HERE WE COME…MOUNT ST. HELENS

Monday, June 18 – We made a short drive up to Kelso, Washington, today. We are staying at the Kelso Elks Lodge for a couple days while we visit Mount St. Helens.

The Lodge is very nice, but the campground needs some more gravel. The sites are gravel with gravel streets. With the recent rain, things are a little muddy. We have 30 amp electric and water. There is a dump station on the property.

Site 5

Looking left.

Looking right. The yellow building is the back of the Elks.

We met friends, Jeri and Terry Williams for dinner in the lodge this evening. It's “burger-nite.” It's our “farewell” dinner because we will probably pull-out of the area before seeing them again. They wouldn't let us drive, pay for gas, or buy them dinner during our guided tours. They finally agreed to dinner at the Elks tonight….WOW, they really made us pay big…NOT!

Jeri, Terry, Paul, Marsha

Once again, we would like to thank Jeri and Terry for the time they spent with us and the enjoyable days around the Portland area. Thanks guys!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ROSES + MOUNTAIN = BEAUTY!!!

Saturday, June 16 – Jeri and Terry, Just Wanderin', were gracious enough to spend another day sharing downtown Portland with us. What a GORGEOUS day to do some sightseeing. We began our adventure by strolling through the Portland Farmer's Market. It has been operating since 1974. It is in Portland's historic Old Town.

It's fun to see the crafts and business ideas of local entrepreneurs.

Interesting…Himalaya food.

There wasn't the fruits or vegetables that we saw at other markets, but there were plenty of booths spread out over several blocks of the city.

Once again, we left a deposit in the local economy by purchasing a few items at the Farmer's Market.

Marsha looking at a possible purchase. Jeri cheers her on. Terry just isn't so sure.

This lady takes a mold of your face and then makes a mask. No thank you.

There were entertainers all over the area.

We have no idea what this guy was playing, but he was very good.

Many readers recommended we stop at Voodoo Doughnut Shop. We stopped SEVEAL times, but the line was a mile long. The donuts must be good, but we'll have to take the word of readers or the smiles on the patrons faces as proof.

We made a quick stop at Old Town/Chinatown. Not much there but the beautiful gate.

One of the highlights of the day was our visit to the International Rose Test Garden.

A visit here quickly answers the question, “Why is Portland called “The City of Roses.” What a gorgeous display of roses!

This is a new type of rose called the Terry and Jeri. So cute.

There were thousands of beautiful and fragrant rose bushes displayed in an amazing setting overlooking the city with Mt. Hood in the background. Breathtaking!

Marsha could definitely spend the entire day here. If you would like to see more of the gorgeous Rose Test Garden, please click here.

We are continuously delighted with Mt. Hood.

Being from Ohio, we are not use to “living with a mountain.” How wonderful to have it “keeping watch” over the city. The 11,245 mountain, Oregon's tallest peak, is still covered with snow. Mt. Hood is a dormant volcano believed to have been formed 11 to 14 million years ago. It has had at least four major eruptions over the last 15,000 years.

Love the clouds in front and around the mountain.

The most recent eruption occurred shortly before the arrival of Lewis and Clark in 1805. It is home to 12 glaciers and is the source of five significant rivers, all of which drain to the Columbia River. It is one of the most frequently climbed glaciated mountains in the world.

If you haven't seen enough photos of Mt. Hood, click here for more of the beauty of this mountain.

Our last stop of the day was lunch at Who-Song & Larry's Restaurant & Cantina. Located on the banks of the Columbia River and at the foot of the Interstate bridge.

Terry remembers this as the first bridge in the area over the Columbia River. We were fortunate to see it lift up for a passing barge. Neat!

We'll be seeing Jeri and Terry when we move to the Kelso, Washington, Elks Lodge tomorrow.

Sign for the day.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE SCENIC AREA

Friday, June 15 – Before we tell you about our day, we want to send our love and prayers out to our dear friends, Donna and Russ. Donna just lost her sister. She did a wonderful tribute to her sister in her blog. Please keep Donna and the family in your prayers.

We met up with good friends Jeri and Terry Williams today. They are fellow full-timers that lived previously in this area and now spend the spring and summer here. They have family in this area and love to spend time with them. What great tour guides. THANKS Jeri and Terry for taking time out of your busy lives to share the Portland area with us!

We headed down the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area to see all the waterfalls. It's amazing! They come one after another and just keep getting better and better.

We first stopped at Vista House at Crown Point. This overlook gives a beautiful vista of the Columbia River Gorge.The Vista House was built in 1917 as a place for travelers to rest and refresh themselves as they made their way down the magnificent Columbia River Gorge.

The magnificent view.

Our first stop was Shepperds Dell. This Falls has two tiers. The height of the upper falls is  35-50 feet; lower falls 40-60 feet. WOW!

On to Bridal Veil Falls. It is reached by a short 2/3 mile hike. Bridal Veil Falls drops twice. The height: upper falls 60-100 feet; lower falls 40-60 feet. Gorgeous!

Enjoying the view.

The next falls is Wah-kee-na Falls. "Wahkeena" means "most beautiful". The height: 242 feet. This Falls winds through the trees. Beautiful!

The “Granddaddy” of the Falls is Multnomah Falls. Plunging 620' in two sheer sections, it is an awesome beauty and is the most visited attraction in Oregon. Multnomah Falls is the second highest year-round waterfalls in the United States. Spectacular!

We concluded our visit with Horsetail Falls. The height: 176 feet. Impressive!

DO NOT miss this beautiful drive. There are several more falls, but we had so much to do today that we had to moved on.

We then stopped at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. The Hatchery raises 8 million Fall Chinook, 1.2 million Coho, 200 thousand Summer Steelhead, and 60 thousand Winter Steelhead. We have read so much about Hatcheries on Donna and Russ's blog, that we could not pass this one up.

 

They breed millions of fish here that will be released in area rivers. The incubators are used to raise eggs from the "eyed stage" to the "fry stage." There are 6500 eggs/tray x 2240 trays = almost 15 million fish.

There are so many it looks like a pool of mud.

Not to be missed is Herman. A HUGE Sturgeon, ten feet long, weighing over 450 pounds and over 70 years old. It is so big that we could only get parts of it at a time.

There is so much to see at Bonneville Hatchery. It has a park setting with many trails through the Hatchery to ponds, statues and displays. Put it on your list of things to see when in the Portland area.

We then ventured over to the Bonneville Lock, Dam and Fish Ladder. We really enjoyed the fish viewing windows watching the spawning fish travel up the Fish Ladder to get over the Dam.

One of the many viewing windows.

Where's the fish ladder? Salmon find their way upstream by swimming against the current. Fish follow this strong current to the face of the dam. There, slots allow them to swim into a fish collection channel, where currents guide them to the ladder entrance.

Fish ladder.

A maze that serves to control water flow in the ladder. It provides passage for migrating fish.

The Dam produces over a million kilowatts of electricity per year, enough to supply the power needs of nearly 500,000 homes.

After a brief stop for lunch at the famous Bridge of the Gods, we headed back toward Portland sneaking the occasional glimpse of Mount Hood.

Our final stop was a drive by of the Officer's Quarters at Fort Vancouver. We need a day just to visit this Fort and all the surrounding buildings.

Grant's house.

After a very long day, we returned to our motorhome parked at the Elks Lodge. Tomorrow we head back out with Jeri and Terry, so stop back as we continue our adventure.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!