In the morning, we met up with David’s cousin, Justin (Jeff’s son) and his girlfriend Ashley. They had offered to give us a tour of the Columbia River Gorge. We had a quick lunch at a local grill before heading up the gorge. Justin was driving us in his brand new (less than 500 miles) truck. As we started out, it was pretty misty and cool. Normal weather for this area. As we drove up the gorge, the sun came out and the clouds were left behind. The gorge was cut through solid lava walls by the river and is shaped by several prehistoric floods that rushed through the gorge during the last Ice Age. The river is dammed up for power generation, resulting in a large lake up stream that is world renown for its wind and kite surfing. It had rather big waves and white caps for a lake! We drove up the Washington side, stopping at various overlooks before going to their favorite vineyard. After a great wine tasting, and a few bottles purchased, we crossed over to the Oregon side of the river and followed the old US30 (There it is again!) highway back to the west. The clouds reappeared and it began to thunder and rain. We stopped at three of the waterfalls along the route. The cliff walls are high here so the waterfalls are pretty spectacular. We exited the gorge just east of Portland and crossed back over the river to the Washington side. After a quick stop to take Etta out and feed her dinner, we headed into downtown Vancouver and had dinner at an excellent wood fired pizza place. Thank-you Ashley and Justin for a great day! Promise that you will try and visit this beautiful area more often than you do. Life will always get in the way.
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| Columbia River Gorge |
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| Multnomah Falls |
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| Justin and Ashley in front of Latourell Falls |
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