Day 16, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area (Oregon).

Today Carolyn Rose took Gloria and I on a tour of the Columbia River Gorge that separates Washington and Oregon.  The sky was filled with fat cloud dumplings floating densely in a sea of blue.  It often rained moderately and occasionally bright sun took over the portion of sky above us.

The banks of the Columbia River are studded with waterfalls. We walked up to several and drove by several others. 

One interesting (and free) attraction on the river is the Bonneville Dam in North Bonneville. The dam is partly a museum on river life, especially fish.  The museum contains numerous exhibits including a glass wall that looks into the fish ladder where we could see fish making their way up the ladder.  I found myself lusting for a fishing pole, but settled for posing with several specimens in the museum.

We spotted a flower garden outside the facility and Gloria snapped pictures of a few of the roses.

We ate lunch at a little restaurant Multnomah Falls. Our corner table had a great view of the falls through a high glass wall and great food. 

A trip to a Pendleton Woolen store which sells products made in America, China and Mexico was informative.  Mike joined Carolyn, Gloria and I for dinner in a Tai restaurant in downtown Vancouver which made a great end to the day.

In The next couple of days we hope to make it out to the Pacific (50 miles away) and Mount Saint Helens volcano museum. There is no shortage of interesting things to do in the Vancouver/Portland area, especially with a local guide. This place is definitely worth a visit.

We still haven’t finalized our route home.  If any of our followers have something they would recommend on a Northern return route (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, the Dakotas, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York) let us know via comment.

See you along the way.