After that 4 day visit with my Troutdale friends, headed back east along I-84 that travels alongside the Columbia. Which is now just a series of lakes as the backup from each dam reaches within a mile or three of the base of the next upstream dam.
Cruising along the divided highway, drivers pass through this nice long tunnel. Just past this tunnel heading east is the Eagle Creek Trail, one of the most popular and spectacular trails in the entire USA. Gets around 3,000,000 hikers per year. Well worth the hike. I’ve been several times. You really only need to get around 3 miles up the trail and most of the day hikers have turned back.
And then further on, is the Bridge of the Gods. And nestled practically underneath is my favorite restaurant in the gorge…the Bridgeside Inn. I’ve been coming here when I wanted to get away from the Portland/Gresham/Troutdale area since the early ’70’s. Often for breakfast or lunch, and just as often just to sit and take in the grandeur.
And sitting in a booth, visitors get the above view out of their large windows. When heading east, I sometimes cross this bridge over to the Washington side and follow that road east just for a change of scene. I-84 on the Oregon side is faster, the Washington side is just as scenic but not has heavily traveled so you can, if you want, arrive nearly at the same time in Umatilla, where I’d cross back over the bridge into Oregon. Here’s a map of the area…
Well, I see from my photo archives that I didn’t take shots of the inside other then the one above and the three following. It’s got all these historical antiques and artifact collections up on the walls. There below in the above picture you can glimpse the menu. It’s a buffet style place where you grab a tray and pick up your own goodies and you travel in the line to the order section where I ordered scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, with fried spuds, juice and coffee. Yum. And the view! Spectacular. I like coming here all year round. Winter is nice too as the windows are all dual pane so you can watch a storm out over the Columbia while eating in comfort, safe from the storm. I could sit there for a couple hours just admiring the view and have countless times. Just thinking, while watching the mighty Columbia.
This is at Cascade Locks which before the dams was a mighty cataract where Natives had fished for thousands of years. Huge falls, early settlers had to portage around the cataract.
Didn’t really get any shots of the inside of the restaurant proper. Many tables, booths, windows nearly all the way around, then a mini-covered wagon setup with all the condiments and napkins. As I said, it’s a buffet style ordering but you get your coffee cup, and pour your own, take a number and sit down and the waitress will bring your order.
One of my favorite places. Anyway, after breakfast, back on the road heading east, and today I feel like putting in some pictures of the Gorge. One of the most beautiful places on earth. Even after having been ‘tamed’.
And now for a few random shots traveling along I-84 with the Columbia alongside. Most of the shots will be over towards the Washington side as the sun was in the wrong place.
The windmills are all over in the gorge. This is the work my friend TJ’s boyfriend/SO does. Iron work installing windmills. Or did. He’s moved on to other iron work now, like building steel buildings.
And a pair of grain silos…reminder of the fact that this is the nation’s breadbasket and wheat fields are on either side of the Columbia.
And another dam. I don’t recall which one this is. And that’s all the pics I took this particular trip.
An hour later I was back home in Milton Freewater. Since I’d let my stores of vegetables reduce next day I headed out to a local farm to pick some up…Frog Hollow Farms. You can see how suitable for farming the soil is here. Easy to plow, few rocks, small tree stumps that pull easily, water soaks in, not many noxious weeds, etc. etc.. Needs some nutrients once cleared but those are not hard to add. This is why people settled here to farm.
With a basket full of veggies I head back home, prep them and settle in.
That’s all for today…thanks for reading!
Jim
Beautiful places over that way, you are a very good photographer. Have you had your air bags replaced yet? Mine has been leaking really bad so I’m replacing them this week. I have found a local that works at the local county schools bus barn. (a diesel Mech) He says about $200.00 each, sounds like a deal.
Thank you!
No, haven’t needed to change any bags so far. I did own a ’94 Fleetwood and I was preparing to do that when needed and read up on it and there was a lot of info online and youtube and it really looked like more than I wanted to tackle. No longer have the muscles. Involves jacks and extending the springs, and a quart of Dawn dishwashing liquid and pulling and cutting and all sorts of medieval torture to the human doing the job so I’m going to hire someone if ever needed. I’ve since moved into my ’02 Journey and they are doing well so far. I never needed to change the old ’94 bags. Yes, I agree, $200 each sounds like a deal.