Multnomah Falls

As previously written, I walked further up the wonderful Multnomah Falls this time than when I was here last November. The bridge you can see from the view point at the bottom actually isn't that far up, and not having the pressure of time I decided to follow the disgustingly fit Siri up the hill.

We continue to meet interesting people. There was a guy with a giant Alaskan malameut dog down by the benches. The dog's name was Bear, but Sheep would have fitted better for this gentle giant. In the parking lot I made a comment about the t-shirt of a biker - it said "every day is better with ice cream", to which no dissent will be tolerated - and I said "ain't that the gospel truth". We talked a little and it turned out both he and his biker pal had been to Norway once, as members of the US Navy. Nice guys and good convo.

Later today, in the Motel 6 laundry room of all places, I got to talking to a couple, and she had German and Norwegian ancestry. She spoke highly of lefse, not so highly of lutefisk. These parts are still crawling with Norwegians and derivations thereof, or people with SOME kind of connection to Norway. If you don't believe me, come see for yourself!

All Multnomah pics here, including the old ones.

The full fall of the upper part of Multnomah.


'tis less than 5 minutes to climb up there.


Bear. I've seen a lot of beautiful dogs in my time, but this was one of the finest. And so gentle.


Some schmuck was proposing on the bridge. Their friends stood all around with cameras and one held a card that said something like "you'll never forget this day", which must have appeared on their pics. The cynic in me tells me they'll rue this day in five years, but maybe not. Meh.


Siri begging not to be thrown over the fence. I was magnanimous THIS time, but if the window cleaning on the car doesn't improve...


Boxer Ken Clean-Air System has reached another dead end.

Views of the Gorge

As in November last year, I went up to Crown point and even further, and got me some good pics of the wonderful Columbia River Gorge. It is a mighty purdy view in these parts, with trees and flowers and blue waters and and and wheee!

All pics, including the ones from 2011 here.

Me in classic Lewis & Clark pose.


Siri chose a slightly more modern one.


The valley below.


View towards Portland.


The sun was shining on the fields on the Washington side.


The clouds were ridiculously pretty.


I've written before about my desire to build little, red cabins everywhere. For the record, let me state that iffin I can't build 'em, I'd be more than happy to accept existing buildings, like this one, instead.

US 30

A few pics pertaining to good old US 30, the scenic road we took. It runs more or less parallel to Interstate 84 for most of the way and for much of it you're a mere stone's throw away. And yet you're in another world. Gone is the hustle and bustle, gone are the crazy tailgaters and the huge trailers and the ever present threat of asshole cops.

You are in a world of green, a world of sun coming through a canopy of multicolored leaves, on trees covered with soft moss; you are on a road of peaceful stretches with few to no other cars to share it with. And you're on a winding yet cozy road which offers everything from great views of the Columbia River Gorge to more homely ones like those below.

All pics here.

Not knowing what's around the next bend adds to the sense of adventure of driving the road.


Siri said if she'd been Lewis & Clark she would have just stayed here and the Pacific be damned.


Wheeeee!

Horsetail Falls

After Cascade Locks, I took Siri on a tour that was pretty much the exact opposite of the one I did with my Californian friends Albie & Court in November, when I was up here for the Neil Gaiman event in Seattle. I took off from the Interstate, got on US-30 and revisited many of the lovely places from back then. I even walked further up at Multnomah Falls. Yes, I got me some actual exercise today, and coming on the back of walking down Scott's Bluff I gotta say this is looking less and less like a holiday and more and more like proper work. Ugh.

All pics here, including the ones from November.

Phone and passport in my breast pocket. I virtually scream "international jet setter". Or "help".


The falls.

Cascade Locks

The first place we came to in Oregon, was Cascade Locks. It's a tiny place of appx 1000 people, but they had some good views and they sold good cherries in the parking lot of a restaurant there.

All pics.

The bridge that spans the Columbia is called the Bridge of the Gods, in all humility.


There's a fading Lewis & Clarke-related mural on one of the pillars.


View upstream.

In the footsteps of Lewis & Clarke

Tuesday we've had a long, pleasant drive from Baker City to the outskirts of Portland, Oregon. Much of the trip was, however spent in the state of Washington. We've been on Washington Route 16 for much of the day, and the scenery is quite impressive in many places. You have some great views of the river and the bridges and whatnot, and there's a tourist attraction called Stonehenge there. Additionally, Lewis and Clarke spent a lot of time up and down the river in these parts, and we felt like kindred spirits in exploration.

All pics here.

Yet another "copy" of Stonehenge far more interesting than the one in England.


Arty farty.


Across the barbed wire and a river, the windmills were dancing.


A bridge across the Columbia River.


A big dam.

Baker City and the Geiser Hotel

As I've said previously, Baker City is a very nice little place, especially Main Street. I read up on a tourist brochure and there are apparently 110 buildings downtown which are quite old, but many of which were plastered over in the horrible fifties. They've now installed grants to provide funds for the regeneration of these buildings.

The Geiser, which I only had lunch at in '09, proved to be a nice hotel, with spacious rooms and even bathrobes. When I saw the "one size fits all" I smiled and when I saw the "made in China" I guffawed. The food was as good as ever and for dessert they served up a piece of cheesecake that was as big as the dinner, I kid you not.

All pics here.

The master of the room enjoying himself with a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew.


The Geiser is a very handsome building. It was almost torn down to make way for a parking lot, after closing down in 1969. They did extensive renovations in 1993-8.


Airy and cozy rooms.


The dining room where I stuffed face on cheesecake.


View from the window in the morning.


Interesting street art.


Baker Tower, the art deco building which is still the tallest in eastern Oregon.


A stately, old home which is now a bank. I think it's nice to see old buildings still in use.

Incredible sun

As we drove down from the Oregon Trail Center, the sun went behind a big cloud, and what followed was one of the more stunning views (there's that expression again) I've ever seen. It was right before a finger came out of the skies and the trumpets sounded, Monty Python-style.











"An alien spaceship has just landed outside Baker City, Oregon"


Now y'all know why dey be callin dem da Blue Mountains.

Oregon Trail Interpretive Center

I've been to Baker City before, and visited the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. They've made one change to the exhibition, sadly they have removed the brilliant childrens' section, where you could try your hand at packing for the journey. They had replaced it with a nice little exhibit on the Homestead Act, but it just wasn't quite the same.

Siri loved the place, from the details inside to the wagon ruts you can still see down in the vally. They also showed a National Geographic movie about the Lewis & Clarke expedition, so she got her dosage of American history. Wheeee!

All pics here.

Circling the wagons.


Lovely, multicolored desert flowers.


Looking down in the valley towards Baker City.


From the new Homestead exhibit:


People can write their personal Homestead story and post on a map.


From inside the museum.


Over these hills they came by the thousands "to seek a new and better world". Times were hard, but enough of them made it to secure the future of the greatest nation the world has ever seen and my life-long love: The United States of America.

Lunch at Malad

This is from the area where the Malad River meets the Snake River. The Malad got its name after the members of a Frenchie's expedition team fell ill and he thought it was due to the water being poisonous. Later research has concluded it was probably due to his men eating beavers who were poisonous because of some tree they'd been eating. Anyway, we sat on some stones at a parking lot high up on the hillside and stuffed face with sandwiches from Subway and contemplated life, the universe and everything.

All pics here.

Ish nice.


On the opposite banks, they've apparently found lots and lots of fossils from zebras and other extinct species in the sediments.


It ISH quite nice.