#12 Multnomah and Horsetail Falls

Multnomah Falls is the highest waterfall in the Columbia River gorge with a total drop of 620 feet.

It is a two tiered waterfall and the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States

A steep paved trail leads visitors to the platform above the falls.

And I huffed and I puffed and I hiked up the trail! Benson Bridge was built in 1914 by Italian stone masons.

Horsetail Falls really does look like a horse tail!

#11 The Oregon side AKA The Falls

Well, we finally made it to the other side...and all I could think of was "green". I couldn't believe how many coors of green there were....and the trees-oh, my!

The green corridor...

Vista House at Crown Point State Park-This was the original "comfort station" on the Historic Colombia River Highway.

A view from the parking lot-I thought the clouds/mist were beautiful..

Teddy was there to greet his guests and thank them for visiting...What an opportunity for Santa and Teddy to meet and greet!!!

ere's some detail on the Vista House

And a view from the other side of the building

There's a gift shop, too!

This is Latourell Falls. This is an example of a "plunge" drops vertically and away from the cliffside.

More info about Latourell-

#10-Fish Hatchery

Who knew that a fish hatchery could be so exciting? Not Me! Welcome to the Cole M. Rivers Hatchery where we found Salmon, rainbow trout, steelhead, and sturgeon fight to get upstream-I watched them as they swam up the fish ladder, then went to the incubation room and finally went out to feed the fish that were waiting to be put back into various rivers and waterways nearby.

Helpful info place...and cute activity sheets to send to Cassidy...

I couldn't believe how strong (and determined) they were...

Some slid back but came right back and fought upstream....

here's a long shot of the ladder...

and an overview of how large this place is....

This is the "end" of the fish ladder and holding pond...

And Jack is feeding the fish that are waiting to be returned to the river where some of them will swim out to the ocean and return 3-4 years when nature calls... I couldn't believe how fascinating this whole process is....

#9 The Washington Side of the Gorge

We're on the WA side of the Columbia. There's so much to see on this side-I'm amazed!

See that green spot in the middle of the picture? That's an Army Corps of Engineers park. It has camping as well as day use....it's free, you can camp for up to 14 days here and you're righ on the River!

The road to Appleton led us here...We were sure we'd find apples (Appleton, WA right?) but about all that was there is this dilapidated struture...

And the inevitable goverment work....

This is in a little town called Klickitat and when we saw these garden sculptures we had to take some pix for Roy Johnson...

The price tag for the one on the left was $75.00.....Does the rust add to the ambiance?

Hadn't seen this type of lawn decoration before...Going down an unfamiliar road can have unexpected benefits..

This is where the Hood River empties into the Columbia and the Hood River is the windsurfing capital of North America

They loved having an audience!

travelogue#8-Addendum

I neglected to describe Maryhill...here's some info about Sam Hill and his ideas...

An explanation regarding the inspiration for the design of the Theatre De La Mode

See that little patch of green? That's the Army Corp of Engineers park where we stayed as we toured the Gorge

Travelogue #8 Whew!

I am truly learning that the journey is what's most important, not necessarily the destination! We took 3 days to tour the Columbia River Gorge and we could have used another day but it rained every day we were there and I had quite enough moisture... I'm going to try to explain the pictures as we go....This blog will just describe the WA side of the gorge-or at least part of it.

This is Stonehenge, on the WA side of the Gorge. It's near Biggs, OR. If you travel north on 97, you'll hit it.

Stonehenge was dedicated to the heroes of WWII. It's very similar to the one in Europe.

Hopefully, you can blow this up to get details...

This is Maryhill Musuem of Art, about three miles from Stonehenge-again on the WA side of the Gorge.

Don't we make a cute couple?

Maryhill houses one of the most elaborate exhibits of Paris fashions on metal manniquins....

The fashion world (of Paris, of course) is detailed in the exhibit-actually fun!

This is the very elaborate Maryhill Musuem

And on the grounds a special art exhibit was being shown...

The outdoor sculpture Garden is on exhibit May 15 through October 3, 2010. Free!

This is called Malabar Bombax I think it would be lovely in front of our Clubhouse.....

The outdoor sculpture Garden also houses a family of peacocks-that are not afraid of people at all!

Hindsight-'nuff said

Ahh, in all of his glory! I'm way behind in sharing the tale so watch for a few more blogs while I have internet....

Travelogue #7 The Rogue/Umpqua Scenic Byway

We've been so busy sightseeing I haven't had a chance to catch up! I'm going to try to fill the gap-After leaving Crater Lake we took the Rogue River/Umpqua Scenic byway...Another magnificent alternative to freeway driving!

We finally got smart and took some pix of the explanations of what we were seeing....

The living stump -you have to see it to believe it-nature has such treats for us if we just stop to smell the flowers....

Every turn had another magnificent view

Great, easy path for me to navigate

I just love water!