station next to where we stayed. Bother.

Turned off Rt. 84 at Troutdale - sparkling greens and no bugs! Walked through the quaint town, admired art galleries, and lunched at the old-fashioned Troutdale General Store. Stopped in at the Visitors Bureau for advice on best way to see waterfalls. We have found Trailer Life Directory, the RV Atlas and local maps/visitor guides to be of great help, too. Took Rt. 30 - the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway. Along the Sandy River we watched families playing on the gravel or sand bars. Nice to see them enjoying the water and floating in inner tubes.














Wow! Saw breathtaking view of the Gorge from the Crown Point Vista House. [See picture at left; view from this Vista house below.] Climbed .2 mi. to the Latourell Falls, got wet in the mists of Wahkeena Falls - met and chatted with a friendly local couple, climbed to the bridge between upper and lower Multnomah Falls [above, left and closeup on the right] (620 feet and the second highest year-round waterfall in the nation. At the base is the 1925 Multnomah Falls Lodge), and finished with Horsetail Falls. All beautiful.

The picture of us on the left was taken at Horsetail Falls. It is our favorite "couples picture" so far. (Clicking on any picture in this "On the Road" series of blogs will give you the largest size image available.) [It turns out this was our favorite couples picture of this whole trip.]



Returned on Highway 84 and 242nd St. to Rt. 26. Had tasty supper at Olive Garden. Decided to head east on Rt. 26 to town of Sandy and the Jonsrud Viewpoint of Mt. Hood. Even though it was 8:30 p.m. we were still able to get some photos during a time of long shadows. [Mt. Hood on the left] Returned to RV Park via Rts. 26, 212 -- through the town of Boring,with the "Boring Coffee Shop" -- and Rt. 205. The dark outline of evergreen trees silhouetted against the pink edged pale evening sky was a nice way to end the day.

Noticed that Portland area has: Bean Scene Espresso, McGill Drive Thru Espresso, and Irish Brothers Coffee, Tad's Chicken 'n Dumplin's, and Tippy Canoe Bar & Grill. Fun. Saw a 6-engine train along the Gorge with a very long line of cars. Vance says that power is needed to get it over the grade because it is so long.

Ended at Pheasant Ridge RV Park, Wilsonville, OR (Portland area)
Odometer 59,487.5 (126.7) Total: 1344.7