Crusin' the Columbia River and checking out the Bonneville Dam

We went with Caroline's sister, Sandra and her husband, Larry, for a 2 hour cruise down the Columbia River.  It was sunny, but windy and cool (as you will see in the 2nd photo).

This was our cruise ship.  They had a rear paddle-wheeler that we really wanted to take, but it was in dry dock for maintenance.

Can't see the wind, but you can tell it was chilly.

Looking west up the Columbia.

I think this was a sailing class.

The Bonneville Dam.

The day was perfect for kite-boarders.

3 others.


The Bonneville Dam from the other side.  This was taken just outside one of the hatchery buildings.

Fish Ladder.  These were created for the fish to overcome the obstacle created by the dam.  It was not the right time of the year to observe fish 'climbing' the ladder.

Fish nursery.   This is where they start the fish from eggs.

The holding ponds for steelhead trout just before they are released into the river.

Rainbow trout.

Just as we were leaving theholding ponds, we saw mama duck and 2 of her babies.

Herman the sturgeon.  A permanent resident of the fish hatchery. He is 10' long, weighs over 450 pounds and is over 70 years old. 

Tracy and Kreg come for a visit

They arrived on July 31st and will be here for almost 2 weeks.  We have been out and about quite a bit and here are some of some of the places we went with them: Mt. Hood, Mirror Lake and back to the coast.  And, of course, some flowers along the way.

Heading up the mountain.

No, we did not go all the way !

A view looking southeast.

There is skiing and snowboarding all year long.

A view looking southwest.

We decided to cheat and take a ski lift to the least 7,000' level.

Since no one was nearby, we had to do our own self portrait.

Snowboarders.

Getting ready for a snowball fight !

Getting towards the end of the run.

It looked cool with the clouds.

The trail to Mirror Lake.  It was a 3.2 mile moderate round trip. Ha ! Caroline and I were hurtin' the next day.

A view from the trail.

Doesn't it look like gnomes should be living in there ?

Mirror Lake with Mt. Hood.  I guess it was worth the hike.

Back to the coast and Haystack Rock, the 3rd largest monolith in the world.  It was a cool and overcast day.  The mist you see at ground level was being blown in off the Pacific.

The tide was out, revealing a wonderful tide pool.

Star fish (about 10" across) and sea anemones (the largest one was about 4" to 5" long).

Close up of the star fish.

A crab - the shell was about 5" across.

Posing in front of Haystack Rock.

Notice anything different ?  It's the 1st of August and no one is in the water !

Up the beach from Haystack Rock was a large outcrop of rocks.  Tracy ,Kreg and I decided to climb them.

More places to climb, but we didn't go any further.

Looking back at Haystack Rock.

After we left Haystack Rock, it started to clear up a little.  On the rock to the left is a lighthouse.

Penstemon.

A variety of lupine.

I don't know.  I looked and looked and could not find out what this is.