Along the Columbia River Gorge

This was one of several trips we will be making along the Columbia River.  For those who may not know about the Columbia River, it forms about 3/4 of the border between Oregon and Washington. It starts in British Columbia and empties into the Pacific after 1,243 miles.  It is where Lewis and Clark ended their trek in November 1805.

Columbia River from a view point along a scenic portion of US 30.

Panorama of the river. You can see I-84 to the right.

Stopped at the View Point Inn for lunch.


Doesn't get any better !We sat in the sun because it was a little too cool in the shade (and this was in the middle of July).

We saw a side road that lead to Larch Mountain.  So, we gave it a try.  Turns out that at the top of the mountain (4,056')  is a gorgeous view of the surrounding area. That is Mt. Hood through the trees (the next 8 photos are along the trail and at the top of the mountain).
A typical Oregon forest.

There were still a few rhododendrons in bloom.

Do you see the Larch Mountain forest nomad ?

At the top of Larch Mtn. looking west with the Columbia River in the background.

Mt.Hood. The tallest peak in Oregon at 11,235' (and 22 miles away).

Looking north into Washington. From L to R: Mt. St. Helens (8,363', 46 miles away), Mt. Rainier (14,410', 97 miles away)and Mt. Adams (12,307', 54 miles away).

Mt.Hood

Looking south at Mt. Hood (22 miles away) and Mt. Jefferson (10,497', 62 miles away).

Latourell Falls. 249' drop.

Multnomah Falls. It consists of 2 falls: the upper at 542' and the lower at 69' or 611,' the tallest water fall in Oregon and (I think) third tallest in the country.

I couldn't get the entire falls in the photo, so  here is the bottom   portion. The bridge is 105' from the bottom.

The Columbia from I-84.

Out and about in Portland

In the last couple of weeks we have been to Portland several times. It's only about 10 miles to downtown, so it doesn't take that long to drive in; parking is the problem.  We went to a triple A baseball game and the only parking we could find cost us $15.  There had to be a better way.  And, there is: they have a light rail system.   There is a station about 2 miles from our apartment, so we take that from now on. So, not only is it easier, it's cheap.  There are 3 parts to this post: the Saturday Market, sand sculpting and the Portland International Beerfest (140 beers from 15 countries).

The Saturday Market.  Not far behind where I took this picture is one of the main rivers running through Portland: The Williamette.

Caroline looking around.

Quite a few people come out every Saturday.

Enjoying the nice day. The Williamette River is in the background.  We took a walk along the riverfront after the market.

A maritime museum.

Looking east along the Williamette.

Part of the downtown skyline.

It was quite warm that day. This is one of two fountains the kids got to play in.

Sand sculpting exhibition downtown.  It was to help raise money for a local charity.

Part of the 'Alice in Wonderland' sculpture.

Forgot what this theme was.

Something about deep sea creatures.

Don't remember this one, either.

We didn't get see how they did the wings.

They were working on this one so everyone could see how they did it.

Panorama of the site.

Self explanatory.

They had all the beer vendors lined up under a canopy.  About 2/3 were draft beer and the   other 1/3 were in bottles.

You use a 4 oz. souvenir glass to sample the beers.  You buy tickets instead of using cash: 1 ticket equals $1.  Most samples were 1 ticket, but there were 2 as high as 7 tickets. I tried a 6 ticket beer, but couldn't finish it; it was just - nasty.

And they kept on coming all day...

St. Paul (Oregon) Rodeo

Only July 4th, we went to the rodeo !  This is supposed to be one of the better and better paying (prize money) rodeos in the country.  It was about a half hour (south) of where we are staying, so we figured, why not ?  There was another show later in the evening, complete with fireworks, but we missed that because we waited too long getting tickets and it was sold out.

I didn't notice that the port-a-johns were in the picture when I took it.  However, later, we did notice the name of the company that supplied them: Honey Buckets !!

Inside the rodeo arena.  There were a lot of participants riding around the arena: I guess you have to warm up horses like car racers warm up cars.  Who knows ??!!  

The bulls used in the show.

The horses used in the show.

Got to have pretty cowgirls !!

The contestants lining up for the national anthem.  The 3 young ladies in front are the princesses for the 2010 rodeo.

Riding the buckin' bronco.

Riding the bull.

Roping the calves.

The rodeo clown riding his dirt bike over the pick-up and trailer.

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Mount St. Helens is in Washington and about 55 miles north of Portland.  May 18th of this year was the 30th anniversary of the mountain blowing its top.  It was 9,677' before and 8,365' after.  It flattened over 230 square miles, mainly on the north side where the mountain side collapsed.

Getting close to the mountain.  This is the North Fork Toutle River.  A pyroclastic flow (hot gas and rock) flowed down this river all the way to The Columbia River, about 40 miles to the west (this is looking east towards the mountain).

Looking west.

This is administered by the U.S. Forest Service.

It was a cool dreary day with the clouds hanging low.  We  did did not realize that we were looking at Mount St. Helens.

Once we got a little closer, we realized - there it is !
   Panorama just as the cloudswere thinning.

Slowly, but surely we could see more.

The best view.  About 15 minutes later the clouds came back and obscured the view.

Looking north.  The mountain is just to the right.

Coldwater lake.  This was created by the volcano.