Wednesday 14th June - Les's big birthday – Walla Walla to The Dalles

Woke at 7am and sat in bed with a cup of tea reading all the messages of birthday wishes that had come through in the night.

Another nice chat with John the motel manager (owner?) before we left. He has an English wife.

On John’s recommendation we stopped not long after getting onto the US-12 to visit the Whitman Mission memorial site run by the National Parks service. The Whitmans were a doctor and his wife who came to Oregon from NY State as missionaries. They were not very successful in converting local native Americans but they did set up a farm with crops, an orchard, a water powered mill and a blacksmiths shop and they helped the increasingly large numbers of settlers who were passing through on the Oregon Trail. They even adopted some children who’d been orphaned on the journey west. Unfortunately the travellers brought measles and other European diseases which killed large numbers of the local native Americans. This together with the lack of recognition of their traditions and customs, infuriated the Cayuse who eventually lost patience and massacred the family and others. The area is now a small State Park and is extremely sensitively laid out and the story is well told.

On leaving the Mission and continuing on the US-12 we realised we’d forgotten to fill the car so we stopped at Lowden and had coffee and a cake.

We carried on to Wallula Junction where we turned left onto the US-730. We’re just below the point where the Snake River (from Yellowstone) joins the Columbia and the river seems extraordinarily wide to us. It is in fact dammed by the McNary Dam and we crossed the river on the I-82 just below the dam and then continued on the WA-14 along the north side of the Columbia River. We stopped for lunch at Paterson in a small diner. It seemed a bit down market but the food was fine and all freshly cooked, even if Anne’s Tuna Salad sandwhich wasn’t exactly what she was expecting.

Carried on westward along the WA-14 above the Columbia slowing down or stopping for photos at various points. The whole area, from Walla Walla onwards is full of small vineyards and in some places, orchards. We saw one or two nice looking wineries. The scenery was constantly changing with a reappearance of the columnar basalt layers. We detoured slightly off the road to the John Day Dam (him again). The dam doesn’t have a visitor centre and you can only see it from a little way downstream but it was still very impressive with lots of water coming over the spillways.

Back on the road we entered the formal Columbia Gorge Scenic Area and certainly the gorge became steeper and more dramatic and we began to get views of Mount Hood in the distance. We decided not to stop again, other than the odd photo and came straight into The Dalles and found the hotel easily.

We’re staying at the Fairfield by Marriott. This is really nice and is only a couple of years old. We have a nice room on the 4th floor and we’re hoping this time that the lifts don’t break down. We’d arrived fairly early so we had a comfortable amount of time to sort ourselves out and do our washing.

Took, a 5 minute walk along the road to a fish restaurant (essentially an English chippie) called Skippers. They did plain grilled fish so Anne had halibut and Les had salmon, both with jacket potatoes and grilled veg. Quite acceptable and easier than trying to find somewhere better. We’d searched TripAdvisor and other sites and there were really doesn’t seem to be anywhere more upmarket to eat.

A sad note. Amongst all the birthday messages was a message from our nephew Kevin telling us that his wife Jane cannot have any further treatment for her pancreatic cancer which has now spread to her liver. We got this just after we’d set off driving this morning so it has made the day rather sad for us. [Post holiday note, Jane died on 20th August]

Thursday 15th June – In The Dalles

Woke up to a forecast of rain. Set off down the US-30 (the main highway before the I-84 was built) and went to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Centre and Wasco County Historical Museum. The Discovery Centre was largely about Lewis & Clark (whose expedition was known as the Corps of Discovery) and was very interesting. The other half of the building was the County Historical Museum and that was more generalised and has stuff about the geology, natural history and the lives of the settlers. They have recreated a small section of a street inside the museum at one point.

The only slightly annoying thing about the museum is that the cafe no longer opens. We planned to carry on down the US-30 and find somewhere for coffee but after a short while we turned a corner to find a road closed sign. There had been no previous warning. We backtracked a short way onto the I-84 and then turned off at Mosier and went into this very small town. We found a shop that did coffee and ice cream so we had coffee and then returned to the I-84.

The old route US-30 disappears west of Mosier. This section of the I-84 is spectacular, running mainly alongside the railway on the edge of the river. Unfortunately as it’s an interstate there are no places to pull off and take photos. We continued as far as Cascade Locks. By this time the drizzle that had started as we left the museum had become constant heavy rain. In Cascade Locks we parked outside the cafe/cruise centre. As we prepared to make a dash through the rain into the building we  received  text message from Ian & Sheila telling us that they were in Scotland and that it was raining. As it would only be about 8.30pm in the UK Les phoned Ian and had a long chat. They were staying at the head of Loch Long.

In the cafe we just had time for a quick (and very nice) lunch before the 1.30pm cruise. This was eastward from the dock and is probably the less spectacular of the two options, the westward cruise going into the narrower gorge. Unfortunately we would have had to wait until 2.45 for this or to pay for two cruises. Our trip was fine although obviously visibility was very limited due to the low cloud, but the commentary by the Captain was interesting and it was possible to stand outside under cover to take photos. Towards the end of the cruise we went up into the wheelhouse where the Captain seemed genuinely pleased to see us and to talk and answer questions. One of the problems of the day was that Mt Hood was completely invisible but the Captain seemed genuinely impressed when Anne showed the photo she’d taken from the plane.

After the cruise we went across the Bridge of the Gods (and back into Washington) and visited the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Centre as recommended by the boat captain. This again was very well done and showed various aspects of native American life as well as the European settlement and had some interesting film on the creation of the Gorge. It also had a full size replica of a fishing wheel of the sort that did so much to deplete the salmon population (together with the building of the dams).

The weather was still bad so we decided to simply drive back along the north side of the Gorge on the WA-14. We stopped in Stevenson and went to a small grocery store. This turned out to be a much better idea than going to Walmart or Safeway as we were able to buy relatively small amounts of things. We bought salad (and dressing) and Les bought some turkey breast slices. As we drove back from there the rain finally eased and had stopped by the time we got back to the hotel.

Friday 16th June - in The Dalles

Up, breakfasted and away by 9.30am. Started by retracing our steps westward on the US-30 so that we could go to the Rowena Viewpoint which we couldn’t do yesterday because of the road closure. Really good views but it started to drizzle as we left. We carried on through to Mosier where the old highway US-30 joins the new I-84. Going down into Mosier we were close to the fruit trees that we’d been seeing and we now realised that they are apricots. This and grapes seem to be the main crops, although there were some people harvesting in one of the fields but we couldn’t see what they were picking.

We stayed on the I-84 as far as Bonneville Dam. By this time it was raining heavily so we decided to visit the Bonneville dam. A very nice visitor centre and we were able to join on to the end of a talk and then were led across to the turbine hall to see where the actual electricity is generated. Unfortunately this involved quite a long outdoor walk and we both got quite wet. It was running off our jackets and soaking our trousers. It had eased a little by the time we left the turbine hall and we were able to look at the fish ladder from outside before going indoors to look at the fish through glass windows. We were quite surprised to see loads of lampreys, which take a rest from their upstream struggle by sticking themselves onto the glass windows with their mouths. We saw a couple of very large fish come by but it was difficult to get photos.

We were planning to head west again on the I-84 to eat but luckily we spoke to someone on the desk at the dam and he told us it would be much better to go back to Cascade Locks. This turned out to be very good advice. We went back to the cafe/cruise centre where we’d eaten yesterday and had another nice sandwich each.

Back westward on the I-84 and then we turned off at Ainsworth State Park to follow the old route US-30 through the waterfall area. Even without the waterfalls this is an exciting and spectacular drive and we saw some of the original old tunnels, which are now part of walking trails. We stopped first at  Horsetail Falls nearly missing them as there is no advanced warning. We managed to get a parking space and for a moment the rain eased up.

Going on we came to Multnomah Falls. This is the main visitor attraction and it was absolutely packed. We were lucky that somebody pulled out of a space as we approached and we parked immediately even though it looked as though other people were driving round endlessly looking for spaces. It wasn’t too bad when we arrived and we took some photos at the base of the falls and then walked up to the famous bridge about a quarter of the way up. It was very wet when we got there and we thought it was spray but then realised it was actually starting to rain very heavily. We were thoroughly wet by the time we got to the bottom and went into the small visitor centre. Les had been complaining that his cagoule really needed to be re-waterproofed as it is now very old (bought in 2004 in NZ). At this point he realised that his super Paramo waterproof had been lying on the back seat of the car all the time. Doh!

Back in the car we carried on west and eventually stopped at Latourell Falls where once again it had virtually stopped raining. We walked on the short but steep uphill track to a viewing platform where you could see the whole falls. We were amazed that there were some people who’d followed the trail to the very top of the falls and we could see them scrambling down to actually stand by the very edge. Incredibly stupid and we almost wished that one of them would fall. We then took the other path which led a short way down to the very base of the falls. It was slightly wetter here because of the mist/spray but very impressive.

Back in the car we carried on along the US-30 and it climbed and climbed in a series of curves up to Vista Point. This really is a fantastic spot with wonderful views in both directions along the Gorge. There is a really nice building here and we spent a long time talking to one of the staff. We climbed to the viewing balcony at the top and then having taken our photos came back down into the lower ground floor where there is a cafe, a shop, various displays and some very smart restrooms. We had a cup of tea and looked at the art and photographs.

This is effectively the last attraction in the Gorge and we followed the US-30 on westwards and down to the riverside where it joins the I-84. We came straight back along the I-84 stopping only to change drivers and to fill up the car when we got back to the outskirts of The Dalles. We emptied the car of our belongings so that we could in effect pack for flying even though we have one more night tomorrow. It was easier to do this now in our large room as we don’t know what we’ll have tomorrow.

While Anne started the packing and organising Les took the car up the road to a car wash and used the vacuum to clear the accumulated gravel and debris etc from the footwells. He was going to use the carwash as well, but the rain of the last two days seems to have done most of the job for him.

We took the 5 minute walk to Dennys. We were worried that it might be full as it had been absolutely heaving when we walked by on Wednesday night, but in fact it was virtually empty, although it had filled a little by the time we left. Our waitress told us that the demand was completely unpredictable and they were usually either empty or full. A very nice simple meal avoiding all fries, etc. Very nice mashed potato and veg.

Saturday 17th June – The Dalles to Eatonville

Made an effort and got up early. Had a quick breakfast and were on the road just after 9am. NB amongst the cooked offerings for breakfast was ‘Canadian bacon’ - almost entirely but not quite unlike real bacon. It was more like small circles of pork loin. Les didn’t bother.

In contrast to the last two days it was a brilliantly clear blue sky so it was back to the shorts and suncream for Les. We set off westward on the i84, pausing momentarily before we got on it to take pics of some signs to Chenoweth. We continued non-stop all the way along the 84, with Les retaking many of the photos that we’d taken in the pouring rain - how different it looks in sunshine. Unfortunately this didn’t last and by the time we got to Multnomah it was cloudy again and this continued for the rest of the day.

We pulled off the 84 at Troutdale and went into the town to get a coffee and change drivers before starting to head north. Just as we got into the town we found the main road was closed for a fund-raising event which involved people trying to pull fire engines. We had a chat to some of the fire-fighters. We were lucky to be able to park right outside a combined furniture/houseware store that had a small coffee bar.

This is where we left the Columbia River and headed north for Mount St Helens.